In recent years, you may have noticed a shift in corporate priorities. While strategic growth and customer service remain central, there’s increasing concern over the disruption being caused by climate change. Many organizations are directly experiencing those effects, which are throwing business operations into disarray and uncertainty.

As a result of all this, many businesses are seeking to proactively address climate change. One way to do this is by reducing carbon emissions, since these emissions play a direct role in climate change. Dozens of companies have set net zero targets with a goal of eliminating their carbon emissions entirely.

It’s a goal we support, but it’s one we also recognize is not easily done. There’s no “magic wand” companies can wave to achieve net zero. Instead, they’ll need to approach the problem from every available angle—including their choices in lighting.

Here’s what you need to know about decarbonization and why LED lighting is well-poised to play a key role.

What Is a “Carbon Footprint” and How Is It Measured?

Spend much time learning about climate change, and sooner or later, you’ll probably encounter the term “carbon footprint.” The phrase is shorthand for the total amount of carbon emissions a person, group, or business is responsible for.

As you might imagine, calculating a carbon footprint isn’t a simple task. Take, for example, the carbon footprint of a single incandescent lightbulb. To determine its full carbon footprint, you might need to include:

• The energy used to manufacture the bulb
• The energy used to manufacture the packaging materials for the bulb
• Carbon emissions that result from shipping the bulb and/or bulb packaging
• Carbon emissions resulting from producing the energy that powers the bulb once it’s in use
• Any emissions that occur as a result of maintaining or disposing of the bulb

While that might seem like a lot to account for, that complexity also means a lot of opportunity. Reduce carbon emissions for any one of these variables, and you’re a little bit closer to achieving net zero. That’s what makes LED lighting such an attractive option for many of these corporations.

How Sustainable LED Lighting Helps to Reduce a Company’s Carbon Footprint

In a world where much of our electricity is still produced using coal and natural gas, both of which yield high carbon emissions, organizations seeking to reduce their carbon footprints often gravitate toward solutions that help them save energy. That may help explain why the global retrofit systems market is expected to grow to $210 billion by 2028. All over the world, there’s a tremendous demand for these solutions.

That’s great news for you if you’re in the LED lighting industry. It means that industries from health care to government to industrial sites are all potential customers in waiting, eager to reduce their carbon footprints through LED retrofits. (The cost savings aren’t hurting, either.)

And think about all those variables we talked about before — each of the factors that impacts the total carbon footprint of an incandescent lightbulb. When you consider that LEDs last longer, require less packaging material, and need less maintenance over their lifetimes, you begin to appreciate that LED lighting has an even bigger impact than you might think.

Using Smart Lighting and Automation to Help Customers Use Less Energy

LED lighting is a great option if your customers want to reduce their carbon footprints, but there’s even more you can offer. New technologies are making it possible to give your customers greater control over the way they use lighting, which in turn can lead to bigger energy savings.

For example, some spaces need more lighting controls than a simple “on/off” switch. In cases where your customers need dimmer controls, LEDs can dim to less than 1% of full output, unlike legacy lighting systems that only reduce to 10%-50%, helping save more energy.This image from our LiteSmart app (which is certified as a DLC Qualified Product for network lighting controls) shows how these controls can be easy to set up and operate.

“Smart lighting” is another great technology you’ll want to keep in mind. Smart LED lighting offers features like time scheduling, occupancy scheduling, and daylight harvesting, all of which help your customers to use less energy.

Once you start adding up all the ways you can help your customers shrink their carbon footprints, you’ll see that you can play an important role in helping them achieve their goals!

Lighting Solutions for a Better Tomorrow

While climate change is a serious problem, there are many reasons to feel optimistic about the steps businesses and other organizations are taking to combat it. But these steps will also mean a greater demand for solutions.

For retrofitters, there’s a huge opportunity to help these companies achieve their goals and reduce their carbon footprints through LED lighting. Litetronics products can help.