LIGHTING & LIGHTING CONTROLS


Phasing in school LED lighting on a tight budget


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While fluorescent lighting is banned, many schools still use these outdated and inefficient fittings. As it gets harder to replace failed luminaires and lamps, Lee Brodie, technical manager at Collingwood Lighting explains what areas you need to prioritise in the face of tight budgets


ressure is increasing on schools to replace old fluorescent light fittings as replacement lamps are getting harder to source. Ultimately, they will all need replacing with LED luminaires,


and this will significantly reduce a school’s running costs with a payback on the investment that can be in as little as a year.


But in the real-world schools operate on tight capital budgets and may not have enough for a full lighting refurbishment. By phasing in LED lighting, you ensure that you install it where the school will benefit most and they can then use the old fittings and lamps as spares for other areas until they can afford to refurbish the whole school. Cost savings are just one benefit of LED lighting. Good modern fittings with a low unified glare rating (UGR) of 19 or less and a colour correlated temperature of 4000K will improve visual comfort and aid concentration. So, the first priority will be to install them in classrooms as this will help improve learning.


Survey your needs


But before you start get a lighting survey. A proper lighting assessment of the school will make sure that you provide the best solution. This will reveal how many LED fittings each room needs. Better technology means you can generally provide a better lighting scheme with fewer fittings than the ones that you are replacing.


It means that the school will get a better lighting scheme, which costs less to run from fewer fittings, so the capital cost may be lower than they realise.


This survey should also give you estimated


energy running costs, carbon savings, and the potential payback time for the investment. Armed with the facts make sure that the school and whoever is in charge of the budget understands what savings they will achieve. You never know they may find some extra funding for a more extensive lighting refurbishment. Many manufacturers offer a free lighting survey and design to make sure that the school gets the best solution within their budget, so it’s worth exploring your options.


Focus on entire areas


Unlike fluorescent luminaires, LED lighting will not need maintenance for several years. This will help the school with their maintenance programmes as they will only need to worry about non-LED areas in the near future. With this in mind, you need to avoid a piecemeal approach to the refurbishment


as individual fluorescents fail. It’s better and a more effective use of money to replace a complete area or room with a proper lighting design. This maximises the benefit in terms of lighting quality and makes it easier to use the old fluorescent fittings for those areas that still use them. Plus, it highlights what’s next for replacement as new budgets become available.


Maximise energy savings


After completing an LED refurbishment it’s worth having a further conversation about phasing in other potential energy and cost saving measures such as lighting control. This may start in areas that yield the greatest savings for the least cost – so presence detection in toilets and corridors for example. In the longer term the school can really address their ongoing lighting costs and carbon footprint by using daylight linking sensors for fittings near windows.


Check emergency lighting


Too often emergency lighting is an after- thought, and many schools are finding that they are not compliant. You need to address this before or certainly alongside any other lighting refurbishment.


While it might have been compliant when the system was installed, systems must match current building use and layout. In addition, emergency packs degrade over time and while the lights may be okay, some fittings could fail their battery duration test. People use schools beyond 9.00am to 5.00pm. There are parent evenings and their buildings are often used as multi centre spaces that remain open until late. Many of those people will be unfamiliar with the layout and


12 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MAY 2026


escape routes which heightens the risk should the worst happen. Remember that the responsible person for the building has a legal duty to ensure the occupants safety as part of the Fire Safety Act 2021. Getting the emergency lighting right needs a thorough risk assessment and it is the topic of completely different conversation. But if you are getting a lighting survey done, then it is worth asking whether this includes an assessment of this safety critical aspect of lighting. At least then the “responsible person” knows their legal obligations and what needs to be done.


Remember outdoor lighting


When you have finished indoors, it’s well worth considering outdoor lighting. A well-planned scheme will be more welcoming and make the space feel safer for students and staff. Just like indoors, modern LED fittings will save them energy and ongoing costs compared to metal halide or halogen. It is now three years since the ban on manufacturing fluorescent fittings, yet many schools still have this old technology. It is essential that they replace them because the chance of finding lamps or parts for maintenance is becoming impossible. In addition, a school could save up to 82% of their lighting running costs and significantly reduce their carbon footprint with a modern LED solution that includes presence and absence detection, dimming and daylight linking. Ideally, they should replace all their lighting to minimise disruption during a refurbishment, but if there is not enough capital budget then suggesting a phased installation will maximise cost and energy savings and improve learning outcomes.


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