Business & Money | Wednesday 4 May, 2016 5:32 am |

I LED THE WAY, the ground-breaking new sustainability initiative in the United Arab Emirates, is pleased to announce its launch in partnership with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), with the support of ADCB (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank). Through a combination of awareness campaigns, community engagement and green initiatives, the 12-month eco-programme aims to minimise the negative environmental impacts brought about as a result of human behaviour.

 

To kick off this nationwide green movement, the initiative will launch the first of its Emirate-specific programs, with a campaign to promote energy efficiency in lighting in Dubai later this month.

A first for the UAE, the citywide campaign – commencing on 22nd May and culminating on 5th June, which also happens to be World Environment Day - will involve various education and retail-orientated programs in an effort to motivate residents and citizens to lighten their lighting footprint. The Efficient Lighting Campaign will also go a long way to supporting the recently implemented national Regulation for Lighting Products, passed by ESMA in late 2013, in which the governing body placed sanctioned a ban on inefficient lighting technologies from entering the UAE market.  

During this maiden campaign, 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 environmentally friendly disposal solutions for their old light bulbs, which can contain harmful levels of toxic mercury, and daily rewards will be offered to participants.

Niall Watson, Founder of the initiative comments: “Our aim is create green societies by motivating the individuals within them to become green champions. On a micro-level, the programme aims to support the United Arab Emirates in becoming a more environmentally sustainable nation and achieve a significant reduction in national energy (electricity and water) consumption target by the year 2021.  Moreover, by minimising or even reversing the negative environmental impacts brought about by rapid economic growth in the Emirates, such as increases in carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, we can begin to tackle the global problems of climate change and the depletion of our planet’s natural resources.” 

57%* of the United Arab Emirates’ ecological footprint is generated from household energy consumption, 6% of which is attributable to lighting.  Current incandescent lamps account for the majority of lighting energy usage, totalling 78%.  By switching to energy efficient lighting (EEL), the UAE could save 65% of the electricity consumed.  Additionally, adopting EELs could also yield a 28% cooling bonus due to reduced air conditioning demand, as it avoids the heat generated by incandescent lamps.  A switch over will result in an estimated saving of AED 459 million in utility bills across the UAE, and the government is set to save an estimated AED 216m in energy subsidies required each year.  Reducing consumption due to lighting is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to improve energy efficiency in the built environment.

 

The I LED THE WAY initiative aims to better understand what the key barriers to adopting greener lifestyle choices, and will work closely with the private sector to overcome these challenges. I LED THE WAY is proud to have formed many strategic alliances and be supported by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Emirates Authority for Standardization and Meteorology (ESMA), Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF), Emirates Green Building Council, lighting manufacturers Philips and OSRAM; and retailers IKEA, Carrefour, ACE Hardware, Spinneys, Union Co-Op, Lulu Hypermarket, and Geant.

 

*Benefits of Effective Implementation of the UAE’s Lighting Regulation Report – Published by the Ecological Footprint Initiative (December 2014)