It’s increasingly important today for construction companies to pay attention to jobsite carbon footprints. After decades of wasteful practices that are destructive to the environment, using purpose-built LED jobsite lights is a proactive step toward reducing the carbon footprint of construction sites.
Most are familiar with the benefits of LED lighting: reduced energy consumption, lower total cost of ownership, longer service life and safer for the environment than traditional bulb-based lights. However, it is often overlooked how concentrated the savings are on a construction site – where temporary lighting is typically run 24/7 for months at a time.
The quick rise of LED technology has led to the inception of innovative purpose-built jobsite lighting which can replace all traditional bulb-based lighting typically used on jobsites. The status quo on temporary lighting on construction sites hasn’t changed much over the last few decades. Most projects still use the typical 50 foot or 100 foot bulb-based stringlight. It’s a well-known fact in the industry that stringlights bring a myriad of challenges to any jobsite. They are cumbersome, time-consuming to install, get blocked by HVAC work, require constant upkeep and sadly, most often end up in a landfill after their first use. Over the years, manufacturers have continually brought quality down in order to meet customer pricing demands. Therefore, bulb-based lighting has become a disposable product rather than an asset, creating increased waste and costs. There is a misconception that by simply replacing old bulbs with new LED bulbs, contractors are achieving their energy reduction goals. While their intentions are well placed, by not addressing the underlying inefficiencies, status quo continues to have a negative impact on project productivity, safety, costs and the environment.
Advancements in LED technology have made it possible for lighting manufacturers to design temporary lighting solutions specifically suited for the construction market. The form factor of LED jobsite lights are not constrained by the inefficiencies of their bulb-based counterparts. For example, one 100-watt 360 degree LED jobsite light can illuminate 2,500 square feet, replacing 250 feet worth of stringlights to light the same sized area. This reduces required installation points from 25 to just one, drastically driving down labour costs along with energy consumption. In addition, there are LED jobsite lights on the market that will include a preinstalled daisy-chain cord that will match the recommended spacing for the lights. Adopting more efficient operating strategies to reduce installation and maintenance time will also help contractors fight today’s skilled labour shortages.
Waste is also significantly reduced by reusing LED jobsite lights from project-to-project. They contain no hazardous chemicals or toxic heavy metals such as the mercury present in compact fluorescent and metal halide bulbs. LED lights can be built to be extremely durable and weatherproof which enable them to withstand water and impact on the jobsite to ensure reusability across multiple projects. Over the lifetime of the single 360 degree LED light mentioned above, over 150 lbs of construction waste will be prevented. If just one single light can provide such positive returns, consider the impact if LED adoption rates can scale up across the country.
A real-life example of the energy savings that can occur by using purpose-built LED jobsite lighting can be seen on a four million square foot mixed-use sports and entertainment complex in Edmonton, Alberta.
Five years ago, LED lighting in temporary applications was still a relatively new concept. Yet, the progressive decision-makers on this project recognized the energy savings that LED would provide and committed to adopting the new technology. The decision certainly proved to be beneficial. The first set of LED jobsite lights were deployed in early 2015. Over the subsequent four years, LED jobsite lights were used during the construction of 5 buildings, amounting to 4.2 million square feet, and resulted in a 90% reduction of energy consumption. Project electricity costs were reduced by a staggering $3,203,573. Compared to bulb-based lights, the use of LED jobsite lights avoided over 32,000 metric tons of CO2, an environmental impact equivalent to removing 6,939 cars from the road or powering 4,847 homes per year.
Through lighting simulations and prospective energy consumption calculations, the estimated cost and environmental savings on a project can easily be seen before the project begins. Not only does this help to increase likelihood of adoption, but the contractor can also incorporate the benefits into communication with their stakeholders giving them a competitive advantage to win more jobs.
The energy savings that result when switching from bulb-based lighting to purpose-built LED jobsite lighting are often underestimated. However, it’s clear that it can be one of the simplest sustainable innovations to implement to have a meaningful impact on our collective fight against climate change.
Contractors who can bring high levels of safety and savings to a job, along with significant environmental benefits through efficient and reusable temporary lighting equipment, are elevating the standard in sustainability across the construction industry.