Green lights for a brighter Dubai

Dubai Men's College will change campus lighting in favour of eco-friendly bulbs. Manal Ismail reports

In a couple of weeks, Dubai Men's College (DMC) will witness a revolutionary change – one with bright prospects for a greener environment. Following the recent agreement between DMC and Renaissance Lighting, the college will change all its fluorescent and incandescent lights to safer, eco-friendly ones. These lights are called Light Emitting Diodes (LED) – a digitised light using computer-type chips.

The benefits

So what differentiates these lights from the rest? Notes spoke to Barry J. Weinbaum, CEO of Renaissance Lighting, and found out.

"These lights consume far less power and electricity compared to traditional lights," he said. "Overall, they consume 80 per cent less electricity and last longer. Where a conventional light bulb would last 2,000 hours, an LED light would last about 50,000 hours. That's one year compared to 12 to 17 years."

Weinbaum explained that the efficient power consumption and low maintenance make these lights a convenient and easy solution to reducing the carbon footprint of the city. The use of LEDs in architecture, he added, is a new strategy.

"Previously these lights were only used for traffic lights, emergency lights and computers," he said. "Before, if you used LEDs to illuminate a large area you could see the little chips and the light would cause a striation effect in which layers of shadows would appear and they also had the possibility of causing headaches. We've eliminated all these issues and now we can use these lights in large areas."

The lights use a combination of RGB lights and are capable of producing 16 million colours of light.

The 'Green Dubai' initiative

With its slogan "Lighting the way to a green Dubai," the company is working hand in hand with the government in its efforts to nurture a green, more eco-friendly Dubai, Weinbaum said.

"The government challenged us to reduce the carbon footprint of Dubai and what better place to begin than with one of its greatest colleges," he said. "The lighting industry hasn't changed over the last 120 years, ever since Edison invented the light bulb. Now it has become a high-tech industry."

Weinbaum added that soon they will move into the consumer market by providing a "retro-fit kit" with which you can simply pop out the old socket and pop in the new one to accommodate LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights.

Fostering hands-on learning

Dr Robert W. Richards, Senior Director at DMC, said the change works hand in hand with the college's mission to teach the latest trends in technological development.

"At the Higher Colleges of Technology, we welcome all kinds of technology, especially those with a green footprint," he said. "This transforms the college into a 'living laboratory' for students, and the fact that every corner will be fitted with these new lights will establish this."

Richards said students would have the opportunity to examine these lights and analyse what went into their development.

"Students will study the intellectual property embedded in this technology and the discovery that led to this new way of lighting," he said. "It's important for a college to be able to demonstrate real-world problems. Bringing technology like this ensures we're connected to the world outside and we're expecting our students to be leaders in their industries."