Energy Consumption Indicators for Public Lighting

Abstract

Public outdoor (road) lighting consumes about 1.5 % of total electrical energy consumption [1]. Therefore, if the energy consumption for public lighting can be reduced by 30 % to 50 %, great energy savings can be achieved. With the use of LEDs and modern lighting technology, this is already possible. But to distinguish good sustainable lighting from poor and unsustainable lighting that needs to be refurbished faster, we first need reliable sustainability or energy consumption indicators. This paper presents different sustainability and energy consumption indicators for public lighting and evaluates them, using data on public lighting installations from the 25 EU countries. As shown in the paper, different indicators can give completely different results, so they should be used with caution. The main problem is that not all the data needed is available. Therefore, in the future, other data should be collected in addition to the annual electrical energy consumption for public lighting.