The European Green Deal, which aims for the continent to be climate neutral by 2050, provides an action plan with two core objectives: to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy and to restore biodiversity and reduce pollution.
The European Green Deal, which aims for the continent to be climate neutral by 2050, provides an action plan with two core objectives: to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy and to restore biodiversity and reduce pollution.
The plan is devised by the European Commission, and they have signaled their intention to turn their political commitment into a legal obligation in the near future.
More specifically, they have stated that they intend for all sectors of the European economy to reach the targets they have set by taking specific actions, which include:
- investing in environmentally friendly technologies
- supporting industry to innovate
- decarbonizing the energy sector
- ensuring buildings are more energy efficient
- working with international partners to improve global environmental standards
The EU has pledged to commit at least €100 billion to the industries and businesses which are most affected by the transition towards a greener economy; they call it the ‘Just Transition Mechanism.’ This is in addition to a wider investment by the commission of €750 billion which will be available 2021 – 2027 as part of the Next Generation EU financial commitment.
As of October 14th this year, the first set of European Green Deal initiatives were launched, and among them is the Renovation Wave, which aims to improve and refurbish building stock within the EU. The goal of the Renovation Wave is to guide the building sector towards a clean, decarbonized energy system.
The European Commission sees that the sector is responsible for a third of the continent’s emissions, but that only 1% of buildings undergo an energy efficient renovation each year. The commission claims that 75% of building stock is currently energy efficient. However between 85-95% of existing buildings will continue to be used in 2050. The Renovation Wave aims to renovate 35 million inefficient buildings by 2030. LightingEurope has stated their support for the EU Renovation Wave, and they have stated the case for all renovations to include an upgrade of lighting installations. Besides influencing acquisitions of innovative lighting technologies and driving future investment, the initiative will be a key factor in the European lighting industries recovery from the economic damage inflicted upon it by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an official statement, Lighting-Europe commented that they could only agree with Vice President Timmermans, that we need “everyone in Europe to have a home they can light, heat, or cool without breaking the bank or breaking the planet.” However, this statement of support was caveated by their assertion of regret that no specific reference to lighting was made as part of the main Renovation Wave Communication, which was published recently by the commission. Ourania Georgoutsakou, the Secretary General of LightingEurope, commented that this oversight was made in light of the benefits lighting can deliver not only in terms of energy savings but also in creating safe and quality indoor environments.
The lighting industry in Europe has already developed innovative and energy efficient lighting systems, ready to be installed across the entire range of industries affected by the Renovation Wave. It is widely known that properly designed and well-coordinated lighting systems are one of the most cost effective ways to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The European Commission itself has estimated that LED based lighting systems can reduce the EU’s consumption of electricity by up to 48 TWh by 2050.
As part of their statement on why renovations of European buildings should always include lighting installations, LightingEurope set out a number of recommendations so that the full benefits of higher quality lighting installations could be enjoyed, including;
- the use of LED lighting, in combination with controls and sensors
- a full renovation of luminaires that include controls and sensors, with a minimum Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) level. The SRI should also be applied across Europe to maximize it’s potential for energy savings and a better indoor environment
- the design of safe indoor spaces that includes the installation of UV-C disinfection technologies, as a means not only to address the current COVID-19 pandemic but also more generally and in the longer term to help ensure healthy indoor environments
- the introduction of mandatory minimum requirements on Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) be subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions. An obligation to include lighting renovation to obtain full subsidy should be introduced.
Photography: Anthony McGee
The Lighting Industry Authority (LIA) has also made a statement about the role lighting installations should play as part of the Renovation Wave, stating “By switching from incandescent lamps to energy efficient LED lamps, it is estimated that Europeans have benefitted from up to 90 per cent savings. Furthermore, these lighting systems, in addition to allowing for large energy savings, also offer significant benefits to the building users as regards their visual comfort, wellbeing, and productivity.”
The LIA reciprocated LightingEurope’s recommendations that the SRI should be applied throughout the EU so that maximum energy savings can be harvested and the wellbeing of building occupants can be improved. They called for renovations to lead to a minimum SRI score.
They made their own set of recommendations that access to public financing should only be secured if their recommended conditions are met, and there is an obligation to renovate lighting in order to be able to obtain full subsidy. Their recommendations included:
- lighting compliance with EN12464-1
- use of controls and sensors, with a minimum SRI level
- for lighting service 1a (occupancy control for indoor lighting), a minimum functionality level of 2 (automatic detection) should be required, as level 2 functionality is simple to implement and is based on established technologies that provide good additional levels of energy saving and user satisfaction as compared to level 1; and
- for lighting service 2 (control artificial lighting power based on daylight levels), a minimum functionality level of 3 (automatic dimming) should be required, as level 3 functionality is simple to implement and is based on established technologies that provide good additional levels of energy saving and user satisfaction as compared to level 2.
Despite the fact that lighting technology was not mentioned specifically within the statements made by the European Commission, there is still plenty of encouragement for the lighting industry.
With commitments being made to create 160,000 green jobs in the construction sector by 2030; to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage; to support climate targets, improvements in quality of life, health and well-being for residents, decarbonised, digitalised and smarter homes and the establishment of a New European Bauhaus to oversee affordable sustainable design.
It’s easy to see that within these commitments, and by the counter statements made by LightingEurope, that lighting technology has a big role to play in future renovations of European building stock.
The priorities of the Renovation Wave include tackling energy poverty and renovating the worst performing buildings, renovating public buildings including schools, hospitals and public administrative buildings.
Further information on the topic can be found in LightingEurope’s position paper entitled Recommendations on the Renovation Wave Initiative, and the European Commission’s factsheet entitled The European Green Deal – Renovation Wave.
This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of designing lighting.