Development of an innovative service system to increase the efficiency of public street lighting in municipalities.

Status

completed

Summary

The costs for the street lighting can be nearly 45 % of the public grid costs of a small community. Although there are high possible energy, cost and emission savings, they are unused cause of less information, bad examples, complexity of the market and the diversity of different technologies. Requirements for street lighting are to fulfill technical requirements, to have an attractive view of place in night and to guarantee a safe and comfortable feeling for the people. Very often the responsible persons are overextended with the complexity of the matter.

In many cases that´s the reason for a cheap and quick installation of a lighting plant. Mostly criteria for energy efficiency are not included and nobody looks ahead to the cost of the next years. In fact 85 % of the totally costs of a lighting plant (with a durability of 25 years) emerge from operating costs (energy- and maintenance costs). So you can see the importance of the decision for the kind of investment.

The project LICHTSTRASSE Oststeiermark has the aim to develop an innovative service package for increasing the energy efficiency of municipal road lighting plants. A co-ordinated process manner, the methodical development as well as the development of different measures simplifies to a municipality the steps to her optimum road lighting plant.

On the one hand this concept was developed for municipalities, for supporting them in an optimal way for the implementation, and on the other hand for energy agencies as an aid for providing the best support for municipalities.

The partnerships with the regions and the municipalities were essential for the project. They are very important actors in the development and implementation of energy-efficient road lighting. By the consideration of important factors - like the neutral approach - the increase of energy efficiency and quality in municipal road lighting was the result.

The regions which were involved in the project:

• … identify with the subject of the energy-efficient road lighting
• … present themselves as an energy-active partner, know-how bearer and multiplier and

  support the project participation of the regions municipalities

• … promote the regional trade and economy
• … strengthen the innovation of the manufacturers by stimulation of the market
• … perform exemplary region-covering activities and are on the best way to become an exemplary region for energy-efficient road lighting.
• … their activities help reach the climate protection goals of Austria

By participation possibilities in the project "LICHSTRASSE Oststeiermark" a neutral and independent information and support was offered to the municipalities and in order to that the steps to an energy- efficient road lighting were simplified.

Furthermore results for the municipalities are:

• Savings in energy, costs and emissions (climate protection goals of Austria)
• High quality- standard of road lighting
• Increase in road safety by lighting confirming to standards

For reaching these goals there were developed numerous working tools as for example:

• quick check for an approximate situation and system analysis
• introduction of energy monitoring for controlling of the energy consumption and based on this there was developed a benchmarking system for efficiency comparison
• concepts for excursions and training courses to give other municipalities the possibility to see exemplars and to get compact information
• tool for cost estimating
• best- practise- catalogue with showing good examples from other municipalities

The following results were achieved in the project:

• contact to relevant players and establishment of cooperation
• information brokering to important decision makers
• 2 workshops with regional representatives, 1 workshop with representatives of the styrian state government
• 3 project partner meetings and numerous internal project discussions
• realization of press conferences, press reports and public relations
• organization and realization of the "First municipal road lighting congress"
• Development of the concept for the "Quick check road lighting" and realization in 19 municipalities
• Introduction of energy monitoring for road lighting plants in 31 municipalities
• Development, completion and publication of excursion packages
• Realization and publication of a market research
• Summary and publication of best practice examples
• Documentation of quality criteria in the road lighting
• Development of offerings for trainings and workshops
• Development of a cost estimating tool for a new construction and renovation of road lighting plants
• Calculation and visualization of benchmark figures from the QC results
• Support of 4 municipalities for the submission to the project "EU- Green Light"
• Conception and realization of an Info- point for efficient road lighting

Project management

DI (FH) Hannes Heinrich
Lokale Energie Agentur Oststeiermark

Project collaborator:

Peter Samt (Technisches Büro f. Lichttechnik)
Bernd Schiller (UMPI Tekkto Powerline)
Werner Lugitsch (Florian Lugitsch KG)
Josef Bärnthaler (Energieagentur Oberstmk.)
Irmtraud Pribas (Energieagentur Weststmk.)
Birgit Birnstingl (Energieschaustrasse)

Lokale Energie Agentur Oststeiermark
DI (FH) Hannes Heinrich
Auersbach 130, A-8330 Feldbach
Tel.: +43 (0) 3152 / 8575-500
Fax: +43 (0) 3152 / 8575-512
Internet: http://www.LEA.at
E-Mail: heinrich@lea.at