Light up the Future!

The focus on sustainability is ubiquitous, in all kinds of ways and in all parts of society. Smart ways to keep living comfortably, to successfully develop future-oriented businesses and the match between the two, are both a challenge and a massive opportunity. In particular for students and alumni of our faculty! For a long time now, our faculty has viewed the field of economics in a much broader sense than purely 'financial', a far too narrow label with which our domain was once bluntly associated, ignoring the broad wealth of education and research at our faculty. Today this bias has been largely dispelled by all parties thanks to continued, qualitative contributions to the matter. Nevertheless, the faculty and its partners, such as Ekonomika Alumni, continue to take initiatives to promote ethically and socially relevant projects within their community. For example, in the field of sustainability. A guest lecture by FEB alumnus Gert Roeckx, Country Manager of Signify, fits perfectly into this philosophy. Gert talked about Signify's business activities and the way in which the company literally illuminates the world and our homes in a cost-effective and at the same time energy-efficient way. Venue for the lecture was ‘de Polyvalente Zaal’ on Campus Brussels. Campus Dean, Jeroen Beliën, and the chairman of the Regional Circle of Ekonomika Alumni, Roger Heijens, both hosted the event. While making the familiar gesture of the open hand twist to change a lamp, Gert Roeckx started his lecture with an explanation of the name ‘Signify’ – a company that has spun off from Philips, but still may use the brand name. Through the concept of 'People, Profit and Planet', Gert provided the audience more insight into Signify's core business: lighting. People People spend about 80% of their time indoors. Since living in poorly illuminated places has a direct impact on people's productivity and mood, as well as a negative effect on health in the longer term, the right light at all times is crucial. When it comes to colors, Signify has a product range with lamps that can produce no fewer than 16 million colors: Philips Hue. When it comes to the right brightness, Signify offers solutions that can perfectly simulate day patterns, with a direct impact on the use of sleeping pills. Profit As far as Profit is concerned, LED technology remains as relevant as ever. The somewhat clumsy energy-saving lamps of the past have made way for a wide and attractive range of lamps that have the potential to reduce energy consumption by up to 95% (from 40 Watt to 2.3 Watt). Every simple 'twist of the wrist' can lead to a substantial saving of €30 per lamp per year! This quick win can be applied immediately everywhere and in every home. If all conventional lamps in Belgium were switched to LED overnight, the energy saved would be estimated to be equivalent to that of 1.2 million electric cars. It is generally accepted that electricity consumption for light (about 13% of total energy consumption) can be reduced by 50%. Planet In addition to this, reducing our use of scarce resources is also key when it comes to our Planet. Every year Earth Overshoot Day - the day on which humanity has used up all the raw materials that the earth can produce in one year - falls earlier. This year on July 27, which is a day earlier than last year. That is why it is absolutely necessary to pay full attention to circular products. Signify follows that principle rigorously, right from the design. As a consequence, 30% of the entire range is already circular. This is partly achieved through the combination of 3D printing, a production facility with many 3D printers and a strict make-to-order production process, avoiding excess stock and reducing waste and pollution. Moreover, the 3D printing technology makes it possible to reuse waste from other sources, such as old plastics, and really live up to the claim 'from waste to miracle'. Innovative practices and new business lines Along with its core activity, Signify is also developing new business lines based on a completely different use of light, each of which is fascinating in its own way. The first business is still related to lighting, but is making the switch from a product to a service, the so-called Light as a Service. This means that Signify becomes the manager and sometimes (co-)owner of huge lighting parks, such as airports or road infrastructure (e.g. the motorways in Wallonia). Besides the huge numbers (80,000 interconnected lamps!) and the very strict quality standard (99.5% up-time, always a stable light quality), it is also a huge business case, both in terms of capital investment and recurring business flows (caused by substantial cost avoidance through energy savings of up to 70%). The huge return on energy from dynamic lighting, f.i. lights are only switched on by means of sensors when there is an immediate traffic-related need, combined with cost savings from increased efficiency in operating and maintaining the park, result in lower cost of ownership and a positive business case, calculated over 20 years. A second application of Light as a Service growing towards a new activity is being developed around Smart Cities, with a close interaction between sufficient light sources in areas where it is needed (public transport areas) and increased safety within cities. Finally, Gert Roeckx explained two innovative ways in which Signify commercializes light beyond illumination. In horticulture e.g., the harvest of cucumbers and tomatoes can be greatly increased by controlling both the intensity and color of the light, while at the same time saving up to 90% water! The second innovation concerns 'Li-Fi'. Light as flawless mass data communication via glass fiber for wide area networks can also be used locally in the future: in addition to Wi-Fi, Li-Fi is gradually becoming an option for local wireless data communication at home, at the office or anywhere else. It also offers the opportunity to develop local services. Signify hotspots might soon be detectable on your laptop on a local wireless connection! With these surprisingly innovative business opportunities of light, the guest lecture concluded with an extensive Q&A with interesting questions from the audience, including some quite striking questions from the students. Clearly the ‘twist of the wrist’ has helped enlighten the many bright young minds! Many thanks to Gert Roeckx for the inspiring evening! Peter Vancompernolle