Emergency Lighting
LEDto Safety
Emergency lighting is integral to evacuation plans for any building, whether it’s an office, factory or warehouse, retail or leisure facility, multi-occupancy residence or educational place.
I
ndeed, it is also a legal requirement for most premises, as the BS 5266 Emergency Lighting standard states:
“Every workplace shall have suitable and sufficient emergency lighting and that suitable and sufficient emergency lighting shall be provided and maintained in any room in which persons at work are specifically exposed to danger in the event of failure of artificial lighting.” With any loss of power, an effective
emergency lighting system ensures the safety and peace-of-mind of everyone on the premises. Evacuating people out of a building in darkness can be difficult and dangerous, but emergency lighting systems ensure that the path to safety will be well-lit and easy to navigate. And, while safety of building users, owners and occupiers is the main priority, it will also help emergency services perform their task more effectively. The basic approach to emergency lighting changed fundamentally in 2016, with the extensive revision of BS 5266 Emergency lighting – Part 1: Code of practice for the emergency lighting of premises. This is founded on strategies of switching to batteries or backup power when the main power source is lost. Further details of the requirements are set in
system standards such as BS EN 838: 2016 for emergency lighting and BS EN 50175 covering emergency escape lighting. Typical guidelines recommend that emergency batteries should test and operate to deliver minimum lux levels of 0.5+ lx in open areas and 1lx or more for any
28 | electrical wholesalerAugust 2019
escape routes for a 3-hour duration in emergency mode. Such guidelines present a top-down
approach, but if existing lighting systems already fulfil the base requirements and system standards, there is still ample opportunity to gain cost and operational benefits by upgrading emergency lighting luminaires, lamps and illuminated signage with LED technology. LED technology represents the ideal
emergency light source. It is more robust than conventional lighting and low energy consumption makes the most of the back-up battery energy source. Moreover, it can withstand a greater degree of heat and other stress before failing than other light sources.
Not all LEDs are equal The benefits of such a retrofit approach are exemplified by a 2016 project to replace nearly 1,000 fluorescent lights in car parks, walkways and stairwells of the eco-friendly Bristol Lakeshore apartment complex. Goodlight LED lighting was selected to reduce operational costs and ensure compliance. A rolling program replaced each of the lights on the complex with suitable LED alternatives including 3W Emergency Downlights and Emergency Bulkheads. Many lights are battery backed up, ensuring continued operation in the event of a power failure or other emergency. London’s Liverpool Street station is another example of how LED emergency lighting is the
ideal choice for retrofits. Station operators Network Rail has fitted Goodlight LED lighting into all 18 platforms and the concourse at London’s Liverpool Street Station, providing notable advantages on top of lower carbon output and power consumption, improved lighting levels and quality. Extending the benefit still more, a further advantage of LED light is the possibility to control and monitor a building’s complete lighting system.
SMART lighting enhances safety and compliance Smart LED lighting systems have the potential to transform the implementation of emergency lighting in buildings. Manual testing is tedious, time-consuming, costly and may be prone to human error. An emergency lighting monitoring
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