The new year has brought changes to legislation and a renewed vigour from many to reduce their energy use, but despite this you still need to keep your eye on the ball as far as the WEEE Directive is concerned as Ernest Magog from Lumicom explains.

The Department of Children, Schools and Families recently launched a whitepaper which outlined a set of key performance requirements for lighting systems in schools including the minimum standards that must be reached in key areas such as good lighting to support teaching and learning, emergency lighting and energy efficiency.

Over the last few years building operators have been assailed by a raft of challenges relating to energy and carbon. These include Part L for new build and major refurbishments, and the importance of BREEAM points for new build as well. In addition, building energy performance is being measured, and publicised, through initiatives such as Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates.

As many building operators look at upgrading their lighting to reduce energy consumption it’s important not to forget the controls. Stewart Langdown of Tridonic considers the key factors and calls for greater convergence of building services control networks.

For a variety of reasons, many building operators are looking for quick win energy saving solutions that require minimal capital investment but deliver a reduction in energy consumption within a short space of time and with a fast payback. Upgrading the lighting, either by retrofitting new light sources to existing fittings or by replacing fittings, is an obvious thing to consider. However, it needs to be done properly, and the lighting needs to be controlled effectively if the maximum benefits are to be achieved.

Energy efficiency continues to be at the top of the agenda and with lighting alone accounting for around 20% of the total amount of electricity used in the UK this is a good place to start making savings. Mervyn Carter of Paviom UK explains why choosing the right fire rated downlights can really make a difference.

The WEEE regulations continue to evolve and broaden their scope to encompass more products. Ernest Magog of Lumicom explains the latest additions and flags up some key pointers for successful waste management.

Have you ever taken a step back to consider what you want your lighting scheme to achieve? Do you want it to create the perfect lighting conditions? Do you want it to motivate people? If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions then it is time to change the way you think about light and start using the best possible products to optimise your facilities.

Bernard Pratley, Technical Manager at ICEL, the emergency lighting arm of the Lighting Industry Federation (LIF), reports on the latest emergency lighting technologies that bring significant safety, cost and maintenance benefits.

RS Components (RS) launches its new low-cost lighting initiative with the introduction of a further 250 lines to add to its existing 1,200. The new range of 1,450 lines will meet all customers’ lighting requirements while the restructured pricing will allow RS to easily compete with wholesalers. Overall, RS now has the range, prices and support services to be viewed as a serious lighting supplier.

The core lighting offer has been strengthened by the introduction of new products including leading-edge technologies and energy-efficient solutions from leading brands – Philips, Osram, GE and Megaman. The low-cost ranges of fluorescent, halogen & HID lighting are from Sylvania, Venture and Knightsbridge.

Faced with the need to reduce energy consumption wherever possible, schools can take advantage of new technologies to dim HID lighting. David Barnwell of Holophane explores the benefits

Cancellation of so many new build and refurbishment projects planned under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative has left many schools needing to reduce energy consumption, but unable to achieve this through major capital projects. These schools and those that were not included in the BSF programme now need to look at other, lower cost energy-saving options.

Effective waste management is now an integral part of refurbishment, refit and maintenance contracts; an area where building services engineers play a key role. Ernest Magog of Lumicom explains how to make light work of end-of-life lighting products

When it comes to specifying the lighting systems for commercial buildings, flexibility and speed of installation, reconfiguration and customisation is just as important as low running costs and energy efficiency.

One of the symptoms of the recession seems to be that, when a construction or refurbishment project does get the go ahead, installation needs to be carried out on a fast track basis, across the board. This is particularly the case with lighting and electrical services, an aspect of the build that has traditionally had to cope with last minute design changes, with costly rewiring expenditure often proving a headache.

Exterior spaces provide such a huge potential for lighting and design creativity; a potential that has only recently started to be considered or really taken full advantage of. Selecting high quality architectural exterior lighting products has been difficult for the building services engineer due to the lack of well designed, economic products available. 

Lighting Technology is experiencing a period of rapid change. Not since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in the 1870s have there been such radical developments as we see in lighting today, which is driven by the need to reduce CO2 emissions and protect the environment.

Building services engineers will often find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to meet a variety of demands, all of which are considered to be equally as important and at times will often appear to have conflicting requirements.

Today's building owners (residential and commercial) are increasingly demanding advanced levels of controllability over their facilities. As a result, automated control systems, dedicated to services such as lighting, temperature, audio visual (AV) and blind control, are becoming commonplace. Somewhat ironically, the proliferation of such control systems is being shadowed by the increased requirement for highly energy-efficient performance.

The UK is no longer a nine-till-five society.  In addition to British employees having the longest hours in Europe, many businesses have embraced flexible working as a way to meet the needs of the business and  help staff achieve a better work/life balance.  Coupled with this, shopping hours have been extended so that some retailers are open around the clock.  These activities have influenced the occupation of our buildings and subsequently increased demand for lighting.