Synergies and Trade-Offs Between Sustainable Development and Energy Performance of Exterior Lighting

Abstract

The aim of this review was to map synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development and energy efficiency and savings regarding exterior lighting. Exterior lighting, such as public road and street lighting, requires significant amounts of energy and hinders sustainable development through its increasing of light pollution, ecological impact, and global climate change. Interlinkages between indicators in sustainability and energy that have positive interactions will lead to a mutual reinforcement in the decision-making process, and vice versa, interlinkages between trade-offs may lead to unwanted and conflicting effects. Very few studies have presented a clear vision of how exterior lighting should be contributing to, and not counteracting, the sustainable development of our planet. This study was conducted through a theoretical and systematic analysis that examined the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance based on a framework using indicators and variables, and by reviewing the current literature. Additionally, 17 indicators of energy efficiency and energy savings were identified and used in the analysis. Most interactions between variables for sustainable development and energy performance (52%) were found to be synergistic. The synergistic interactions were mostly found (71%) in the ecological and environmental dimension showing that environmental and ecological sustainability goes hand in hand with energy efficiency and savings. Trade-offs were found only in the economic and social dimensions accounting for 18% of the interactions identified. This review shows that the interactions between sustainable development and energy performance can be used to establish more efficient policies for decision-making processes regarding exterior lighting.