Highlights

The ELI Hungary program strategy included development of awareness and demand for efficient lighting in end-users (residential consumers, building owners/operators) and capacity development of the supply industry (professional designers, ESCOs, manufacturers/distributors, NGOs). Program impacts (energy and capacity savings, reductions in GHG emissions, market transformation) have been achieved through two major outcomes:

• Increase in awareness of and demand for quality CFLs in the residential sector, particularly rural residential households; and
• Increase in awareness of and demand for energy efficient lighting in existing buildings, particularly public buildings.

Residential Sector

The main emphasis was put on CFLs in the form of series of communication campaigns solely focused on the residential sector.

No such communications campaigns had been conducted in Hungary, and only the main manufacturers implemented some advertising or promotion campaigns for their own brands. ELI did not want to promote any particular CFL product of any manufacturer, but it intends to help the sales of good quality CFLs irrespective of their origin or manufacturer. Therefore the social communications campaign was not sponsored by any manufacturer or retail chains; it was solely financed by ELI.

The principale objectives of the campaign were the following:

• Increasing the CFL penetration rate;· Preferably increasing the sales of primarily cheaper (of 3.000 hours life time), but quality CFLs;
• Expanding the consumer knowledge of efficient lighting options and of the proper use of CFLs;
• Raising awareness and changing attitudes of consumer towards energy efficient lighting in particular and energy saving and environment in general;
• Stimulating the enhanced competition between efficient lighting products, thus contributing to the gradual decrease of retail prices;
• Informing consumers on the choice and on the latest technical and design developments of CFLs available on the market;

Non-residential sector

The activities included:

• lighting design training and certification for professional designers;
• lighting design training and certification for ESCOs, and training in financial management and project specific coaching; and
• ESCO transactional support including model contracts and supporting material.
• training for building owners/operators to increase awareness of and demand for energy efficient lighting and lighting retrofit projects (Light Day conference).

Street lighting was not addressed by ELI-Hungary. Surveys found that this field develop properly without market transformation assistance. The market players saw upgrading of street lighting as an easy-to-understand, easy-to-monitor service. As most of the projects can generate positive cash-flow, entrepreneurs find street lighting an attractive activity.

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