CILS Win Siemens Sustainability Award For Circular LED Retrofits

CILS win Siemens Award for re-using, upgrading, and donating LED fittings proving you can save energy, costs and carbon without replacing existing LED.

CILS Director of Operations Matt Bond and Marketing Officer Khrystyna Kovalevska receiving the Award from Siemens at the Supply Chain Sustainability Day 2025

CILS Award-Winning Lighting Solutions

Rising energy prices have exposed the limits of quick-fix LED upgrades — many done point-for-point, with no controls or proper design. Now trying to recover those lost savings many organisations often end up replacing perfectly functional LEDs.

CILS take a more circular, cost-effective approach. Our award-winning strategy is built around two core initiatives:

• Upgrade existing LEDs – We redesign lighting layouts to reduce fitting count and retrofit LED fittings with IoT-ready drivers and sensors. This often achieves 70-80% lighting energy saving without the cost of unnecessary replacement.
• Donate excess/incompatible LED – If a fitting can’t be upgraded to meet project requirements but is still functional, we donate the LED through our partner charities — currently supporting hospitals and refugee centres in Ukraine.

Could your existing LED installation be more energy efficient? Contact CILS to find out how much more you could save by making the most of what you already have.

Upgrade existing LED — Save More, Waste Less

A recent industrial project in the South-West shows just how far repurposing LED can go. We redesigned the client’s existing LED layout and upgraded every fitting with IoT smart controls. The result: 25 % less capital spend, zero waste, and a data-rich lighting system that will keep saving energy—and money—for years.

• 583 existing LEDs upgraded with D4i drivers and IoT sensors
• RIBA Stage 4 lighting designs removed 297 unnecessary fittings (-34 %)
• £46,800 in capital spend avoided
• 1.5t of e-waste kept out of landfill

The results of our redesign, reuse, and IoT upgrade speak for themselves:

• Energy saved: 75,189 kWh per year
• Carbon saved: 15.5 t CO₂e per year
• Cost saved: £19,8k per year 

By upgrading—rather than installing new LEDs—the client now uses over 70% less lighting energy than before the retrofit.

Matt Bond, Director of Operations at CILS, shared:

“I was genuinely proud to receive the award. At a time when e-waste is a growing concern, repurposing existing materials offers tremendous benefits — especially for organisations with LEDs that aren’t delivering their full energy-saving potential”.

Donate removed LED with CILS charity partners

When a LED fitting can’t be reused on site, we give it a second life where it’s most needed.

• October 2024: 280 reusable LEDs (500 kg) shipped via New Forest for Ukraine to hospitals and refugee centres in Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia.
• Next up: thousands more fittings being set aside for next shipment to Save Ukrainians in Kropyvnytskyi — a town especially close to our hearts as two of our team grew up there.

A community centre in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, receiving LED lights donated by CILS

Tatiana Tovstoliak, Head of the Ukrainian NGO Iron Angels, shared:

“Kryvyi Rih is home to many refugees, who are seeking shelter. The community centres work 24/7 to provide them with a safe space, but the rising cost of electricity has made it challenging to maintain a high standard of living for the refugees. Thanks to the LED donations from CILS, we will continue providing essential services for people in need, while lowering our energy costs”.

These projects bring together three things CILS care deeply about: responding to the climate crisis, reducing waste and creating social value. Circular thinking delivers impact not only for the planet, but also for our clients and for the communities who need it.

Ready to see what your LEDs can really do?

Get in touch to discuss:

• • LED retrofit audits
• • Lighting redesign & optimisation
• • IoT lighting controls
• • Carbon-reduction planning
• • Circular-economy solutions