• • • COVER STORY • • • Time to control the light?
Russell Joseph, national technical sales manager for controls at Luceco Lighting, part of the Luceco Group, looks at how organisations can take control of their lit environments and find the energy efficiency improvements they are looking for
everyday products and services we use on a daily basis. With precious resources in shortening supply and costs fluctuating from high to the extreme, the race to find more energy efficient resources is on. In times long gone, it was more regular for corporate businesses just to focus on energy efficiencies with the goal of reducing costs and improving profitability.
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In November 2020, the government announced it 10-point plan for reducing carbon emissions and the start of the ‘Green Industrial Revolution’, which focused businesses on looking for energy efficiency improvements to lower emissions through sustainable practices.
How can organisations
begin to make changes? Many organisations are still unaware that inefficient lighting can account for very large proportions of an electricity bill.
By making some easy swap outs of old lighting systems it is easy to improve comfort and experience for building occupants, whilst also reducing operating costs by as much as 50%. LED lighting for example, can deliver huge savings, providing quality lighting, that costs less to run, lasts much longer and requires no maintenance over the lifetime of the luminaire. A second area of focus is maximising control over their lit environment. This involves using
ever has there been a more poignant time in the history of the human race, to consider the environmental impact of
lighting only when it’s needed and harvesting natural daylight to its full potential when available. There are a multitude of automation techniques from controls, timers and sensors which enable the most efficient use of lighting and should be the norm for any building looking to improve on energy efficiencies.
In 2021, the government introduced the 2021 edition of Part L: Volume 2 covering buildings other than dwellings. Here, it increased the minimum efficacy for general lighting installed in non- domestic buildings from 60 Llm/cW to 95 Llm/cW and added requirements for automatic controls to be used in all spaces within a building; and for daylight controls to be used where there is available daylight.
6.63 of the edition states that unoccupied spaces should have automatic controls to turn general lighting off when the space is not in use and that occupied spaces should have automatic controls where suitable for the use of the space and further refers to the use of presence detection. Following this, 6.64 says that general lighting in occupied spaces should have daylight controls such as photo-switching and dimming for parts of the space which are likely to receive high levels of natural light.
How does an organisation
consider lighting controls? Lighting controls can often seem a daunting prospect to organisations looking to make improvements and with the emergence of
complicated control systems and ever-evolving technology, it can be difficult to navigate the array of lighting options.
Balancing out legislation requirements and efficiency improvements along with the comfort, safety and productivity of occupants is key. For example, ensuring lighting is delivering the appropriate lumen output, and that sensors and timers are commissioned and operate correctly based on occupancy and time of day. Whether a small office, or larger estates, it should be possible to provide a lighting control solution.A great example of a popular control strategy is LED lighting combined with control options such as scene setting, presence/absence detection and daylight dimming. Given the growing need for flexible tailored lighting systems there are some key considerations around controls; whether you are installing them in new or existing buildings.
• Perfect for new installations – PIR and microwave sensors can be used to detect presence and turn lighting on when a space is occupied and turn them off when it isn’t. These devices can also incorporate daylight sensors to turn off or dim down lighting in the presence of sufficient daylight.
• For older buildings – Wireless controls can make the process of upgrading old buildings easy and seamless, without the need to install extra control wiring into the fabric of the building.
8 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JULY/AUGUST 2023
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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