Energy Efficiency

When focusing on energy efficiency - it's important we incorporate the broadest picture possible - this often goes beyond a products lumen per watt and incorporates additional elements such as Lighting Energy Numerical Indicator (LENI), improving efficiencies through the manufacturing process as well as the availability of high quality, ISO accredited Environmental Product Declaration (EPD's).

Often, there is a temptation to measure a projects lighting energy load based on a products lumen per watt. This is quite easily done through different lighting design tools, however, it's very likely that along with a luminaire installation, there will be a controls element incorporated as well. This is where a LENI calculation comes in and can give a far more accurate view on how much energy your site will consume with both luminaire and control system taken into account.

Essentially LENI helps you build up a realistic view of the efficiency of a lighting installation. This includes controls and ultimately delivers a calculated LENI, which is energy per square metre per year. This is based on a required illuminance level as well as the realistic demand for a given project.

We have a further article in our action section that covers LENI in additional detail and if you require some assistance with a particular calculation for a project, then please feel free to get in touch - THORN Contact Us! (thornlighting.com)

The first successful results confirm that we are on the right course to becoming a partner of choice. For example: 100 sustainability audits were carried out with Zumtobel Group suppliers during the past financial year and verify compliance with our internal sustainability standards. Our production facility in Niš, Serbia, received ISO 45001 certification (Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing) in 2021/22. Our factories have been accredited with ISO 14001 & ISO 50001:2018 for some time and our factory at Spennymoor in the UK, has achieved a reduction of 23 % in significant energy use and 19 % in electricity use since 2020.

Additionally, Les Andelys in France has seen gas and electricity consumption decrease by 10 % each year on average over the last 5 years. We can also look back with pride on an entire decade of environmental product declarations: For ten years, we have provided our customers with product datasheets verified by third parties which describe the effects of our luminaires on the environment.

In order to accurately measure the sustainability credentials of the solutions being installed on a project, it’s often recommended that an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) be obtained. Environmental Product Declarations take a close look at products and present parameters such as embodied and operational carbon, global warming potential, material make up and recyclability over the entire product lifecycle. This enables a more precise calculation of the ecological footprint and helps, among other things, with the certification of building. This means that you can purchase, specify and design-in a product, knowing exactly how sustainable it is.

We’ve partnered with Bauen und Umwelt to ensure our EPD process is 3rd party verified to the highest quality, ensuring you have peace of mind in selecting the right lighting fixture for the job.

We offer ISO accredited EPDs on a single article code level and include sustainability data such as embodied carbon, operational carbon, energy efficiency and make-up material content.

Once an EPD has been raised for a particular product, it is then available on our website under the product downloads section. If a product does not yet have an EPD raised, then please get in touch and we will get one created for your project.