Helping the City of Davos to realise its own green objecƟ ves Upgrading the lighƟ ng to LEDs underlined the possibiliƟ es of sustainable pracƟ ces to world leaders

HELPING THE CITY OF DAVOS TO REALISE ITS OWN GREEN OBJECTIVES

Upgrading the lighƟ ng to LEDs underlined the possibiliƟ es of sustainable pracƟ ces to world leaders.

Signify, an internaƟ onal leader in lighƟ ng, is helping the city of Davos to achieve its sustainability goals by upgrading the exisƟ ng lighƟ ng with high quality, energy-effi cient LEDs. The company upgraded the lighƟ ng of the city’s Congress Centre in Ɵ me for the World Economic Forum Annual MeeƟ ng 2020, and is engaged in an ongoing programme to upgrade the streetlights in the city. The World Economic Forum Annual MeeƟ ng 2020 was held from 21 to 24 January 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The annual meeƟ ng brings together more than 3,000 global leaders from poliƟ cs, government, civil society, academia, the arts and culture as well as the media. Convening under the theme ‘Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World’, parƟ cipants focus on defi ning new models for building sustainable and inclusive societies in a ‘plurilateral’ world. “Signify is a regular parƟ cipant in the World Economic Forum at the Congress Centre here in Davos for many years. That is why they came to us and helped us realise how much of an improvement the switch to LEDs would be. Both upgrades are a major step in our ambiƟ ons to answer the global call for sustainable measures”, said Tarzisius Caviezel, Mayor of Davos. In Davos’ streets, Signify and its long-standing partner ELEKTRON have so far replaced 500 of the 1,000 streetlights with energy-effi cient LEDs and connected 250 of those to its Interact City cloud-based, wireless connected lighƟ ng system, saving 72,300 kWh in energy per year. Interact City enables remote management of the streetlighƟ ng infrastructure, including individual and grouped control over the streetlights with just a few clicks, allowing the operator to easily maintain an overview even with a large number of lights. The city plans to complete the installaƟ on in fi ve to 10 years. During the refurbishment of the Congress Centre, Signify upgraded almost 900 lights, enabling the city, which owns the Congress Centre, to save an addiƟ onal 50,000 kWh in energy per year. This reduces the Congress Centre’s carbon emissions by 28 tons per year, which is a reducƟ on of 82%. Signify donated new generaƟ ons of Philips GreenSpace Accent Projectors, Philips LuxSpace Accent Downlights, Philips GreenSpace Compact Downlights and Philips Master LED Spots. On top of that, the enƟ re light control system was replaced and prepared for future needs according to the Congress Centre’s requirements while remaining fully compaƟ ble with the current building management system. “We are very happy that the city that hosts the world’s leaders every year is taking such a major step forward. It is encouraging to see this next move, but the world

leaders that are gathered here this week should take note and realise that much more needs to be done if we want to achieve a carbon-neutral world by 2050 at the very latest. This really needs to be the Ɵ pping point as we enter the decade of climate acƟ on and start our race to the future”, said Eric Rondolat, CEO, Signify. “Our current economic model of take-make-waste is not sustainable. A switch to a circular economy is a key weapon in the fi ght against climate change. It will allow us to extend the use of materials and avoid destroying resources - unlocking economic value”, he added. “Take for instance our recent launch of 3D prinƟ ng of luminaires for professionals and consumers. This technology consumes less energy in material extracƟ on and manufacturing and has a 47% lower carbon footprint compared to a convenƟ onally manufactured metal luminaire. And savings would even increase further if we print using recycled materials, like the luminaire made of 24 recycled CDs”, Mr Rondolat conƟ nued. A switch to a circular economy will result in economic development, create jobs and result in greater welfare around the globe. The EU calculated net economic benefi ts at EUR 1.8 trillion by 2030, which translates into a GDP increase of as much as seven percentage points.

Saving energy use in hotels while maintaining superior guest experience

The hotel industry faces the challenge to reduce its carbon emissions by 66% by 2030, and by 90% by 2050, to stay within the 2˚ C threshold agreed to at COP21, a United NaƟ ons Climate Change iniƟ aƟ ve. A study by Cundall, an internaƟ onal mulƟ - disciplinary engineering consultancy, which was commissioned by Signify, shows that for mid-scale and luxury hotels, the use of Interact Hospitality can deliver signifi cant energy savings without compromising on quality and guest comfort. This connected guest room management system allows for intuiƟ ve guest room management on a single dashboard. Compared to rooms with no smart controls in operaƟ on, a luxury hotel can consume 28% less energy per guest room, at 80% occupancy. By using the Green Mode on the thermostat, an addiƟ onal 10% energy saving can be achieved. Hotels are big players when it comes to energy consumpƟ on, consistently ranking among the highest energy consumers of the terƟ ary building sector. One possible explanaƟ on for high energy use and ineffi cient energy pracƟ ces is that hotels oŌ en prioriƟ se guest comfort and experience over everything else. But much more can be done than asking guests to opt-in to less frequent towel changes and the increasing use of refi llable toiletry dispensers. Cundall’s study shows how integraƟ on of control systems into key building services (air condiƟ oning, lighƟ ng and power), can play a major role in reaching the energy reducƟ on targets set by the InternaƟ onal Tourism Partnership, while maintaining guest comfort. “Signify’s Interact Hospitality system has a big impact on reducing energy costs, as it controls the room lighƟ ng, air condiƟ oning, power and charging sockets, and motorised curtains. For example, hotels can opƟ mise their energy usage in unoccupied guest rooms by adjusƟ ng the temperature levels in the room automaƟ cally and open curtains only when guests have checked in”, said Jella Segers, Global Lead for Hospitality at Signify. Cundall’s study shows that 65% of the realised energy savings in the hotels studied were achieved due to the integraƟ on between Interact Hospitality and the hotel property management system. The remaining 35% energy savings are achieved due to the real-Ɵ me occupancy control in the guest room. “Commonly used temperature setpoints in hotels oŌ en make guests feel too warm or too cold, marking vast gaps between indoor and outdoor temperatures. Working with Cundall, recommendaƟ ons of temperature setpoint ranges have been created, commonly referred to as adapƟ ve comfort hypothesis”, Ms Segers added. “Based on seasonal changes, the Interact Hospitality system provides support to automaƟ cally update temperature setpoints across the hotel, balancing energy use with opƟ mal guest comfort”, said Marcus Eckersley, Managing Director SEA, Cundall. “Although this study has presented signifi cant energy savings for hotels in hot climates within Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa, we anƟ cipate similar savings from heaƟ ng for hotels in temperate climates, like Europe and North America. Hotel operators can expect favourable returns on investment, compared to guest rooms without a smart control system in operaƟ on”, he added. Through its open ApplicaƟ on Program Interface (API), the Interact Hospitality system communicates to various hotel IT systems, from housekeeping to engineering, as well as guest tablets. Besides maximising energy effi ciency and meeƟ ng sustainability goals, staff producƟ vity and guest experience are improved. OperaƟ ons can be streamlined, with minimal disrupƟ ons, as Interact Hospitality off ers an intuiƟ ve dashboard with realƟ me displays of guest requests and room condiƟ ons.