UK – The LIA announced the resounding success of its first ‘Sustainability Illuminated’ Roundtable, was held in conjunction with London’s Climate week 2023.

Held in June at Rotherick House, London, featured a panel of experts and was led by Bob Bohannon, Head of Policy and Sustainability at the roundtable. The experts contributed insights and ideas on addressing how to tackle the issues raised on environmental concerns, while maintaining lighting quality and performance.

Suggestions included that the industry should make improved use of available technology, design approaches, commissioning, and post-occupancy evaluation to effectively address environmental concerns. To do so, implementing technologies such as occupancy sensing and smart lighting can enhance energy efficiency.

Metrics such as standardised, cross-industry metrics such as lifecycle assessments and carbon footprint assessments should be adopted to assess environmental impact. TM66, a useful circular economy metric for street and urban lighting, provides steps for better environmental performance and is rapidly rolling out into other sectors.

Barriers and challenges were also identified during the discussions, such as lack of understanding and awareness of sustainability concepts among consumers and stakeholders, cost considerations of sustainable lighting and the gap between industry’s progress and marketplace perception. Other challenges may include finding solutions for repurposing or recycling legacy products and striking a balance between new technologies and supporting older products.

The panel decided that the direction of travel shall include aligning regulations with genuine sustainable products and embracing new materials and compositions. They will further implement modular approaches, drawing in young talent and considering design preference with consumer expectations. Control and enforcement are said to play a vital role in driving sustainability in the industry.

“The invaluable contributions of our expert panellists made the sessions exceptionally informative, inspiring, and reflective of a collective determination to drive positive change and embrace circularity within the lighting industry. I am eagerly anticipating the engagement and impact the videos from the roundtable will have on the wider industry. As we move forward, we look ahead to our next roundtable and extend an open invitation to even more LIA members to join us on this transformative journey towards a sustainable future” said Ayça Donaghy, CEO of the LIA.

https://www.thelia.org.uk/