LIGHTING BUILD SMART & SUSTAINABLE
LED lighting has rapidly evolved from a disruptive new technology to the standard of choice for architects, business owners and facilities managers, explains Nick Farraway, Vice President and General Manager, Cree Europe.
Whether designing an LED lighting installation for a new build, or retrofitting an outdated system, the benefits of LED lighting are wide-ranging. From reducing a building’s carbon footprint, to slashing energy bills and maintenance costs, the LED lighting success story comes as no surprise.
That said, many still don’t make the switch; either because of assumed upfront investment costs, or the perceived complexity of a large LED retrofit roll-out, or simply because they don’t understand the value of replacing a system that works, no matter how inefficient or outdated.
That’s why, in today’s crowded LED lighting market, it’s important to choose a quality product and a knowledgeable manufacturer and partner, that will help facilities managers navigate a new LED lighting system in order to take full advantage of its benefits to generate a rapid return on investment, and much more.
A sustainable investment According to The Carbon Trust, LED lighting is the only technology change to offer a considerable level of power reduction, while maintaining or improving on operational performance. A quality LED lighting installation can reduce energy usage up to 70% and significantly slash energy bills.
Manufacturing hardware producer, The Forgital Group, installed Cree LED luminaires across its entire Italian site, including its warehouse, parking and production sites. Since the upgrade, the annual power consumption of Forgital’s Velo d'Astico site has led to huge energy savings and a one year return on investment.
A new lighting system
also helped the company prevent the generation of
4,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 its employees and local community. .
Its new lighting system also helped the company hit its sustainability goals by preventing the generation of 4,000 tonnes of harmful CO2
, thereby keeping the air clean for
Low maintenance - low costs Cost can be a concern for facilities managers considering whether to install or upgrade to an LED system. While LED lights are more expensive to purchase than incandescent, fluorescent, metal halide or sodium bulbs,
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it is hard to ignore their longer lifespan and reduced maintenance costs.
LED lights have a lifespan between 20 and 25 years compared to traditional technologies, which require re- lamping every two years on average. This means saving on long-term upkeep costs, staff training and general and unnecessary waste. And to make facilities managers’ lives even easier, LED luminaires are often compatible with internal monitoring systems that automatically notify users if the light no longer performs to the required standard.
This year, Nicas local council in Latvia installed a high- class LED lighting system in in its newly-built low-carbon sports hall complex. The building managers were after a very low maintenance lighting system, and expect to save 95% on upkeep and maintenance costs, thanks to the overall quality of the LED lighting system.
Lighting controls to drive sustainability In large offices or warehouses where activity is ongoing or unpredictable - with staff and visitors coming and going at all hours - it’s worth pairing lighting controls with smart sensors and controls, which allow users to adjust brightness levels to suit the working environment and time of day.
Connecting an LED lighting system to movement and absence sensors will detect whether someone is in a room, and turn the lights off and on accordingly. This means no longer having to worry about lights being left on in empty rooms and improves the overall efficiency of the lighting system.
When UK satellite communications company Paradigm Communication Systems relocated to new offices in Hampshire, Cree installed LED lighting with a control system to adapt lighting levels based upon the building occupancy and different requirements throughout the day. The project recorded annual energy savings of over 75% and a rapid return on investment.
Intelligent LED lighting systems equipped with the new daylight harvesting technology adjust the power and output of each individual luminaire to the amount of sunlight entering any given room in a building, thanks to individual sensors installed in each luminaire. Not only does this help save energy by making the most of natural light, it also ensures consistent, comfortable light levels without wasting extra watts.
Although LED technology is forever evolving, a high- quality LED lighting installation will not become obsolete. Since these control systems are based on software that can be updated as technology evolves,
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