Rail
Illuminating Britain's railway stations in the 21st century
As both our commercial building stock continues to age so the opportunities for refurbishment grow. To the enlightened property or facilities manager this can provide an opportunity to investigate, invest in and benefit from the latest technology and approaches to deliver a building that meets the health, well-being and aesthetic demands of its user whilst also meeting the ever more stringent commercial requisites of energy saving and efficiency, combined with optimum occupancy levels. One of the biggest differences between a new build and refurbishment project is that the latter will not be subject to local council sign-off in the same way a new build would be. This may, inadvertently, lead to customers not fully realising their duty of compliance when it comes to niche areas such as lighting. At first appointing a specialist consultant might be seen as an unnecessary expense but this may be a short-sighted saving that could result in far higher penalties further down the track, especially in the case of the rail industry. Avril Chaffey, freelance writer, explains
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n the next 10 year's significant growth is expected in many sectors as the population continues to grow. Expansion of the rail network with new stations, HS2 and longer platforms to accommodate larger trains and increasing passenger numbers shows this is a growing area. Increasing energy costs, new tariffs and smart meters mean that organisations need to think now about how they use their energy and improve their lighting efficiency. This doesn't just mean replacing fluorescent tubes with LEDs, it is about designing, monitoring and managing the lighting solutions. Rail operators are being encouraged to make energy reductions of typically 20-30 per cent across their property portfolio by the Departments of Transport as a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) within their franchise bids. Unlike many organisations much of the rail operators' property estate is relatively open space, with often just a simple roof or shelter provided, so the level of savings that can be made with improvements to heating systems is limited, and consequently the lighting system is required to deliver an even bigger saving. The rail franchises are faced with three dilemmas: What is determined as acceptable lighting to all stakeholders
36 June 2018
operating within the station? E.g. customers, staff and train drivers (you don't want the latter blinded by glare or have limited visibility of the platform and track as they enter the platform). How can they improve efficiency whilst also improving light levels? And how can controls help in delivering the required savings? London Midland had a requirement to
reduce energy consumption across the 185 stations and four depots under its remit. Quick wins such as replacing its old inefficient lighting with high efficiency LEDs, delivered some savings, up to 40 per cent reduction in the operating costs of the lighting in some cases, but much of the energy consumption at larger stations is attributed to other elements of the infrastructure such as HVAC, signalling systems, heating, water heaters and often assets consuming energy outside of their control.
Getting lighting back on track At this stage, they turned to Thorlux for guidance and advice on how they could achieve the necessary savings. After a survey of all 32 stations, Thorlux made a series of recommendations that would reduce the energy load. The first station to be upgraded was Redditch. Whilst they wanted to make savings, London Midland also wanted to improve the light levels in the car park, platforms and ticket office and maintain a 24hr security light presence. Previously the old lighting was being turned off at night (1am-5am) by a time clock whilst the station was closed. At first asking for additional light whilst making significant savings would seem an insurmountable challenge. By using the SmartScan System each luminaire is able to measure and report on its own energy usage and can adjust its brightness depending on the natural light levels at any one time. Each luminaire is supplied with a Tridonic dual function Smart sensor with PIR to detect occupancy/movement and light sensor. The duration and level of illumination was greatly improved in
comparison to the previous regime. Even though light levels and average 'on hours' per day have been increased, the use of SMART controls has increased the level of saving on lighting power consumption to 76 per cent.
Maintenance is key The key to achieving the desired reductions is the installation of more efficient units that require less maintenance and that the maintenance that may be required can be scheduled more effectively. Once all the costs are taken into consideration it delivers a far greater return on investment. At Redditch Station, it was calculated that the ROI (return of investment) on just the lighting would take between six to seven years but once the maintenance improvements were taken into consideration this figure reduced to four years. By using the SmartScan group control option, London Midland and Thorlux could accurately monitor the data coming from the grouped luminaires across the different platform areas. Using the existing wiring, information was fed via the gateway to the web portal. This records all test procedures automatically and can also indicate whether a fault in a unit is a power failure, the sensor or the light itself. Once a fault is identified the customer is alerted by text and/or email and the appropriate maintenance visit can then be arranged, with the engineer equipped with the necessary information and parts in order to rectify the fault on that single visit. An alternative method is to use wireless
group control of lighting by means of SMART integral sensors with wireless transceivers. Group control is essential for passenger and staff safety and security, ensuring that during low occupancy conditions that no one is left in the dark and that the required minimum light levels are always achieved. When this remote monitoring, testing
and reporting is applied to emergency lighting the savings are further increased. The costs associated with the testing and maintenance of a manual test emergency luminaire are typically £50 per annum. When this is multiplied across all the stations under the jurisdiction of any one franchise holder then its significance in the budget soon becomes clear. With the improvements in battery life combined with the remote capabilities of the monitoring and control systems it is easy to see how an automatic lighting system can deliver double the savings made.
www.thorlux.co.uk Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
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