Synergies and Trade-Offs Between Sustainable Development and Energy Performance of Exterior Lighting

Abstract

The aim of this review was to map synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development and energy efficiency and savings regarding exterior lighting. Exterior lighting, such as public road and street lighting, requires significant amounts of energy and hinders sustainable development through its increasing of light pollution, ecological impact, and global climate change. Interlinkages between indicators in sustainability and energy that have positive interactions will lead to a mutual reinforcement in the decision-making process, and vice versa, interlinkages between trade-offs may lead to unwanted and conflicting effects. Very few studies have presented a clear vision of how exterior lighting should be contributing to, and not counteracting, the sustainable development of our planet. This study was conducted through a theoretical and systematic analysis that examined the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance based on a framework using indicators and variables, and by reviewing the current literature. Additionally, 17 indicators of energy efficiency and energy savings were identified and used in the analysis. Most interactions between variables for sustainable development and energy performance (52%) were found to be synergistic. The synergistic interactions were mostly found (71%) in the ecological and environmental dimension showing that environmental and ecological sustainability goes hand in hand with energy efficiency and savings. Trade-offs were found only in the economic and social dimensions accounting for 18% of the interactions identified. This review shows that the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance can be used to establish more efficient policies for decision-making processes regarding exterior lighting.

Development of an Indicator System for Local Governments to Plan and Evaluate Sustainable Outdoor Lighting

“…New SIs were also identified from the scientific literature. The literature in the area of sustainable development was reviewed within the project when analyzing the interactions between SIs and energy performance [13], and additional literature searches were also performed as snowball searches of publications and authors (forwards). These searches were based on the literature review that was conducted to establish the original framework of SIs [12].…”

“…For successful sustainable development of outdoor lighting, many aspects need to be considered simultaneously and thoroughly. Unfortunately, only a limited number of studies have so far been able to present clear strategies on how to plan and use outdoor lighting in a full holistic view, considering several aspects simultaneously, to ensure that it contributes towards sustainable development [12,13].…”

“…Nevertheless, such an investigation is of high importance since goals for sustainable development may have a range of various interactions, which may lead to conflicting results between goals when taking action. This is demonstrated in a study where the framework was used for investigating the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance [13]. It was found that most of the interactions were synergistic but that tradeoffs could be found in the economic and social dimensions [13].…”

“…This is demonstrated in a study where the framework was used for investigating the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance [13]. It was found that most of the interactions were synergistic but that tradeoffs could be found in the economic and social dimensions [13]. For example, increasing illuminance to improve traffic safety or perceptions of safety (as is often used as motivations for improvements by local governments) will result in a tradeoff between energy performance and sustainable development because increased social sustainability will lead to increased energy consumption.…”

Enhancing City Sustainability through Smart Technologies: A Framework for Automatic Pre-Emptive Action to Promote Safety and Security Using Lighting and ICT-Based Surveillance

“…We propose an ICT-based framework that connects place (potential crime scenes) and space (spatial characteristics and perception) to dynamically improve the spatial characteristics of potential crime scenes towards deterring and discouraging crime by controlling lighting parameters. Its main aim is to contribute to the reduction and disruption of crime incidents, by investigating their connection to UPS, by controlling the lighting conditions and by deploying innovative ICT-based surveillance, which accounts for a highly synergistic effect on sustainable development [14], as well as smart technologies that, by default, make a city safer [15]. The proposed framework considers data as an asset, where the extent of data and knowledge goes beyond expert forensic analysis.…”