On the 6th and 7th of September delegates convened at the 2016 Annual Australian Smart Lighting Summit at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. Now in its 4th season, the Summit once again brought together over 150 key lighting industry stakeholders, with lighting industry professionals ranging from engineers, architects, manufacturers, public sector representatives, road authorities, consultants and lighting designers.
With a wide array of international speakers present, delegates heard from the likes of Principal Lighting Designer Kaoru Mende of Lighting Planners Associates in Japan. Mr Mende, who spearheaded Singapore’s lighting master plan, brought his 38 years of experience as a lighting designer to the topic of urban scale lighting.
“Each city should have a unique lighting plan influenced by its local history, culture and architecture”, he said, emphasising Singapore’s cosmopolitan character and highlighting the importance of taking into consideration a city’s distinct features in planning and design phases.
“Lighting technology always develops and cities have to renovate their lighting ideas and techniques as they grow globally,” Mr Mende concluded.
The first day of the Summit capped off with the City Lights Tour, an urban discovery walk through the Melbourne Docklands, uncovering the city’s hidden treasures, public lighting, distinctive buildings and iconic public spaces.
Washington DC’s Smart Outdoor Lighting Alliance (SOLA) Executive Director Bob Parks and Light and Culture Program Advisor Rik van Stiphout from the City of Eindhoven also headlined the Summit to discuss international case studies and lighting trends with interactive Q&A sessions and panel discussions.
A local perspective on the Summit came from Team Leader of Industrial Design at City of Melbourne, Ian Dryden, who sees the Summit as a “good format for resolving issues between distributors and councils and a forum for sharing ideas”.
Focusing largely on the question of sustainability and smart, green lighting design into the future, according to Mr Dryden the Summit is a platform for industry leaders to “resolve sustainability issues by coming together and sharing knowledge”.
The 2016 edition of the Annual Australian Smart Lighting Summit was an overwhelming success, with Mr Dryden commenting, “The rooms seem to get bigger and bigger every year and better”.
Throughout the Summit, a number of panel discussions featured highly experienced local and international speakers who addressed the issues at the forefront of the lighting community. Topics ranged from smart lighting solutions and street lighting replacement programs to lighting and safety perceptions, the impact of lighting on crime prevention and the role of lighting in creating safer and vibrant night-time economies.
Summit delegates heard from Team Leader Paul Glennie in Strategic Planning, Transport & Waste Operations from Wellington City Council on the city’s intelligent street lighting solutions. Australia’s first intelligent street lighting trial project was also discussed by Team Leader in Business Solutions Sonjoy Ghosh from Adelaide City Council.
The Summit also considered fascinating topics such as lighting pollution and the health impacts of exposure to artificial light at night with Principal Scientist and Director Dr Kellie Pendoley from Pendoley Environmental. The tensions between colour quality, luminous efficacy, and the desire to minimise light pollution in outdoor lighting were also discussed by Program Director Dr Wendy Davis from Illumination Design and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney.
For the first time since its inception, the Summit saw the presentation of the inaugural Delegates Choice Awards. Delegates voted on the most innovative product or solution and on the product they deemed to have the best design.
Traffic Technologies’ Aldridge Lighting Systems AERO V-LED was announced as the winner in the Best Design Award category for displaying uniqueness both in functionality and design, through democratic voting by industry peers and lighting experts at the Summit. The Australian designed and manufactured product is already widely in use across the country with over 3000 fittings installed in Victoria alone.
Voted as most innovative and technologically advanced, High Lux’s Solar LED bollard, vandal-resistant and virtually indestructible, won the Most Innovative Product award. Delegates voted on whether the products or solutions on display at the Summit took existing technology to new levels and addressed issues of energy, effectiveness, budget restraints, operation and maintenance.
The Annual Australian Smart Lighting Summit, an immersive two day experience which included keynote presentations and Q&As offering unrivalled networking and learning experiences, convenes again in its fifth year in September 2017.
About Expotrade
Expotrade is a global conference and event organiser with its head office based in Melbourne, Australia. Expotrade has delivered some of the largest, most successful B2B industry conferences and events in the areas of infrastructure, major projects, sustainability, technology & architecture. For almost 10 years, our unique blend of knowledge, experience and flexibility has accomplished an array of consistently top quality events. Today, Expotrade events enjoy such a distinctive edge, they are amongst the best patronised in the calendar.
For more information, visit www.expotradeglobal.com
Publish your content with EB Publishing
It's about who you reach. Get your news, events, jobs and thought leadership seen by those who matter to you.
