SUSTAINABILITY
LIGHTING TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE
IN THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ Mr Rami Hajjar, Cluster Leader for South East Asia, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), explains how developments in lighting technology are proving to be beneficial. The Singapore Engineer (TSE): How will key technological advancements in lighting help address the major issues of today, such as climate change, food security and the post-pandemic new normal? Rami Hajjar (RH): Advancements in lighting technologies are indeed playing crucial roles in addressing current and future global challenges. Climate change LED lights have already allowed people around the world to lower their carbon footprint in a simple and quick manner. By switching to LED lights which can last up to 100,000 hours or more, compared to traditional fluorescent lights that last 10,000 hours on average, less waste is produced. New lighting technologies adopt ‘circular economy’ principles to ensure that waste is minimised during the ‘end of product lifespan’ and are designed with ‘postlife’ in mind. Lighting solutions are now designed with recyclability as an important consideration and together with innovative services such as ‘lighting as a service’, are enabling users to have the benefits of a well-illuminated workplace, without incurring high maintenance costs.
Food security As the rapidly growing global population puts pressure on food security, significant changes in agriculture are needed to ensure that there is enough safe and affordable food for everyone now and into the future. New lighting technologies have become a key way to sustainable agriculture, where artificial lights are being used in horticulture to increase supply without driving up resource usage.
The new Philips LED A-class bulbs consume 60% less energy compared to standard Philips LED bulbs and have a longer lifespan.
Science-based lighting solutions contribute to the development of indoor agriculture. 20
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER October 2021
Mr Rami Hajjar
