THE LIGHT BULB MOMENT
HOW UK PLC CAN SAVE £1.4 BILLION ANNUALLY AND CUT 10 MILLION TONNES OF CO²
EMISSIONS A YEAR
A REPORT BY VITA ENERGIA
Over a four year period (2007-2011) Vita Energia conducted in-depth, on-site surveys to study the industrial
(non-office) lighting at over 500 companies in the UK’s manufacturing and warehousing sector. All companies
surveyed employ over 100 people.
INTRODUCTION
Organisations in the UK are facing two entwined pressures; to reduce spending and cut carbon emissions.
There are thousands of potential avenues open to explore, but many are unique, untried or require
considerable upfront investment and therefore only offer a medium to long term Return On Investment (ROI).
To achieve savings quickly, organisations want proven solutions that demand minimal investment and deliver a
fast ROI. These types of win-win projects are the ‘low hanging fruit’ that organisations are keen to embrace
while they develop longer-term solutions to more complex problems.
As with the use of low-energy long life bulbs in the home, industrial lighting of factory and commercial
premises is an area that offers fast and efficient savings; making a real impact on energy usage and carbon
emissions in minimal time.
Addressing efficient lighting systems within manufacturing and warehousing operations also provides a timely
boost to the UK’s manufacturing industry’s operational performance.
According to detailed research spanning four years and over 500 companies, industry and manufacturing
operations can save £1.4 billion a year on their energy spend and save 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions
annually with an average return on investment time of just 14.7 months.
CO2 savings in tonnes
151+ tonnes
121 - 150 tonnes
91 - 120 tonnes
61 - 90 tonnes
31 - 60 tonnes
0 - 30 tonnes
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Number of companies
THE ROOT CAUSE OF EXPENSIVE, INEFFICIENT LIGHTING
Industrial facilities in the UK are generally run at a high standard, both to maintain productivity and as a result
of well enforced regulatory standards. The key criteria in operating a profitable manufacturing plant or
warehouse operation is smooth, uninterrupted operations, which makes many managers reluctant to upgrade
any part of the facility for the sake of avoiding potentially costly disruption to productivity.
Lighting is a prime example. If the lighting is not fundamentally broken, it is generally considered ‘good
enough’, the age old ‘if it ain’t broke...’ mentality. As a result, it is not surprising to learn that the research
reveals 24 per cent of the factories and warehouses surveyed have lighting systems that date back to the
1950s (typically T12 fluorescent lighting). The levels of electricity used to power such old lighting systems,
predictably, are far greater than efficient modern day lighting.
Other than replacing lighting tubes, there are very few examples of any companies routinely maintaining their
industrial lighting systems. This exacerbates inefficiency issues and often leads to insufficiently lit working
environments and poor light quality, including common incidents such as the lighting flicker often associated
with fluorescent tubes and lux degrading. In the maintenance of lighting systems, companies tend to work on
an ad hoc basis. This is generally unplanned expense and can lead to further issues such as ballast failure that
cost a lot more to fix than planned maintenance.
A BETTER ENVIRONMENT
While reducing energy consumption (and therefore cost) is the primary driver for upgrading industrial lighting
systems, the green agenda is placing pressure on companies to adopt – and more importantly, demonstrate –
a more environmentally sustainable approach to their operations.
There is often a spurious environmental benefit to green programmes. A full rebuild approach does of course
save energy consumption, but it also uses significant resources (energy and material) to create the new
product, a stage before analysing the financial and productivity impact of an initiative.
Instead, the genuinely environmentally aware approach is to embrace the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra.
That is particularly applicable to an area such as industrial lighting where style need not inconvenience
substance. Existing industrial lighting systems are usually as old as the building it sits in. When ‘good enough’ is
the common standard, simply upgrading what is already in place is by far the more environmentally sound
approach. It is also much less disruptive for the facility, usually enabling processes to continue uninterrupted.
The CO² saving to be had from simply upgrading a light fitting with new internals, rather than replacing the
whole fitting, comes from saving the CO² expended to make a new fitting. Calculations indicate that around
4,000 tonnes of carbon per year in the UK could be saved from retrofitting light fittings suitable for conversion
rather than replacing them.
The final argument for upgrading existing industrial lighting systems rather than wholesale replacement is
financial. The cost of upgrading an existing industrial lighting system is approximately a third that of a
complete rebuild, which then triples the return on investment time.
WHY NOT LEDS?
Organisations have demonstrated a marked reluctance to upgrade their legacy lighting and LEDs are a root
cause. With the promise of new LED technology on the horizon, many organisations don’t want to invest in
fluorescent lighting, viewing it as an old technology.
Despite the heavy promotion of LED by the lighting industry, the technology has not yet reached a stage of
maturity where it is suitable for general application. Currently it is only suitable for a limited number of specific
applications such as cold storage, halogen spot replacements, or shop displays. As the two technologies stand
at the moment, T5s provide more light output per watt than LEDs, have a lower lifecycle cost, and a proven
reliability.
Based on historical trends for new lighting technologies, in about ten years, LEDs will have passed T5
fluorescents in energy efficiency. They will also have reduced in cost and become more reliable. That’s a long
time to put off investing in a lighting upgrade.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT TIME
Based on over 500 on-site surveys at manufacturing and warehousing companies, industrial lighting energy
usage can be cut by an average of 58.6 per cent by upgrading the fittings with specially designed reflectors to
increase luminance output and install lower wattage, high efficiency lamps and ballasts.
Two typical industrial lighting fittings are used below to illustrate the point:
2x70W 6 foot fittings consuming 158 watts, with retrofitting convert to 1x49W consuming just 51
watts
400W metal halide or sodium fittings, consuming 450 watts, can be upgraded to emit better quality
lighting using just 220 watts
Although costs will vary, the special aluminium reflectors used to upgrade industrial lighting systems can cost
as little as £2 each which is why the return on investment is so fast.
Return On Investment time
0-12 months
12-24 months
24-36 months
36+ months
0
50
100
150
200
Number of companies
250
300
From the individual facility perspective, the key factor in calculating the return on investment is the facility’s
operating hours. The average operating hours for the 500+ sites in the study was a fairly typical double shift
pattern of 100 hours per week (5116 hrs per year). Predictably, those getting a return within 12 months had
slightly longer operating hours (6936 hrs per year), while those running 5181hrs per year had a return on
investment between 12-24 months.
From the research base, the average number of fittings was 447, equating to a typical investment figure of
£25,710. The average electricity usage rate is 8.40 pence per kilowatt-hour.
FINANCIAL SAVINGS
As with return on investment time, the key influences on the level of financial saving to be achieved by
improved lighting systems revolve around the size of the facility (and therefore the number of lights) and the
hours of operation. As the graph below illustrates, there are a number of large facilities that operate tripleshift patterns and would therefore achieve savings on their lighting expenditure well in excess of £20,000 per
year.
Smaller facilities operating a single-shift model will achieve smaller savings. However, on average the overall
spend will be reduced by 58.6 per cent. No matter what the level of spend, a saving in energy lighting spend of
over 50 per cent is significant - particularly given that the return on investment time is only 14.7 months. Given
the obvious financial benefit on offer to UK manufacturing and warehousing operations, it is perhaps
questionable if government incentives to reduce lighting energy expenditure are truly required.
Three year savings
£50,000+
£45,001 - 50,000
£40,001 - 45,000
£35,001 - 40,000
£30,001 - 35,000
£25,001 - 30,000
£20,001 - 25,000
£15,001 - 20,000
£10,001 - 15,000
£5,001 - 10,000
£0 - 5,000
0
20
40
60
80
Number of companies
100
120
140
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Several initiatives are in place to help organisations target energy reductions. The Carbon Trust
Implementation Services and Siemens Financial Services provide businesses with a range of affordable and
flexible energy efficiency financing options. They offer leases, loans and other financing options from £1,000
upwards with no maximum to all types of organisations. As part of its climate change programme, the
government also runs the Enhanced Capital Allowances Scheme, to support companies investing in reducing
their use of energy and carbon footprint. The scheme allows immediate 100 per cent write-off of the
investment in the new installation equipment.
The savings to be gained through upgraded lighting systems are already significant enough to justify business
investment, with payback average achieved in just over a single year (14.7 months). That subsidies are freely
available allows companies to achieve these savings without even having to invest their own capital and makes
a lighting upgrade the most obvious and straightforward to save money, energy and carbon emissions.
CASE STUDIES
ARLA FOODS
Arla Foods, one of Europe's largest dairy companies, recently implemented a lighting efficiency initiative at its
Oakthorpe and Hatfield sites. Completed over an 18-month period, almost all of the light fittings at both sites
were upgraded with Vita Energia’s technology for saving energy. It also improved the quality of light in many
areas. The projects were part of the company’s overall energy saving plan and the result impacts a total of 600
workers across the two sites.
Around 700 tonnes of CO² is now being saved annually, saving approximately £100,000 in electricity bills and
1.4million kWh in total power reduction every year. The project paid for itself in just 10 months.
Bill Dickson, project manager of the South of the UK, Arla Foods: “At Arla Foods, we are extremely aware of
the environmental implications of running a large company, and our corporate energy saving plan dictates a
reduction of three per cent of energy consumption year on year. This lighting energy efficiency project is
helping us reach that target, and what’s more, it has created a better working environment across the two
sites. We discovered that lighting is an ideal first place to look when trying to make energy reduction savings.”
SCANIA TRUCKEAST
TruckEast, the main dealer of Scania trucks in South East England, implemented Vita Energia’s lighting energy
efficiency solutions, saving the company just over £20,000 and 40 tonnes of CO² emissions annually. With an
interest free loan from the Carbon Trust making the project cash positive from the start, not only reduced CO²
emissions, but also improved quality of the light– benefitting approximately 70 workers at its Wellingborough
site. This site spans five acres and includes a 14-bay workshop, body shop and offices and was implemented as
part of a global Scania environmental policy.
Graham Broughton, the Wellingborough branch manager: “Initially I was quite sceptical, but the
implementation process proved to be very smooth, and the results are extremely satisfactory. Not only are we
saving both CO² and cost, but the quality of light has also improved significantly. The early indications are
good, and we’re now looking into implementing the solution on other sites as well, if the result after 12
months is as positive as it looks at the moment.”
VITA ENERGIA
Vita Energia specialises in reducing energy consumption in existing lighting systems. The company helps UK
organisations in the public and private sector – such as manufacturing companies, airport authorities and
industrial facilities – to improve the performance, lighting quality and energy efficiency of their lighting
systems.
Vita Energia provides lighting energy savings of up to 75 per cent, which reduces organisations’ carbon
footprint, electricity bills and maintenance costs. All Vita Energia project proposals provide savings information
required for Carbon Trust loans.
http://www.vitaenergiasolutions.co.uk/