Philips calls on business community to seize the opportunity of energy efficient lighting

Paris, France – Philips will today call upon leaders of world businesses, municipal authorities and other owners and operators of buildings to seize the opportunity to cut back on energy consumption by simply switching to energy-efficient lighting.

Coinciding with the publication of Transforming the Market: Energy Efficiency in Buildings - the final report by the four-year Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB) research project - Philips will outline how switching to new, energy-saving lighting technologies will benefit institutional building users on a number of levels. As a result of new energy use modeling, the report reveals that energy consumption in buildings could be cut by 60 percent by 2050.

“A significant proportion of that reduction could be achieved even sooner by the adoption of energy-saving lighting,” Philips executive Kaj den Daas will state today during the Alliance to Save Energy’s EE Global Forum in Paris, where the EEB report is being launched. “If all the lighting in the world were switched to energy efficient solutions, €120 billion could be saved on electricity, as well as 630 million tonnes of CO2. That is the equivalent output of 600 power plants or 1,800 million oil barrels in a year.”

Lighting accounts roughly for 19% of world’s electricity use, and some three-quarters of all lighting is based on old, energy-inefficient solutions. Switching readily-available modern energy-efficient lighting solutions could save an average of 40% electricity.

“This not only represents a quick win, but a ‘triple win’ in the effort to cut electricity consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr. den Daas will say in his speech. “End users and building owners can lower their costs and benefit from better quality lighting; the environment can benefit from lower energy usage and lower carbon emissions; thirdly, an accelerated switch to energy efficient lighting would increase competitiveness within our economies, and stimulate employment in renovation and infrastructure projects on buildings and cities involved.

According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), one of the main sponsors of the EEB report, along with Philips, buildings use more energy than any other sector and as such are a major contributor to climate change.

“Unless there is immediate action,” says Bjorn Stigson, president of the WBCSD, “thousands of new buildings will be built without any concern for energy efficiency, and millions of existing, inefficient buildings using more energy than necessary will still be standing in 2050. Acting now means reducing their energy consumption and making real progress in controlling climate change.”

Leading the way in total solutions for buildings
Philips is leading the way in providing building owners with access to tools, products and complete solutions to make their properties energy-efficient through lighting.

Philips can provide advanced assessment tools to calculate the energy performance of an installation, and work out the costs of a new one. By benchmarking the potential impact of adopting efficient lighting, Philips can provide building owners and managers with a quantified and detailed breakdown of kilowatt-hours, cost and CO2 savings.

With a complete range of products and systems, Philips is able to provide building operators with a total-solutions approach to the installation of energy-efficient lighting, from lamps and luminaires, through to advanced and intelligent technology to manage light usage and application.

Installing energy-efficient lighting can deliver measurable long-term savings for building owners, especially with energy prices continuing to rise. However, Philips recognizes that the relatively higher initial cost of installing energy-efficient lighting can be a barrier to some customers, despite the clear total-cost-of-ownership benefits generated over the lifetime of an installation. As a result, Philips works closely with the world’s leading banks and financial institutions to create financing solutions tailored to the needs of institutions seeking to adopt more efficient lighting, and reap the benefits over time.

The full EEB report can be accessed online at the WBCSD website, www.wbcsd.com from Monday, April 27, 2009 onwards

Information and advice about how changing to energy-efficient lighting can make a significant difference can be found at the Philips website www.asimpleswitch.com.

About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 116,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 26 billion in 2008, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.