PLUS goes beyond Europe at the LUCI AGM

PLUS had the opportunity to present its activities to roughly 150 participants from over 30 cities worldwide at the LUCI Annual General Meeting 2011 in Gothenburg last November, where PLUS Overall Project Manager, Rik Van Stiphout, presented the project’s work during the LUCI Sustainable Lighting Commission meeting.

This was accompanied by a presentation from Antoine Bouchet, Director of Public Lighting in Lyon, on the experimental LED projects that the city has recently implemented, such as the Passerelle Saint Vincent with its 102 linear projectors of 6 LEDs of 3 W combined with 4 presence detectors for the main walkway of the bridge; several fountains and monuments of the city where LEDs are now used to highlight architectural details; and the largest square in Lyon, Place Bellecour, which is now surrounded by twelve 15 metre high poles equipped with 6 lanterns of 48 LEDs of 120W.

While satisfied with the outcome of these experiments, A. Bouchet considers that LEDs are still not adapted to every situation: “Considering their characteristics and performances, LEDs certainly have a bright future in public lighting. However, investments in this technology -which is still in fast evolution- should be prioritized for installations where their specificities make a real difference in terms of energy efficiency and maintenance costs. It’s the case for architectural lighting, the lighting of fountains, and more generally each time a good control of the lighting flux appears essential.”

The potential of LED technology then naturally became the focus point of the Commission discussion!