SPOTLIGHT:MHA LIGHTING
Cutting carbon consumption Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre saves energywith award-winning lighting fromMHA
The NEC in Birminghamhas completely refitted its Skywalkwith award-winning LED lighting to improve the visitor experiencewhile saving energy and lowering carbon emissions.
T
he NEC asked experts at lighting specialists MHA Lighting to devise a
bespoke solution for the Skywalk that would reduce energy bills whilst improving light quality. MHA Lighting were also selected to replace the traditional fluorescent lighting in their Concourse and Gallery suites with their unique LED lighting that uses wave guide technology to achieve energy savings of up to 80 percent with intelligent controls. MHA Lighting installed 144
TiLites in the Concourse and Gallery Suites and 260 bespoke RodLites above the 400m long Skywalk that were designed to match the NEC’s corporate branding and to be in-keeping with lighting finishes in other areas. The 30watt RodLites replaced 54watt T8 Tubes (58-
60watts with ballast) – immediately creating energy savings of 50 percent. As the lights are on
continuously, software was installed that uses sensors to detect when the Skywalk area is empty and dims the RodLites to just 10 percent. With these intelligent controls more than 70 percent energy savings have been achieved. In the Concourse and Gallery Suites, MHA Lighting replaced T8 fluorescents with the TiLite 30 and TiLite 30/120 fittings that were engineered to dim down to just 7 percent and to work seamlessly with RGB LED down lights. Project engineer at the NEC
Andrew Cope says: “As an organisation the NEC has committed to a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Lighting is a massive part of us achieving this target. We have around 70,000 lights throughout the site - that equates to a fifth of our energy usage. That is a huge cost and finding solutions that improve light quality while reducing
energy consumption is key. “We definitely found the best
solution in terms of budget, energy reduction targets and overall lighting effect with MHA Lighting. The light colour, output and uniformity is tremendous and all in all I believe we have the right light solution for the NEC.” MHA Lighting provided 300
Lux for the Skylight and in the Concourse and Gallery suites 600Lux was achieved. MHA Lighting is the only lighting manufacturer to use wave guide technology to shine light sideways into an encapsulation – not directly outwards. This avoids direct contact with the eye and provides a safe and efficient light output. They also use acrylic rods to amplify and control the light output, reducing the number of LEDs required. This means they can use high power LEDs, draw less current and have no need to diffuse the output. MHA Lighting managing
director Tom Harrison says: “When I first saw the completed installation in the
NEC’s Concourse and Gallery Suites I felt extremely proud of the truly impressive lighting scheme we helped create. The combination of the colour changing LEDs and the white light from the TiLite, working in harmony under DMX control is sensational and creates a unique environment for events and conferences. “The Skywalk’s lighting
creates daylight indoors and I know has received extremely positive comments from the NEC’s customers for making the area more welcoming. Our digital light sources ability to deliver precisely the specific colour – and with an 80 CRI – not only makes the Skywalk brighter, cleaner and friendlier, but shows everything in its truest colour. “All these effects are over
and above the 70 percent energy savings and carbon reduction that we have helped the NEC to achieve.”
For more information visit
www.mhalighting.co.uk
ArchitectNews.co.uk | Architects Choice | 37
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