Edinburgh Airport is on track to make savings in the region of £23,000 per year with the installation of 257 LED lights in the airport’s round-the-clock baggage hall, effectively halving its power use in this area.
The retrofitted lights replaced T8 fluorescents and will cut Edinburgh airport’s power demand by nearly 208,922 kWh/year, corresponding to annual savings of approximately £22,981, including the cost of carbon.
ReGen LED lights
The ReGen LED lights were chosen for their horizontal light spread, circumventing the common LED problem of a spotlight effect, Edinburgh Airport’s energy manager Julie McKinney told Energy Demand. The airport sought a bespoke solution and had a special diffuser fitted to each light, minimising glare and spreading the light more evenly across the hall.
In total, Edinburgh airport made savings of around 18% on its annual “building-only” electricity costs in 2012, due in part to the LED fittings in the baggage hall.
Gas reduction
In addition, by changing the way it operates its heating system in the terminal – alongside more favourable year-on-year weather conditions – the airport also cut gas use by 19% compared to 2011, reducing gas costs by around 4%.
The airport switched the temperature of the boilers down, and educed the timings on boiler plant by 1.5 hours per day.
Overall, the airport cut its “building-only” energy costs in 2012 by 16%.
At 385, Edinburgh Airport is the highest-ranking airport on the Environment Agency’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) table, achieving carbon savings of 3% in 2012 compared to 2011.
The cut accounts for the carbon emitted from the airport building itself, excluding the emissions from incoming and outgoing flights. However the airport said that it was working with flight operators to cut carbon emissions from this area too.
“We have been working closely with a number of external partners and organisations to help reduce carbon emissions,” said McKinney. “We have joined forces with the National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) and airline companies to promote the most fuel-efficient flying techniques for landing aircraft.”