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The government wants to do something about it. It is committed to a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by the year 2010 and sees the lighting fraternity as a key player in the drive to meet its targets.

In the absence of market regulation to ban energy-hungry products, Lightswitch is a step in the right direction. Lightswitch is an energy efficiency initiative managed by the Energy Savings Trust, funded by the DETR, and supported by the Lighting Industry Federation. The central tenet of the scheme is to promote the use of energy efficient lighting in the non-domestic sector. Within the overall programme will be inititaives to drive certain technologies: the first is a Controls Rebate Scheme which targets small and medium sized enterprises (up to 249 employees) and schools and offers up to 50% off the installed costs of lighting controls up to a maximum of £3000.

Further initiatives will be developed throughout the lifetime of the programme – intended to run for the next four to five years. Around £½ million has been pumped in by the DETR in the year to the end of March 1999 and the Trust anticipates a similar commitment in the years ahead.

The good news for contractors is that the Trust sees them as crucial to the scheme's sucess. A network of Lightswitch Registered Contractors is being set up, initially targeting ECA members before spreading further afield.

With free registration until the end of March (annual fees are to be introduced after that) there is no excuse for not getting in touch with the Lightswitch team. Contractors will receive business leads from the Trust as well as benefiting from marketing tools such as the use of the Energy Efficiency logo, vehicle stickers and leaflets.

You will also get access to specially designed training courses in energy efficient lighting. Run under the auspices of the Building Research Establishment's Best Practice arm BRECSU, also funded by the DETR, the training will bring contractors up to speed on how to give customers an independent assessment of potential lighting energy savings. Central to this will be the use of a savings estimator tool developed by the BRE.

So what technologies are Lightswitch Registered Contractors expected to promote? T12 fluorescent tubes are central to the hit list. Surprisingly, contractors are still opting for T12s despite the fact that the more energy efficient T8 lamps are cheaper to buy while giving immediate energy savings of 8% with attendant running cost benefits for the client. T5 technology brings even greater savings, albeit for a higher initial outlay than T8 lamps.

Despite these obvious attractions, T12 products still have a market penetration of 20% of all linear fluorescents installed. "We want to accelerate the decline of T12 lamps," says Lightswitch programme manager Anthony Heywood.

Also on the hit list is the dreaded GLS lamp – immediate energy savings of 75% can be achieved by replacing them with compact fluorescent lamps, with the added attraction of reduced maintenance because of a much longer lamp life.

Similarly high savings can be reaped by replacing high wattage tungsten halogen lamps used as floodlights: high pressure sodium or metal halide lighting brings an energy saving of 65-75%.

Up to 80% savings can be seen when mains voltage reflector lamps are replaced by low voltage tungsten halogen or metal halide discharge lighting.

Old two feet 40 W and eight feet 125 W fluorescent lamps should also be replaced: use modern efficient fittings with reflectors/louvres or efficient prismatic controllers with high frequency electronic control gear and triphosphor lamps. Typical energy savings of 30-45% can be seen with much improved light quality, eg good colour rendering.

The use of high frequency electronic control gear also eliminates flicker, hum and stroboscopic effect, factors which have been linked to sick building syndrome. Anthony Heywood wants to see a big improvement in the amount of high frequency lighting installed: "We want to accelerate the uptake of high frequency lighting from the current 14% to 50%."

As well as examining lamp types, likely energy waste can be identified by checking the installed electrical load. This can be done by adding up the wattage of all lamps in the interior (add 15% to allow for control gear losses), then divide the total wattage by floor area in square metres to obtain the installed load in watts per square metres (W/m²).

Typical values for efficient general lighting installations are: 10 W/m² for offices (at an illuminance of 500 lux) and 7 W/m² in the industrial sector at an illuminance of 300 lux, or 10 W/m² at 500 lux. If the calculated figure for your installation is more than double these values you should take action.

Changing lamps is not the only way to ensure improved energy efficiency. Making full use of available daylight and ensuring that lighting is only on when required can reduce energy consumption by typically 20-60% as well as providing better working conditions along the way. Timers, presence or occupancy sensor operated controls and daylight-linked illuminance sensors all play their part.

The Controls Rebate Scheme within the Lightswitch initiative means the wily contractor can offer value added solutions to the client by clawing back 50% of the capital cost of the controls (up to a maximum of £3000). The client must be a business with less than 250 employees with a turnover less than £25 million. Anthony Heywood hopes the scheme will help to "double the sales of lighting controls from £10 million to £20 million per annum."

With rebates and free training on offer, what are you waiting for? Contact Lightswitch (0990 133538) or BRECSU (01923 664258) and help save the planet as well as win some new business.