Dear reader,

In this second newsletter of Smart Light Concepts we will give you an insight into the progress of two topics of our project. 

The following topics are presented:

- Progress of pilot project Etten-Leur 
- Progress of the decision support tool by Portsmouth University

Progress of pilotproject Etten-Leur

In October the municipality of Etten-Leur organized an information session for all residents and road users of the local rural area. In this area the SLIC project will be carried out. Aim of the meeting was sharing information and ambitions of SLIC and the pilot, the various lighting techniques and sensors that will be applied, the installation activities, their planning and the communication during the pilot period. An important ambition was creating a platform for questions and worries, and inviting the participants to cooperate and sharing experiences and ideas. 

Project website
Several weeks before the session the municipality of Etten-Leur launched a project website. The website offers background information and insights about SLIC and the pilot in the rural area. The site is at the same time a platform to streamline questions and answers and to involve residents and road users via questionnaires. The first result of the first questionnaire was presented during the information session. It concerned a zero measurement: what opinions do people have about the present lighting, how do they appreciate the social and road safety in the area. 

Participants in information session
Participants were invited by post. The list of invitees was based on a previous made stakeholder analysis. Also invited were people and organizations without direct interests in the area, such as environmental organizations, neighboring municipalities and city councilors. Approximately 80 participants attended the session.

Social media
Before the information session there was some turbulence on social media about possible health damage caused by sensors and 5G techniques. This lead to the expectation of many questions and emotional remarks during the session. They didn’t occur. Besides, the technique used in Etten-Leur is wireless 2G, which is considered as totally safe for the environment.

Installation activities
The installation activities started at the end of October. The greater part of the installation activities was finished at the end of November. In broad lines the activities implied changing fixtures and lamps and installing sensors. Fixtures and sensor are attached to the existing light posts.

Decision support tool for low carbon pl technology

The adoption of energy efficient lighting technologies by municipalities has been undergoing technological transformation as a way to reduce harmful emissions, energy consumption and as a facilitator of sustainable smart city goals. Currently, energy efficient lighting systems that reduce energy consumption also meet these important features are hindered by several barriers such as initial setup cost, policies and regulations, knowledge about the technologies and the lack of an established minimum quality standard.

Purpose of the tool
The main aim of the decision support tool is to provide the decision-maker with a tool to aid in the adoption of innovative technologies and techniques for energy savings, low-carbon technologies and renewable energy use in smart cities.
The tool integrates the economic, environmental, social and technical sustainability aspects of public lighting in different surroundings (urban, rural, industrial, nature, historical site ad business).
The tool consists of a user interface that allows for computational analysis which combines these sustainability dimensions along with the preference of each individual user. The analysis provides a ranked set of scored outputs (lighting options) highlighting the cost and impact of each dimension. According to the score of each option, the best solution is selected.

Next steps
Step 1. Data collection: Site visits to pilot partners will be planning for data collection and information gathering around the current technologies (costs, emissions and safety) and techniques (dimming, trimming, sensors, remote management, cameras and other smart techniques)

Step 2. Development of a first concept DST:  A first version of the tool will be developed using the data and information gathered from step 1.

Step 3. Tool validation: The functionality of the tool will be tested on a small scale will one pilot partner.

Step 4. Feedback from step 3 will be used to improve the tested tool to develop updated versions of the tool.

Follow-up
During the partner meeting in January 2019 in Mechelen, Belgium, Portsmouth University will present the decision support tool using the pilot project of Suffolk as a case.

More about the project

Follow the progress of the Smart Light Concepts project on smartlightconcepts.eu. 

On behalf of all partners of the Smart Light Concepts project,

Karen Janssen and Nies Rijnders
Project leaders, Smart Light Concepts
Avans University of Applied Sciences