MEDIA RELEASE
11 September 2004

Philips Lights Up Waitakere Community

West Aucklanders today received a taste of the lighting in its newest addition when New Zealand’s largest lighting company gave away 2,000 lightbulbs as part of the official opening of the Waitakere Trust Sports Complex.

Teams of people wearing striking ‘Tornado’ headgear handed out free Philips Tornado light bulbs to thousands of people who visited West Auckland’s new local. Philips developed the energy efficient lighting system for the entire Sports Complex.

Ray Sanders, General Manager of Philips Lighting, says the company wanted the local community to understand the benefits of energy efficient lighting for themselves. “There are a lot of ways that consumers can save power and in turn save themselves money, including simply changing their light bulbs. The Tornado is our latest design and we thought we’d celebrate the opening by giving some away free.”

The new complex features 26 different types of lighting, with Philips designing the lighting for the indoor sprint tracks, climbing walls, fitness studios, weights rooms, crèche, function centre, banquet facilities and a CTV broadcast centre.

Using technologically advanced luminaire systems, Philips reduced the total lighting power load by 14%. The company also employed high frequency control gear reducing the power demand by an additional 22%. The calculated payback for these improvements will take less than one year, Ray Sanders estimates.

Waitakere City Council is a strong advocate of the environmental sustainability policy, so energy efficient and environmentally friendly lighting solutions were required for the complex. “Philips Lighting was the obvious choice as the company’s continual improvement of environmental performance fits our criteria,” says Ross Dallow, chairman of the Waitakere Sports Trust.

In addition to providing lighting solutions for offices, retail and large scale developments such as the Sports Complex, Philips also offers a wide variety of energy efficient lighting solutions for the home.

The spiral-designed Tornado provides energy saving of up to 80% and lasts for three years. Designed to provide better light distribution, the 20 watt version gives equal output to a normal 100 watt incandescent lightbulb.

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