Let there be light – and let it come from a light-emitting diode (LED). The energy-saving light bulb has become a favourite with families and organisations who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint, and at the same time, energy bills.
Traditional incandescent light bulbs use electricity to heat a metal filament until it glows, so most of the energy used is expended as heat rather than light. LEDs, on the other hand, are semiconductor devices that shine when an electrical current passes through them, so they are far more efficient and can reduce energy usage by more than 80%.
In Singapore, an LED lamp lasts more than 20 times longer than a traditional tungsten filament lamp. What’s more, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA), you can save $14 for every 1,000 hours of use. In the United States, the government believes LEDs can slash the country’s energy bill and create savings of more than US$30 billion (S$41 billion) by 2027.
Lighting the way to this brighter, energy-saving and less expensive future is Keppel Land. We have partnered Royal Philips to replace the existing conventional office lamps with LED lighting on a zero capital expenditure (capex) scheme in its office premises. To engage and promote green practices among tenants, we have also extended the scheme to our tenants at Keppel Bay Tower in Singapore, as well as Saigon Centre in Vietnam.
Under the zero capex scheme, no upfront capital investment is required as the upgrade will be financed by savings from the reduced electricity use. This initiative is the first of its kind in Singapore for office buildings, and tenants are able to enjoy cost efficiencies of up to 60%.
Not only will people be able to see more comfortably, the LED lights will also last longer, at up to 50,000 hours – about 11 years if they are switched on for 12 hours a day. The new system also will use 50% less energy than the current lighting system, which is equivalent to about US$34,000 in electricity savings each year.
Such innovative thinking has earned Keppel Land the Green Mark Champion Award conferred by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore in 2014, among other international sustainability accolades.
If you live or work in Singapore and want to explore changing to LED lighting, look out for NEA’s energy labels. Lamps with three ticks on its label are the most energy-efficient and can help accumulate a tidy sum in electricity cost savings.
Make the change to LED lighting and you’ll not only be able to bask in the glow of more efficient lighting, but also spend less on electricity bills and save the environment.