2 Lighting
Key
Because of its potential for huge energy consumption reductions, stage lighting is an area that requires considerable attention from an environmental sustainability perspective. It is responsible on average for 9% of a theatre venue’s overall energy use2, though for some venues it is much higher. For outdoor arts and unconventional site-specific performances, lighting alone can be responsible for 19% of electricity consumption3.
Starting Points Basic practices to start embedding environmental sustainability into your decision-making.
Stage lighting therefore offers substantial potential to reduce both energy usage and carbon emissions, in particular for production companies that are not permanently venue-based and have more control over their lighting choices than the energy efficiency of the buildings they perform at.
Industry Good Practice Pushing it a bit further; impact reducing initiatives that will raise you just above the norm. Leading Ideas Stuff to shout about; the ideas and practices that are beginning to fundamentally change the way we make theatre.
PRE-PRODUCTION Action Investigate the environmental impacts of different lighting choices. Explore what emerging technologies are currently being used in your area of production by talking to peers and suppliers. See the White Light and BBC green lighting guides on page 25 for more information. Find out what lighting stock the theatre you’re working in has in-house and use this in your design over hiring equipment. This saves transport emissions, and also the embodied impacts of creating new fixtures when the efficient use of existing lights may be sufficient for your purposes. If you need to hire, find a local supplier and combine deliveries to reduce transport emissions. Ask your supplier about what low energy products they offer, and whether they have an environmental policy for their business. Set environmental sustainability commitments and targets for the show’s lighting. Sit down with the production manager to go through the production’s environmental policy and set measurable objectives for reducing the impacts from lighting. Set a power limit for your lighting rig before it’s designed, to encourage a more energy efficient design. Learn more from Sydney Theatre Company ’s experience on page 26. Use energy efficient bulbs, for example tungsten moving lights rather than discharge.
sustainable production guide – Measure and manage your carbon emissions
2
Green Theatre Guide, Mayor of London (2008), p4. Available at: www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/greenguides/greentheatreguide 3
ISAN Environmental Sustainability Toolkit (2012), p50. Available at: www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/greenguides/isan-environmental-sustainability-toolkit
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