LIGHTING & LIGHTING CONTROLS Getting the lighting right for education E
With rising electricity bills and a ban on manufacturing new fluorescents, a number of schools are upgrading their lighting these summer holidays. James Blackmore, product director for Collingwood Lighting explains how to specify a compliant and cost- effective solution
ducation demands high standards of lighting yet budgets for most schools and colleges are tight. While a modern LED lighting scheme will save ongoing operating costs, the challenge for a number of specifiers is how to provide a compliant scheme cost effectively. Fortunately, lighting technology has advanced considerably over the years, so given a good design you can specify better lighting to aid learning, reduce a school’s ongoing lighting bills and keep the initial CAPEX within budget. Typically, a modern LED lighting solution will save the school up to 60% of their ongoing costs by using controls such as presence and absence detection, dimming and daylight linking. You can achieve payback periods in less than a year when you give the right advice to phase the project to focus on the quick wins first.
Maximising energy efficiency
While all LED fittings are energy efficient, some are more efficient than others, so it’s worth checking both how many lumens per watt the luminaires provide and their optical performance for the space being lit. You will find a surprising disparity between fittings. Utilising natural daylight is of course free light and its best practice to have daylight linking sensors to the relevant luminaires to enable them to dim up and down in response to natural light levels. Other control in the classroom will vary from simple on/off control, remote dimming and absence detection using sensors. The latter will switch off the lights after a period of time with no movement. In other areas such as corridors, toilets and stairways you can automate the luminaires using presence detection sensors to switch the lights off when no one is in the room. You may find that a school does not have the budget to include lighting control, but if you select modular luminaires that can have sensors plugged into them then you can explain the benefits and encourage them to fit them when they have the funding.
Lighting quality
But good lighting is more than how many watts you can save.
The installation needs to light the tasks being carried out, the space and most importantly the faces of the people in the room so that the teacher can watch, notice and respond to their students.
In such an important environment there are standards that you must meet. These vary according what the room is used for. The illumination level for a classroom is a minimum of 300 lux for children or 500 lux for adults, however a key deliverable is to also provide 150 lux cylindrical illuminance.
This best practice helps illuminate not just the desks, walls and ceilings but also the faces of the people within the space to help good
communication. Consider supplementing the general lighting or select a fitting that widely disperses the light outwards from a central optic. New products such as our own Trinity fitting can help achieve this.
Other factors to check on a fitting are the “Unified Glare Rating” (UGR) which in a classroom should be 19 or less to provide a comfortable glare-free learning environment. While it can be higher than this in corridors or changing rooms it may also need to be lower in areas used for light sensitive tasks where it should be 16 or less.
Fewer fittings by design
Modern LED luminaires provide a better optical performance than older schemes, so you will find that you can generally provide a better lighting scheme with fewer fittings than the one that you are replacing. It helps to get a proper lighting assessment of the school to make sure that you provide the best solution. You will find that credible lighting suppliers provide this service free of charge since lighting designers would advocate that the best refurbishment originates from a re-design to current day best practice.
Remember outside
Such an assessment should also include outside, which needs lighting for both security and safety and for aesthetics to make the school a welcoming environment for children and parents. There are environmental considerations that you must take into account such as accurately targeting the light to avoid spillage and light pollution. You should also consider its affects on nocturnal animals; we would recommend using warmer 2200K colour temperatures to reduce the impact of blue light content. Getting the lighting right for education is important and you have to meet certain standards. It’s worth taking advantage of the free advice and support from manufacturers who understand how to best light the application to maximise future energy savings and encourage a better learning environment.
26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AUGUST 2024 Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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