It’s simply fine light!

Interview with Hans Willekes of the Province of Gelderland

“We use Innolumis luminaires not only because of their large energy savings but also because they are friendly for the surroundings: good for the environment and no hindrance to neighbouring homes and businesses due to light pollution ”, says Hans Willekes, policy advisor public lighting and traffic systems of the Province of Gelderland.

Golden Green in a nature-rich setting
Since 2009 the Province of Gelderland has already installed more than 1,000 Innolumis luminaires. “We especially have many of the luminaires with the colour Golden Green. It fits well in the nature-rich environment of the province. For our roads, most of which are outside urban areas, we consider white illumination to be too white. That’s why we’ve chosen Golden Green. Colour recognition under these lights is good. Also, as a traffic expert, I don’t want there to be too many different colours of light along public roads. A cohesive image is calming for drivers and prevents confusion”, says Willekes.

Cost reduction due to less maintenance
“For the province, sustainability and energy conservation are very important themes. And they recover their own costs. The fact that maintenance is limited reduces costs enormously. Traffic control is expensive with hoogwerkers , actie-wagens and collision absorbers. That entire circus on the road is costly and increases our CO2 footprint. We’ve now reduced this significantly.”

Darkness policy

Gelderland was one of the first provinces to implement the darkness policy: as little light pollution as possible. “If there is no need to illuminate a road, we do not do it. On the provincial road N782 between Bennekom and Heelsum, we removed many SOX lamps . If we choose for illumination, we quickly turn towards Innolumis lighting. It does not affect the wider environment .”

Development
“We received an innovation subsidy from the Dutch government to develop a luminaire with a high light yield. That led to the 56-watt Golden Green LED luminaire. With it, we can provide good lighting even from high masts of eight metres or more. So far we have installed five hundred of these. The province is going to organise a seminar about this development.”

Better visibility with less energy
“We ordered calculations to be made of light levels on the road between Nunspeet and Elspeet. These resulted in the equivalent of a 56-watt version of Golden Green. At that time, this version was still being developed, so we temporarily placed 36-watt luminaires. It was remarkable that during an expert meeting, all light experts in attendance agreed that this lower capacity was more than sufficient. That is due to the visibility bonus and also because there is little ambient light. You see, therefore, that multiple factors need to be considered when determining which type of illumination is chosen.”