HEATING, VENTILATION & ENERGY EFFICIENCY


Smart lights control heating in elite athletics school


A smart lighting system has been supplied to a secondary school for aspiring elite athletes in Norway, capable of wirelessly communicating with and triggering the heating, ventilation, and other building systems


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A recent international study found that the currently prescribed minimum ventilation rates for residential buildings, and especially bedrooms, may be too low and result in disturbed sleep. Therefore, the recommendation is to revisit the relevant residential building standards so that the ventilation rate with outdoor air can keep CO2 produced by sleeping occupants at least below 1,000 ppm, or preferably below 800 ppm


ocated in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, Norges Toppidrettsgymnas Ungdomsskole (NTGU) is a private secondary school that combines academic education with regular sports training. It functions as a preparatory school for aspiring elite athletes, integrating general education and specialised sports-focused training into the school curriculum. The school is situated at Brann Stadium, the home of the local football team.


When the school building underwent a complete refurbishment, lighting specialist Glamox supplied more than 200 smart LED luminaires. These luminaires, which include a presence sensor to detect when people enter and leave a room, are wirelessly connected and controlled via a Wireless Radio Light Management System (LMS).


The LMS communicates with the building’s Building Management System (BMS) through an Application Programming Interface (API), enabling separate software applications to interact according to set rules and protocols. “The end result is that when people enter


the room, the lights are switched on, and the heating and ventilation systems are activated. On cold days, the heating is turned up to ensure comfort. Using lighting and heating only when and where they’re needed results in significant energy savings. And because the connectivity is wireless, the installation costs are reduced because it can be done quickly and efficiently without unnecessary and costly wiring,” says Vegard Einen, project manager, at SLS Elektro, which was the installer for the project and Glamox’s customer.


In general, upgrading an old lighting installation with an energy-efficient smart LED lighting system can reduce energy used for lighting by up to 90 per cent. Lower energy consumption saves money and lowers the customer’s carbon footprint. Smart building systems like this one will become commonplace. As part of the EU’s goal to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “Projects like these would have made Thomas Edison’s jaw drop, but the technology will become increasingly common in new buildings and major refurbishments. This is because heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC)


and lighting systems typically account for 60-80 per cent of energy use in public buildings. Smart lighting and building management systems, once the preserve of flagship luxury buildings, will become the new standard,” says Toril Bache Jenssen, director of sales for Glamox in Norway.


Exploring the effect of bedroom ventilation on sleep quality


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ood sleep is key to good health, overall well-being, and optimal cognitive function. Disturbed sleep or lack of sleep can lead to various health issues such


as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other morbidity, including Alzheimer’s disease and obesity. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that environmental factors that affect sleep quality, including temperature, noise, light, and air quality, are maintained optimally in the bedroom. Recent studies have consistently shown that inadequate bedroom ventilation can disturb sleep quality. Using these studies, it is possible to revisit the existing ventilation recommendations in bedrooms in a more comprehensive way.


Building on these foundations, in an innovative study, a research team led by Mizuho Akimoto, a research associate at the Advanced Collaborative Research Organization for Smart Society (ACROSS), Waseda University, Japan, together with Professor Shin-ichi Tanabe from the Department of Architecture, Waseda University; Prof Pawel Wargocki from the Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark; and Prof Li Lan from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, recently conducted a novel analysis as part of a project sponsored by ASHRAE (1837-RP); The overall aim was to provide input to ventilation standards in bedrooms to ensure that sleep quality is not disturbed by poor bedroom air quality. Their novel findings were published in the journal Science and Technology for the Built Environment Ms Akimoto said: “The present study not only incorporates a more representative body of evidence but also introduces several novel perspectives. It provides a multidimensional evaluation of how ventilation influences various sleep parameters, distinguishes between intervention and cross-sectional studies, and considers population-specific carbon dioxide (CO2


) emission rates during sleep.”


The team reviewed 17 studies, including 22 experimental datasets, to determine that the


8 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2026


Inadequate bedroom ventilation can disturb sleep quality, necessitating a revisit on residential building standards - Image credit: Ms Mizuho Akimoto from Waseda University, Japan


lowest ventilation with outdoor air causing disturbed sleep is when the (absolute) CO2 concentration reaches 1,000 ppm. They observed that the highest CO2


identifying target CO2 concentration


not causing any effect on sleep was 850 ppm at the lowest ventilation rate, but this cannot be regarded as a No Observed Adverse Effect Level due to sensor accuracy and safety margins. Therefore, the researchers proposed the lowest ventilation with outdoor air in bedrooms to keep CO2


which bedroom ventilation should be based. CO2


at or below 800 ppm; this is the target on in all these recommendations acts as a


, bedroom ventilation rates would need to be about 8 L/s per person, indicating at least twice the amount prescribed in many current residential standards. “Our findings suggest that currently prescribed minimum ventilation rates for residences may provide inadequate ventilation for bedrooms and may thus lead to impaired sleep. By


proxy indicator of ventilation rate, rather than a pollutant. To maintain the recommended target levels of CO2


of 800–1,000 ppm to


determine ventilation, the review provides evidence that can support reconsideration of ventilation requirements in building codes. This has implications for the housing industry and ventilation system manufacturers, who face the challenge of balancing energy efficiency with human health. We also propose methods to achieve these levels, though further development is needed,” says Ms Akimoto. The findings have potential implications for


revising the residential building standards in terms of ventilation in bedrooms. However, when properly ventilating bedrooms with sufficient outdoor air, energy usage should be minimised. It is believed that this recommendation will lead to improved sleep quality and holistically enhance the quality of life. Taken together, the present contributions offer a more robust and nuanced understanding of how bedroom ventilation affects sleep health and provide information relevant for future ventilation guidelines.


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