Carl Scianna, founder of PolyBrite International, has produced a breakthrough marriage of pre-existing Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) technology and PolyBrite's own clear, durable, biodegradable, and inexpensive polymer as a result of the inspiration he felt at the accidental death of his cousin, a state police officer. The technology has sparked a new industry and is having a transformational environmental impact.
Innovation
Carl Scianna decided to place social and ecological soundness at the core of his product design and development. His efforts have generated several cutting-edge, safe, and profitable products. As a result, a marriage of pre-existing Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) technology and PolyBrite's own clear, durable, biodegradable, and inexpensive polymer has been used to create an environmentally safe technology that can replace many current lighting needs. Significant performance improvement and cost savings have been introduced through a variety of products: safety vests for police and firefighters, highly efficient outdoor lighting, highly durable indoor lighting.
Impact
Carl created PolyBrite to develop and market his products, now employing many people in a safe work environment. Over 50% of the world's electricity supply is used for signage. PolyBrite's new LED/polymer technology uses 95% less electricity than conventional incandescent lighting and 90% less electricity than conventional fluorescent and neon lighting. In addition, LED technology is completely biodegradable; no gas or mercury is released into the atmosphere when they break, no glass from these products remains in a landfill for hundreds of years. Savings for the consumer come through a more efficient use of electricity, and the distribution of light is more efficient, richer and pure. The lights also last much longer than conventional products. PolyBrite is currently testing outdoor bulbs. Their goal is to replace all conventional lighting for LED/polymer outdoor signage. The company will produce indoor bulbs under the Westinghouse label.
Inspiration
Ten years ago Carl's cousin, a state police officer was struck and killed by a vehicle as he left his patrol car during a routine, nighttime stop. The officer was wearing the standard reflective vest, but the oncoming driver was still unable to see him. Carl wondered if a better type of vest could have prevented his cousin's death. What if he were wearing a vest that emitted light instead of reflecting it? This led to the invention of a new type of vest that used LED lighting. With the success of this invention, he found that LED/polymer technology could be used to resolve other, larger environmental and energy issues. "I always look at what is going on in the world. What attracted me was that I thought there was a huge problem that is getting worse every day. The problem is that first, we do not have a lot of energy left and second, we are using a lot of power in signage and general illumination and we just keeping building more power houses. That is not the answer. The answer is to come up with a system to conserve our energy. That was why I started working on general illumination. I felt I could help" he said. "The polymer used in the PolyBrite technology has no harmful chemicals. If placed in a landfill, it will disintegrate so it is friendly to the environment... I believe in green and all my adult life have been involved and care about the environment."
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
