DUBAI 18 April 2017: Dubai Municipality has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), with five local departments and institutions. on cooperation in energy and water conservation.
The five entities are the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, Dubai World Trade Centre, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Roads and Transport Authority and Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme.
The MoUs involve these entities installing various models of ‘Dubai Lamp’ [energy efficient LED bulbs) in their buildings, facilities or in upcoming projects. To begin with, more than 2,000 mosques in Dubai will switch to the energy-saving Dubai Lamps.
Dubai Municipality, in partnership with each entity, will help carry out a feasibility study to assess the potential savings from using Dubai Lamp for indoor lighting.
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Dubai Lamp is considered to be the most energy-efficient LED bulbs in the world. The Dubai Lamp Initiative comes out of a unique research partnership between Philips Lighting and Dubai Municipality, resulting in the development of the world’s first commercially available, 200 Lumens per Watt LED bulbs.
“The combination of efforts and the exchange of experience and knowledge between government departments and different institutions, and its reflection on the business community and the various services in the country’s economy has become the basic rules on which leaders depend on achieving their vision and objectives,” said Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director-General of Dubai Municipality.
He pointed out that Dubai Lamp is not just another sustainable initiative to be added to the list of government efforts. “It is an innovative, sustainable and comprehensive vision that will be the first of its kind in the region and will have economic and environmental implications for the emirate. This will be done through the creation of community awareness on the issues of sustainability and conservation of resources and saving energy while maintaining the well-being of lifestyle and thus reduce the volume of carbon emissions,” he said.
Paolo Cervini, President of Philips Lighting, Middle East and Turkey, said, “The Dubai Lamp is an innovation that we at Philips Lighting are very proud of on a global level. Its ground-breaking technology and unmatched energy efficiency along with its ever-growing adoption will not only bring positive change in consumer behaviour but also contribute to Dubai’s sustainability goals and its commitment to a green economy.”
Smart LED lighting experiment a success: RTA
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is planning to expand the Smart LED Lighting Technology Project after proving successful on the bridges of the Dubai Water Canal, Sheikh Zayed Road as well as Al Barsha South 1 & 2 residential area. Measuring the implementation impact reveals that the technology has made up to 50 per cent saving in power consumption.
“We took the initiative to expand the use of this technology as it enables central control of remote lighting bulbs in real-time through a smart app tailor-made for the Control Room,” said Maitha bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.
This app is fed by a database of feedback received from lighting units, which assists in monitoring the operational condition of lighting as well as the sharing of information and operational commands with these units. Another feature of the system is the automatic reporting of crashes, which cuts the response time to emergency maintenance, and enhances the operational efficiency. Smart, high-definition cameras have been installed to provide statistical data for monitoring the density of pedestrian movement in the locality.
Smart lighting technology enables the RTA to control the lighting levels through preset fade-out programs at certain times that generates additional savings due to the reduced rates of power consumption and maintenance costs.
LED lighting is one of the best environment-friendly technologies in curbing carbon emission. It produces high-level and symmetric lighting throughout the road.
RTA is planning to study and develop technical specifications of the smart lighting systems to bring it at par with the world’s top practices. The study covers all aspects of the system starting from on-site equipment and devices and up to the control room. It involves suggesting and designing other feasible smart technologies, which can be integrated into the system. The study will also cover latest technologies of clean & renewable energy that can be added to the smart lighting system in support of the Green Economy strategy.
By Angel Chan