NZ to host road lighting conference in March

The Road Lighting 2015: Smart City Investment conference will be held at the Langham Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand, from 9-10 March.

The conference is designed to assist city leaders and managers in Australia and New Zealand plan a transition to LED road lighting through long-term infrastructure strategies, with a view to halving road lighting energy consumption and maintenance costs, and improving road safety. “We have an exciting line-up of international speakers who will share their own first-hand experience of city-wide LED retrofits, as well as experts in internet-based lighting controls; green technology finance and insurance specialists; and road lighting researchers,” said Godfrey Bridger, conference manager, Strategic Lighting Partners.

Bridger says white LED lighting can halve road lighting costs and cities are introducing this technology to improve energy and maintenance efficiency. White LED lighting is improving road safety (with better visibility and faster reaction times), reducing light pollution and establishing a controllable infrastructure platform to facilitate smart city development. LED controllability means road lighting design can address concerns about potential interference with wildlife circadian rhythms. Residents and ratepayers are reacting favourably, said Bridger.

Los Angeles is experiencing a revitalisation of its central city, with ‘loft conversion’ rates rising, since it completed its white LED retrofit last year - the first city in the world to do so - according to another speaker.  The director of the City of Los Angeles’ Street Lighting Bureau, Ed Ebrahimian, says the city has halved its road lighting costs, but its night-time traffic accident and street crime rates have fallen significantly since the change. Ebrahimian will be presenting at the conference.

The conference is sponsored by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), Electrix, and Strategic Lighting Partners; and is supported by Local Government NZ, the Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM), the Road Controlling Authorities Forum, the Energy Management Association of NZ (EMANZ), Lighting Council NZ, the Illuminating Engineers Society ANZ, the Electrical Contractors Association of NZ, and Massey University.