NHS Sustainability report 2011

NHS Supply Chain has published its annual sustainability report

10 November 2011 at 10:53

NHS Supply Chain has published its annual sustainability report with a 14% carbon reduction in 2 years.
The NHS Supply Chain (NHS SC) has been in action since 2006 with the aim to deliver £1billion in savings for the NHS. With approximately 60% of carbon emissions across the NHS being attributed to the procurement sector the NHS SC has seen the opportunity to help with key target areas including; Energy, Waste, Water, Transport, Staff travel, Internal procurement and Training and awareness. They are committed to putting the principles of sustainability into practice and with ISO 14001 certification the key objectives include:

• Improving water, energy and fuel efficiency
• Reducing emissions, waste and pollution from distribution centres and our fleet vehicles
• Increasing recycling
• Improving vehicle fleet utilisation
• Reducing packaging
• Making more efficient use of natural resources across our business activities.

The report, which can be found at http://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/~/media/Files/Misc/Sustainability_report2010.ashx has measured a 14% reduction in carbon emissions between 2008 and 2010. The supply chain has gained these savings via a few main components including; packaging, introduction of greener vehicles; improvements to lighting and heating systems in warehouses and distribution centres across the UK.

LED lighting has played a part for sustainable operations noted here as a case study for Normanton Distribution Centre:

“Achievements for 2010: Undertook a trial of LED lighting on the loading bay at Normanton, reducing electricity consumption per hour from 500W to 6W.”

In the reports plans for 2011 – “Roll out LED lighting where appropriate across the network.” This is where we at Exled can help with energy saving and carbon emission cutting we are passionate about helping all areas of commercial and industrial organisations to help with their carbon cutting targets. We supply a wide range of LED solutions to help every area of a building, warehouse or estate save energy and carbon.

Give us a call for more information or arrange a site visit where we can help assess where LED lighting could benefit you  not only with improved lighting levels but we can help towards the 2050 goal of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions.

sales@exled.co.uk
01453 756361
www.exled.co.uk/solara

Get more from your lighting installation with Exled

The Exled view of lighting and area is more than just providing a functional installation.

There are many factors for consideration when choosing lighting. Apart from the practicality of providing the required light levels and within a budget, lighting should be stimulating. Lighting can be used to excite a plethora of emotions and feelings. It can be used to define areas of work and play. It can be a powerful tool, welcoming in a reception area and intimidating in the board room.

With this in mind Exled takes a more consultative approach to many of its projects. A Project Manager will be assigned to evaluate and assess how LED lighting can be used to benefit your organisation.

If required they will arrange to meet with the relevant team to develop ideas into a design brief. As a result of this dialogue Exled has often developed luminaries to meet a specific requirement.
All of our project proposals are backed up by a straight forward and detailed installation instructions and a comprehensive warranty. A Technical Manager is on hand to answer any on site questions during the installation phase.

Speak to our Sales team to discuss your latest lighting requirements on 01453 756361 or email us at sales@exled.co.uk

How do Rare Earths affect my current lighting choices?
In most modern electronic and consumer goods are created by using Rare Earths, these are indispensible group of 17 elements. These elements include Scandium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium and Europium to name a few. Most of these 17 elements are not as rare as the name suggests, the problem that occurs with these Rare Earths is how they naturally form; they are found in small quantities spread over large areas - making these elements hard to commercially mine as it is not cost effective.

Uses of these 17 elements are found in TV screens, petroleum refining, in-ear headphones, hybrid engines, lighter flints, wind turbines and even pool cleaning products as Lanthanum helps remove the phosphates that feed algae!


Why is this relevant to lighting?
As many as five of the Rare Earths are needed to create the white light needed for all lighting. Over 50% of the phosphor for Fluorescent and compact Fluorescent products is created from these elements, they are used in large quantities in Metal Halides Lamps and SON – high and low discharge lighting. LED lighting also uses these Rare Earths but in a much lower quantities and have not experienced the cost rise as much as the traditional alternatives.

With ever increasing demand for consumer and electrical goods and some limits in exporting quotas being introduced by China the limited stocks of these Rare Earths have driven cost levels to increase in value at a staggering rate, some of these elements cost’s have grown by over 1066% in the last year!

A number of actions are underway to help balance out this situation including the European Union along with other governments working with China to ensure policies are in place for monitoring fair policies and cost levels. In conjunction with this more Rare Earth mines are being re-opened and new mines being set up all over the world to ensure that the limited stocks are not solely exported from China. The shortfall has also meant some stockpiling taking place, which all means that this situation although initial steps have been taken to help control the situation it could take years to rectify with the timescale of opening new mines and costs of the available materials being currently so volatile.

Other initiatives currently being implemented include the ability to recycle Rare Earth metals as a more feasible and accessible option; ensuring that we reuse the materials already mined rather than relying solely on raw materials.


LED lighting shining through as a clear winner
The shortage of these Rare Earths has found a huge number of companies that sell traditional light sources having to increase their production costs over the last few months impacting on the end user, which has meant a hidden benefit for LED lighting. As the gap between the costs of the two technologies has reduced, it has made LED alternatives more viable and this will continue to help organisations to make the choice to switch to LED lighting.

The benefits of using LED lighting now include an additional point:
• Using less Rare Earths than traditional lamps
• Reducing energy usage
• Cutting CO2 emissions
• Lowering maintenance costs due to long life of LEDs
• Helping the environment with less waste and better efficiency

For advice on retrofitting or using LED lighting for your organisation, please contact Exled on sales@exled.co.uk or 01453 756361.

Why choose LED lighting?

Advantages of LED Lighting Systems:

• Extremely long life, ultra reliable
• Very low power consumption
• Produce almost no heat
• Produce no UV

When viewing solid state (LED) lighting as an alternative, it is important to consider the total system benefits. For example, due to the decrease in heat energy released in lighting of a building, air handling costs are reduced. The maintenance costs of having to regularly replace light bulbs are massively reduced.

 

The most efficient LED products only generate light in the visible spectrum. There are no ultraviolet rays or infrared radiation contained in the light beams of these products. Eliminating these wavelengths from the spectrum generates a cool light beam that will not degrade illuminated objects, with a light source that is safe to touch.

 

LED light sources last longer than any other light sources. More than 15 Years in most typical lighting applications. These solid state LED bulbs have no moving parts, no fragile glass shells, no mercury, no toxic gasses, and no delicate filament. Unlike conventional light bulbs, LED bulbs are not subject to sudden failure or burnout.

 

There is no point in time at which the light source ceases to function; instead LED bulbs gradually fade in performance over time, still delivering an average of 70% of initial intensity after 50,000 hours. In a situation where the light source is used for 9 hours per day, 6 days per week, all year round, this equates to over 15 years.

Exled have continued developing and improving their LED lighting solutions, as the industry developes better LEDs and improved systems have become available on the market. We ensure that we have great contacts with LED manufactures and ensure that we stay ahead of the industry by visiting the LED shows in Japan and China where new LED solutions are showcased.

Design to Delivery

QualityThroughout our 7 Years Exled has used a number of the best resources to bring quality and value for money solutions to the market place.

We have established strong relationships with Chip manufactures and packaging companies ensuring we work with the tightest bins. Sub components are manufactured in just a handful of plants helping to deliver this quality.

Engineering
Exled chose to locate its Research and Development department in house. Engineers with over 60 Years combined experience create a design brief, often meeting directly with the client.

Using CAD and thermal modelling software we start to marry the best solution to satisfy the application demands.

Prototypes are developed for the client to sign off. Only when the client is happy is the design submitted for certification and photometry testing by independent test houses.

Delivering
Our vertical approach is much in demand. Drawing on our industry knowledge and capability, Exled will deliver the right solution on time and within the agreed budget.

Where feasible our solutions are equipped with upgradable components. This future-proofing benefits the client further as efficiencies in LED advance.

We are proud of every product and many have been submitted for Awards & Patents.

LEDs for Security and Utility Lighting

LED floodlights have recently come of age; LED floodlights can now deliver high outputs and extremely long service life for much lower initial cost.

A 60Watt LED unit can replace a 500Watt Halogen light while still offering an instant switch on ability. A 40,000 hour service life without maintenance - worth it if it is half way up the side of a commercial warehouse or factory building!

LED lends itself well to portable task lighting, LEDs are resistant to vibration, with very high light outputs for low power consumption; this makes them ideal for site lighting tasks. Portable LED floodlights are becoming available that operate from larger battery packs in the leisure hire industry, offering an alternative to heavy duty armoured power cables and large generators.

Current projects for Exled for their new floodlight THE COMET include a large football club to look at LED stadium lights, replacing 1000Watt Sodium flood lights.

NEW Product launch - Fit & Forget for 30,000 hours, it's a Breeze!

The Breeze is the latest ceiling light from Exled. It has been developed to offer an inexpensive solution to lighting utility areas, ideal replacement for a 28W 2D fitting.

The Breeze offers an incredible 750 Lumens whilst only consuming 13Watts.

View product details and costs here



A product that lives up to its name, The Breeze:

• Easy to install
• Robust
• Easy wiring
• Fused
• 30,000 hour lifetime
• Lightweight
• Wipe Clean

www.led-lightbulbs.co.uk
sales@exled.co.uk