Smart road lights win Swiss energy award

Five Swiss energy projects, including a smart road-lighting system, have been named as prize winners of this year’s Watt d’Or competition organised by the Federal Office of Energy. Canton Zurich’s utility company EKZ won the Energy Technology category for designing road lights, linked to sensors, that increase or reduce the amount of light produced according to the volume of traffic. The system, designed with technology company Schréder, can save a third of the energy consumption used in street lighting. Also honoured during the annual award was technology giant ABB for its TOSA electric bus, which went into operation in canton Geneva last month. The Paul Scherrer Institute won the Renewable Energy category while the architect firm Dietrich Schwarz was awarded a gold prize for its energy-efficient building design. A special Energy Efficiency prize went to canton Geneva’s éco21 programme that successfully reduced the carbon footprint for heating in buildings. The five category ...