Thomas Lindhqvist
Senior lecturer
LED and Life Cycles : Life Cycle Environmental Concerns in Procurement of LED Light
Author
Summary, in English
The development of LED light has been rapid in the last decade and it has become the most attractive lighting solution for many buyers. The reasons have to do with the high energy efficiency of these lamps as compared to the traditional incandescent lamps. As society is trying to cope with climate change threats and all the connected issues related to nature and life of people, all opportunities to save energy and other resources should be considered. But few solutions are without any less positive sides and this short publication will discuss what a change to LED light can mean and, especially, how procurers in organisations, such as local and regional authorities, as well as, larger enterprises can act in order to minimise the negative aspects of LED light and enhance the positive aspects.
The publication builds on three reports put together by students in the Master in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (MESPOM) Programme during their studies at Lund University. In their third semester, during the three years 2015-2017, the student groups attended the course Sustainable Environmental Development (SED) and contributed to the project Lighting Metropolis by studying questions related to the life cycle impacts of LED light and procurement of lighting solutions. These reports are available from Lund University and from Lighting Metropolis. The front pages of the reports are seen on the back cover of this report.
In this short guidance document we have selected the main messages for procurers and everyone else deciding about what light solutions to buy. All solutions are related to certain challenges, so the message is not one without negative, as well as positive, aspects. However, the future of the LED light seems to be bright and, for most situations, we haven’t yet seen any serious contenders. This doesn’t mean that in the future there won’t be such alternatives, but a real challenger seems far away and LED lights have in the last years improved so that in almost all real situations it is difficult to see a competitor.
So the question rather becomes how to act in order to profit from the strengths of LED lights and how to minimise the weaker sides of such light solutions. This is also the purpose of this short publication.
The publication builds on three reports put together by students in the Master in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (MESPOM) Programme during their studies at Lund University. In their third semester, during the three years 2015-2017, the student groups attended the course Sustainable Environmental Development (SED) and contributed to the project Lighting Metropolis by studying questions related to the life cycle impacts of LED light and procurement of lighting solutions. These reports are available from Lund University and from Lighting Metropolis. The front pages of the reports are seen on the back cover of this report.
In this short guidance document we have selected the main messages for procurers and everyone else deciding about what light solutions to buy. All solutions are related to certain challenges, so the message is not one without negative, as well as positive, aspects. However, the future of the LED light seems to be bright and, for most situations, we haven’t yet seen any serious contenders. This doesn’t mean that in the future there won’t be such alternatives, but a real challenger seems far away and LED lights have in the last years improved so that in almost all real situations it is difficult to see a competitor.
So the question rather becomes how to act in order to profit from the strengths of LED lights and how to minimise the weaker sides of such light solutions. This is also the purpose of this short publication.
Department/s
- The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Publishing year
2018
Language
English
Full text
Document type
Report
Publisher
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Topic
- Building Technologies
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 978-91-87357-35-0