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In early 2017, Australian local government passed a tremendous milestone with the number of councils that have completed an energy efficient street lighting changeover passing the century mark. There have now been over 462,000 street lights already changed over in Australia to energy efficient alternatives like LED, representing around 18% of all lights and 26% of all residential (or local) roads. While there's still a long way to go, this dwarfs what's happening around the world with only 1% of...

Here we go again! Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years you’d be aware of the Federal Government’s “smart cities” push, which included a Smart Cities Summit in April 2016, launching Australia's very first Smart Cities Plan, and the first round of funding announced late last year. Round Two of the Program has just been announced and will be open for applications until 2nd July 2018. Over the last 5 years we’ve worked on funding applications with hundreds of councils around...

Australian councils are leading the way when it comes to changing to LED street lights. Indeed, over 18% of all Australian street lights have now been changed over to more energy efficient alternatives, including 26% of all residential (or local) roads. Every single successful project in Australia has been the result of cooperative dialogue and relationships between councils, DNSPs and other key stakeholders. We know that collaboration works. We know that arguing doesn’t. Which brings us onto...

Street lighting has always been big news in South Australia, especially over the last few years with mainstream media jumping into the fray and discussions around alternative ownership and maintenance models reaching fever pitch. This has all happened in the broader national context where 103 Australian councils have now completed an LED street lighting changeover, representing over 370,000 lights. Come along to our free council webinar on Thursday 15th June at 2pm (ACST) and hear the latest...

Community greenhouse gas data has been the bane of councils throughout Australia over the last decade. While developing a corporate (or internal) inventory is straight-forward enough, data limitations have hampered attempts to create complete community (or municipal-wide) inventories, while the lack of a clear and consistent protocol has frustrated those trying to account for various emission sources. However things have changed. There is now an internationally accepted reporting standard for...

South Australian councils are yet to be given the opportunity to jump on board the LED street lighting revolution. Until now. SA councils are invited to a council-only Public Lighting Forum on Thursday 28th July 2016, 10am-1pm at City of Charles Sturt to learn more about how to overcome the traditional barriers and start changing over to LEDs. The Forum will discuss the pioneering work of 9 leading councils from across South Australia who have been having regular, open and collaborative...

In June 2016 Victorian Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) AusNet Services announced the approval of six residential (Category P) LEDs and the introduction of three major road (Category V) LEDs that are now available for use on the network. This is big news for councils looking towards major road lighting changeovers as the next step in energy efficient public lighting upgrades. The new residential LEDs provide additional replacement options for 80W and 125W mercury vapour lights and...

The fourth annual Smart Lighting Summit is clearly the premier platform for councils and industry stakeholders to discuss strategies to improve energy efficiency, smart technologies, smart cities, upcoming project opportunities, new technology, and regulations impacting the sector. Last year’s event was truly a "meeting of the minds" and offered highly valuable networking opportunities with all the key players of Australia’s lighting scene. The “who’s who of lighting” will be there as always and...

In July 2015, Ironbark Sustainability was engaged by Victorian councils to submit a response to the Electricity Distribution Price Review (EDPR) on behalf of the Local Government sector. Fast-forward a few months and the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has just passed down its preliminary determination on electricity prices and the results are quite staggering. A review of the five separate determinations indicate a total minimum streetlight OMR saving across the state of around $22 million...

The who’s who of lighting gathered again for the third Annual Australian Smart Lighting Summit 2015 on 8th and 9th September 2015 in Melbourne. As always, the line-up was strong with representatives from lighting suppliers, manufacturers, roads authorities, councils, state government and distribution businesses. There were presentations on the latest in smart technology; a fascinating panel discussion featuring councils and distribution businesses; a word of warning from Tassie; and council...