Philips ready for phase-out of incandescent lighting

The phase-out is expected to make a significant contribution to reducing energy use and carbon emissions. Philips calculates that for example the simple switch to energy-efficient lighting in homes in Europe could save EUR10bn per year in energy costs - equivalent to 25 million tonnes of CO2.

To enable professional customers make a quick and efficient switch to energy-saving technologies in compliance with the new legislation, Philips is to immediately commence initiatives to help customers manage the transition throughout the entire value chain. The company will be increasing manufacturing capacity of its broad range of alternative solutions in order to meet all its professional customers' needs lighting needs - from general purpose lighting to ambiance creation, while delivering all the energy saving benefits of alternative lighting solutions such as LED, halogen and high quality compact fluorescent (CFLi) products.

Garrett Forde, CEO of commercial activities in Europe, Middle East & Africa, says:

"As part of its commitment to being the greenest lighting company in the world, Philips will be making additional efforts to ensure its customers can comply with the phase-out of incandescent lamps before the legislation comes into effect. We can today deliver all alternatives to incandescent lighting to our professional partners in anticipation of the forthcoming legislation."

Philips Middle East will also be calling for the development of minimum energy / quality performance criteria for lighting throughout the region. The aim would be to stimulate a fast switch over to a new generation of energy efficient and greener lighting technologies.

Range of energy-efficient product solutions:

Philips believes the lighting industry can be an excellent partner to businesses and institutional lighting consumers to help them lower their costs and carbon emissions with simple but effective upgrades to their lighting. For example, by up-lamping an average hotel could save around EUR40 per year per room - and the equivalent of 42,500kg of CO2 or 22,250 trees - by having its lighting simply upgraded to energy-efficient systems.

Philips offers customers a broad portfolio of energy-efficient lighting solutions, from lamps and luminaries to electronics and controls - all capable of lowering both operational costs and CO2 emissions:
• LED - Philips offers a portfolio of sustainable LED products for business customers, such as its new flagship product, the MasterLed. The MasterLed is an ultra-efficient, fully dimmable LED lamp for direct replacement of conventional incandescent lamps and can make energy savings of up to 80%, and has a lifetime of 45,000 hours. The lamp is available in a choice of warm or cool white from 2700 to 4200K. The MasterLed GU. 10, GU 5,3 and NR63 are especially designed for accent lighting and are available in 25 or 40gr spot versions, perfectly suited for 24-hour usage applications such as hotels or corridors where maximum and constant efficiency is required.
• CFLi - Over the past few years the performance of energy saving lighting solutions has increased dramatically. Traditional first generation energy savers cannot be compared to the current generation of energy efficient lighting solutions (like the Master PLE, Master PLE Ambience and Master PLE Globe). Furthermore Philips has developed energy-efficient lamps that are dimmable. Finally, the shape and design of the latest generation of energy savers has improved and can easily be retrofitted to any luminaire.
• Halogen - Philips' lighting product portfolio includes the world's most energy-efficient halogen solutions, including the EcoClassic and MasterClassic. These lamps are designed to deliver the very best in light quality, ambience and atmosphere, while at the same time delivering energy savings of up to 50%. In addition, the EcoClassic range operates on all common dimmers, allowing users to control the light level and to create the required atmosphere.

The importance of good lighting design:

Philips believes that by taking into consideration the application and specific characteristics of energy-efficient lighting technologies such as LED, CFLi and halogen, it is possible to achieve equivalent levels of lighting quality as with conventional light sources, but with reduced energy consumption.

To maximize the energy-saving potential of these technologies, Philips recommends the application of good lighting design, and the involvement of professional lighting designers. These can be found through organisations as the PLDA (Professional Lighting Designer's Association) and the IALD (international Association of Lighting Designers), whose members can, through the design process, advise on optimum energy efficiency without compromising on lighting quality.