The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) has introduced an indoor lighting standard across the UAE in co-ordination with its key strategic partners of the Ecological Footprint Initiative.

The new standard will come into force six months from today, said ESMA, which made a strong appeal to the residents and businesses to switch to energy efficient lighting.

The new  indoor lighting standard will pave the way for the introduction of safe, high quality and energy efficient lighting products to the UAE market, as well as the phasing out of low quality, inefficient lighting products.

These measures will reduce energy consumption that will cut carbon emissions and result in financial savings for residents and the government.

The effective collaboration between the government, private sector and NGOs led to the development of the lighting standard as part of the Ecological Footprint Initiative, remarked Dr Rashid Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water and the chairman of the initiative’s steering committee.

 “Local research as well as international best practice tells us that energy efficiency standards are proven to be a cost effective way to reduce energy usage and our carbon footprint. The new UAE lighting standard will reduce the country’s energy consumption by 340-500MW per year which is equivalent to not using an average gas power station for six months."

"By developing this standard, the Ecological Footprint Initiative is successfully achieving its mission, and is helping to bring economic and environmental benefits to the UAE," he added.

Speaking in support of the lighting standard, Razan Al Mubarak, the secretary general of Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi said: "This important achievement came as a result of the strong collaboration of all partners of the Initiative. The standard will help to significantly reduce energy consumption by ensuring only high quality lighting products are available in the marketplace."

Abu Dhabi in particular will realise substantial environmental and economic benefits, which is a great step forward inachieving our overall vision, stated Al Mubarak.

The development of the standard was led by ESMA, the federal body of standardization in the UAE.

Esma director general Mohammad Saleh Badri said the reason for developing the lighting standard was because switching to energy efficient lighting shows the highest potential in energy savings after cooling.

“After our work on the cooling standard, it was logical to focus on lighting. This standard, which will come into force six months after today’s announcement, will ensure that the market only carries high quality indoor lighting products that meet requirements including electrical safety, energy efficiency, functionality and limits content of hazardous chemicals," he added.-TradeArabia News Service