Green Switch for cities

What Green Switch can do for your city

 

Signify’s Green Switch program has been designed to help local authorities in consulting, auditing, and exploring funding and financing opportunities for advanced lighting solutions that make public lighting more energy-efficient and create cities that are fit for the future.

 

Our systems experts offer the deep knowledge and experience needed to coordinate the installation, commissioning, and operation of connected LED lighting systems specifically designed for cities. Since 2020, Signify has completed over 37,000 projects across the globe, helping over 10,000 local authorities to switch their lighting systems from conventional to connected LED.

Achieve your targets with Green Switch

 

Municipalities are on the front line of climate action. Cities use *around 78% of the world’s energy, accounting for more than 60% of its greenhouse gas emissions. Lighting accounts for *around 17% of energy usage in schools *and 16% of hospitals’ energy costs.

 

Street lighting alone can use *up to 40% of a municipality’s electricity budget, but public lighting isn’t just about external spaces. The municipal indoor environment is equally important, and public buildings are a crucial part of current decarbonization initiatives.

Decarbonization initiatives around the world

 

In the EU, for example, the new *Energy Efficiency Directive seeks to make all new public buildings zeroemission by 2027. The European Commission also introduced a legally binding annual energy consumption reduction target of 1.9% for the entire public sector and expanded its annual buildings renovation obligation to all levels of public administration.

 

In the US, for example, the *179D tax deduction of $5.00 per square foot can be applied to federal, state, or local government properties for installing qualified systems in buildings, including lighting.

 

Over the coming decades, city economic development plans must align with a shared social and environmental vision and exploit all possibilities for reducing energy use. Making the Green Switch from conventional lighting to connected LED lighting should be a part of this vision.

How much can making the Green Switch save annually?

For a town of 200,000 people

 

  • 13 GWh in public outdoor lighting
  • 23 GWh in lighting for public buildings
  • 8.3 tCO2
For a city of 1.5 million people
 
  • 80 GWh in public outdoor lighting
  • 140 GWh in lighting for public buildings
  • 51 tCO2
For a city with 6,000 conventional street lights
 
  • 1.7 GWh by switching to LED
  • 3.4 GWh by moving to connected LED
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Calculate what you can save with Green Switch

Start by selecting your area of interest.

By knowing your area of interest, we can better estimate the relevant lighting applications.

Cities
Business
Residential
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Choose your application area

By selecting an application area, we can better estimate what light points you might need.

Let us know your current lighting to be renewed

We've prefilled the data based on national benchmarks but feel free to adjust it to your circumstances.

Units

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Hours

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Watts

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/kWh

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kgCO2/kWh

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Here's what you could save moving to an efficient lighting system

Read more about the assumptions we made to calculate this estimate

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With connected lighting

When “Yes” is selected the estimate considers the saving generated by a connected lighting solution that is a system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to connect LED lighting devices to a network: lights can be remotely controlled, monitored, and optimized through a management system. Connected lighting solutions are designed to provide a range of benefits, such as energy savings, improved user experience, and enhanced safety and security. Otherwise, when “No” is selected the estimate considers the saving generated by standard LED lighting solution.

Speak with a Signify expert to get a detailed plan tailored to your specific needs

Green_Switch_Savings_Estimate_Report_31102023.pdf

Learn More
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Savings estimate report | Jun 10 2025

Here's what you could save moving to an efficient lighting system

Switching to LED and connected LED lighting represents one of the quickest ways for cities, businesses, and individuals to make progress toward sustainability goals. Signify has launched the Green Switch program to help get the process started.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this estimate is for illustrative purposes only, and the values resulting from the calculator are an approximation only. The estimate is based on the inputs provided, as well as on some stated assumptions. Signify makes every effort to provide up-to-date and accurate data, but accepts no liability for their accuracy or adequacy to the extent permitted by applicable laws. The values constituting the basis for calculations may be inaccurate due to product modifications, and may also depend on the conditions in which products are used or other external factors that may affect performance.

Annual savings estimate

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This estimate is based on the provided inputs:

Area of Interest

Application Area

Working Hours(Hours)

Average Wattage(Watts)

Connected Lighting

Country Selection

# of Conventional lights(units)

Electricity Costs ( /kWh)

Carbon Intensity(kgCO2/kWh)

Funding and financing opportunities

 

Government funding is being made available around the world to help local authorities achieve their carbon emissions reduction goals, through programs such as the *EU Green Deal, the US *Inflation Reduction Act and *Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the *New China Infrastructure Plan.

 

Additional funding may also be available through blended finance initiatives, including publicprivate partnerships. Signify offers *Light-as-aService (LaaS), which can help spur renovation by removing initial investment barriers.

 

Reach out to a Signify expert to learn more

Building truly sustainable cities

 

A city’s buildings, streets, parks, healthcare facilities, sports campuses, and more provide a huge scope for decarbonization. Connected LED lighting is a perfect backbone and underpinning network for smart city applications that can bring benefits in sustainability, energy efficiency, improving citizen quality of life, and climate action. Learn about creating truly sustainable cities in this white paper from Smart Cities World

 

Download the SCW whitepaper to learn more

 

Listen to the audio version of the whitepaper

 

To discover more, catch up on the recent webinar where Signify’s Harry Verhaar, and World Green Building Councils Stephen Richardson discussed with Smart Cities World about Technologies and policies to accelerate the decarbonisation of the built environment

 

Watch the webinar

Discover what Signify can do for your city

  • Hillwood Case study

    Hillwood Case study

    The use of integrated lighting at Hillwood Janki Sokolow has reduced the amount of artificial light directed into the sky by as much as tenfold.

  • Unipol Arena in Bologna

    Unipol Arena in Bologna

    See how Signify transformed Unipol Arena with Interact connected lighting and Philips LED for immersive shows, energy savings, and smart remote management.

Reach out to a Signify expert

Signify estimates are based on numerous sources, references, and data points
*Learn more about our calculation model and references
For more details about Signify’s commitments and results, read our annual report and sustainability supplements