Be a green champion, switch to LED

Niall Watson, Ida Tillisch; Ahmad Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary-General, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy; and Saeed Alabbar, Chairman, Emirates Green Building Council; at the launch I LED The Way initiative in Dubai.

By switching to a more efficient lighting like an LED, a medium-sized villa in Dubai could save more than Dh2,000 in electricity bill every year. If Dubai residents replaced incandescent lights with more efficient varieties, the annual savings would be Dh167 million; 940,000 tonnes of CO2 will be mitigated and Dh668 million combined savings on household electricity bills and government subsidies will be achieved.
These figures were released at the launch of the 'I LED The Way' initiative on Tuesday aimed at educating and giving incentives to UAE residents to become 'green champions' by switching to energy efficient lighting.
"This initiative is a targeted campaign to engage consumers to think more responsibly and become green advocates within their homes and communities," Niall Watson, founder of 'I LED The Way' initiative, told Khaleej Times.
"On a micro-level, the programme aims to support the UAE in becoming a more environmentally sustainable nation and achieve a significant reduction in national energy (electricity and water) consumption target by the year 2021," he added.
Watson noted that 57 per cent of the UAE's ecological footprint is generated from household energy consumption, six per cent of which is attributable to lighting.
"By switching to energy efficient lighting (EEL), the UAE could save 65 per cent of the electricity consumed. Adopting EELs could also yield a 28 per cent cooling bonus due to reduced air conditioning demand, as it avoids the heat generated by incandescent lamps," he underlined.
Watson also noted, based on a report published by the Ecological Footprint Initiative (EFI) in December 2014, that "a switch from incandescent bulb to LED will result in an estimated saving of Dh459 million in utility bills across the UAE, and the government is set to save an estimated Dh216 million in energy subsidies."
For Ida Tillisch, Director-General of Emirates Wildlife Society-World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF), the annual savings go beyond the monetary value as the initiative will also make a positive contribution towards reducing the UAE's own greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change.
"The launch of this initiative will support the implementation of the UAE Regulation for Indoor Lighting (adopted in 2014), which was developed by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) under the aegis of EFI," said Tillisch.
"The estimated annual carbon emission reductions from the implementation of the regulation are 940,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which is the same as removing 165,000 cars from the roads. Conservative estimates of financial saving put the annual saving at Dh668 million, including household saving on electricity bills and government savings on subsidies."
I LED the Way is supported by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, ESMA, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, EWS-WWF, Emirates Green Building Council, lighting manufacturers and leading retailers in the UAE.
During the maiden campaign (May 22-June 5), all high efficiency LED lighting products, as certified by ESMA, will be discounted by 25% for one week in selected Dubai retailers. Residents will also be offered environment-friendly disposal solutions for their old light bulbs, which can contain harmful levels of toxic mercury, and daily rewards will be offered to participants.
angel@khaleejtimes.com