REDUCING  carbon footprint with the use of energy efficient lighting solutions was one of the reasons Ayala Foundation Inc. has tapped Philips Electronics and Lighting Inc. to provide lighting solutions in the Ayala Museum lobby. 

On Wednesday, Ayala Foundation and Philips signed an agreement to formally recognize the joint efforts towards sustainable development through energy efficient lighting. 

As part of the agreement, Philips installed light-emitting diode (LED) lighting solutions to address the needs for less energy consumption, higher operational savings and better lighting performance.

“We are delighted to have Philips as our partner at the Ayala Museum. It highlights the need for us to embed the principles of sustainable development in all our activities, including our initiatives in art and culture,” Victoria Garchitorena, Ayala Foundation President, said. 

She added that the partnership also showcases how technology can be used to conserve resources for future generations to continue enjoy their benefits.

Rico Gonzales, Philips Electronics and Lighting Country Manager, said Philips has been advocating for green lighting solutions for many years.

Gonzales noted that lighting solutions consumes 19 percent of the global energy, and that three-fourths of it is inefficient. He further added that switching to compact fluorescent lamps from incandescent lamps can generate annual savings of $200 billion; 550 million tons of carbon emission every year; 1.5 billion barrels of oil can be saved; 530 medium-sized power plants or equivalent to 2 trillion watts per hour per year. 

“The flexibility of LED allows Ayala Museum to enjoy the experience of energy-efficient lighting in different settings, with lighting controls that optimize lighting quality and performance,” Gonzales said. 

The Ayala Museum recognizes the value of responsible lighting decisions both in enriching customer experience as well as achieving sound business returns, and have made the proactive first step towards achieving energy efficiency through lighting. 

Gonzales said Philips installed two solutions in Ayala Museum—the 35-watt Luxspace LED units to replace the Par38 120-watt incandescent lamps, which will result in energy savings of up to 70 percent, less heat generation and lower maintenance costs due to the LED’s long lifespan of 50,000 hours. 

He added that they also installed Dynalite lighting controls which give Ayala Museum full and easy control of lighting levels according to the needs of the museum.

Gonzales pointed out that LED prices have gone down to half of what it used to be in the past three years. 

At present, Gonzales said LED lighting solution only account for 8 percent of the global market. “But we expect LED business segment to grow globally to 50 percent by 2015 and maybe by another two or three years for the Philippine market,” he added.