| Abstract |
Lighting industry can be seen as a complex socio-technical phenomenon that involves human fundamental activities and produces a relevant environmental burden. As humanity is today facing relevant environmental problems, greening the lighting industry is becoming a priority. Today several efforts occur in order to improve energy efficiency, considered a way to both stimulate environmental sustainability and economic growth. In this paper we argue that sustainability in lighting sector could be represented by a conflicting process in which competition among different framings occurs. Even when societal actors seem to share specific interests or technological developments, as in the case of the lighting sector, the direction and pace of such changes can be conflictive and subject to uncertainty. Specifically, this paper identifies two main competing framings in the lighting sustainability discourse. The first one is based on the concept of energy efficiency that means "doing more with less". In this case, societal actors purse the technological system towards efficiency improvements. Reducing energy intensity is expected to improve environmental sustainability and open new market possibilities. This discourse implies specific actions, technologies and actors that basically focus on energy efficiency. This framing is opposed by another one based on energy conservation represented by the motto "using energy when and where needed'. In this case sustainability is mainly achieved through the reduction of artificial lighting demand. This results by increasing of natural lighting use or decreasing of overall lighting demand. The main holders of this framing are not the traditional lighting producers, but windows and builder producers, architects, optic fiber and natural lighting providers. The paper draws on a socio-technical approach. Therefore it considers such framings as two competing socio-technical (ST) systems that fulfill a societal function (need of light). Actors and technologies play a central role in any socio-technical transition, because such systems evolve as interaction of these two elements. This paper provides an innovative contribution to the lighting discussion in different ways. First, it produces a novel interpretation of the lighting sector, including players, technologies and applications that are traditionally not considered being part of it. Second, it gives a multifaceted interpretation of sustainability in terms of competition between different sustainable framings. Third, it shows that today sustainability is a relevant issue for lighting industry, but, fourth, it is mainly framed in terms of energy efficiency, sustained by well-built relations among different industry players, institutions, technologies and behaviors. This explains why the today lighting sustainable debate is mainly oriented towards energy efficiency within the "green growth paradigm", and why only some specific producers of artificial lumens are considered "being the lighting industry". Lastly, the paper indicates some elements, as the building industry and new functional oriented business models, can bridge the two different sustainable perspectives allowing new future scenarios that are here just depicted. |
