Funding lighting upgrades has never been so easy

The Australian lighting industry is facing a myriad of problems, including complicated and fragmented regulatory environment for energy-efficient products and substandard products giving a bad name to the industry, that could potentially restrain growth. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. In the article below, Ilum-a-lite’s CEO Mark Rutherford, explains how private and government funding options make it easy for businesses to go green.

The combination of government and private funding facilities, state and federal grants, and energy-saving incentives offers organisations that want to save energy and money some unique opportunities, unprecedented in Australia.

Here are some of the opportunities. In Queensland, Energex is offering cash incentives to large organisations to reduce demand. In NSW the Energy Saving Scheme (ESS) is providing fantastic rebates on energy saving, particularly in lighting when the capital cost is often reduced by as much as half. Victoria has expanded its Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) to commercial premises with a range of activities approved or soon to come. Also, in Melbourne, the Melbourne 1200 incentive program offers great opportunities to properties within the CBD.

Add to this grants such as the Solar Schools program which offers funding for energy-efficiency projects and The Community Energy Efficiency Program for local government and not-for-profit organisations and you have an array of funding choices for different sectors. But wait. There is more. The best is yet to come. How good would it be if you could increase your energy efficiency, lower your energy bill and have it funded with repayments that are less than the savings? Well you can!

Low Carbon Australia is a federally funded fund manager that provides low-cost finance to partners and projects that serve to reduce carbon. These include Macquarie Bank, Origin Energy and the Environmental Upgrade Fund, to mention just a few. Ilum-a-Lite is a long-established and major provider of energy-efficiency solutions and has knowledge of, and relationships with, the providers of all these incentives, grants and finance packages. Ilum-a-lite can provide guidance on the best finance and funding package, tailored to your organisation.

Ilum-a-lite’s Light Eco product range has now been installed in seven continents and export sales have been 33% of total sales. More than 75,000 units have been installed worldwide. Since 2004, Ilum-a-lite has formed a Joint Venture Company in China in which Ilum-a-lite owns 51%. Ilum-a-lite International, headquartered in Singapore, has recently been established to develop the South East Asian market. In 2011, Ilum-a-lite formed a capital partnership with venture capital firm Cleantech Ventures to help propel the company’s growth, especially in overseas markets.

By Mark Rutherford, CEO, Ilum-a-lite. Rutherford is a founding shareholder of Ilum-a-Lite and has been CEO since late 2001. Prior to taking a full-time role with Ilum-a-Lite, he operated a management consulting partnership specialising in developing leadership and management skills in senior executives. Mark has extensive experience in senior management roles and was Managing Director of an electronics manufacturing company (1988-1996), and a Naval Officer, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander in 1987. The company is now a focused energy-saving solution provider with a mix of products and services delivered by a team of highly skilled people.