Innovative approaches light up commercial buildingsLighting is a crucial part of the makeup of our building stock, and is both the most visible of building systems and one of the major energy costs for any building. Despite this, obsolete lighting equipment is still in use, compromising building environment and energy efficiency. Energy Services Director for Dalkia, Mike Sewell, discusses the positive impact a lighting refurbishment can have, on both energy cost and building occupants.Published: 24 April, 2008Lighting is one of the major contributors towards annual energy bills, especially for a commercial building. At the same time, lighting is one of the primary factors that influence workplace performance; affecting occupant energy levels and mood. A comprehensive lighting refurbishment is often the way to ensure these diverse but equally important elements of building operations are met.
Get switched on to lampsSo commonplace are electric lights that it's easy to forget that they are by no means simple loads to switch. Steve Rickard of Moeller Electric explores the load characteristics of some of the lamps commonly in use, and explains how to choose contactors that will provide dependable service in lighting control applications.Published: 20 March, 2008Though by all accounts they're soon to be history, tungsten filament lamps are still in very widespread use. Resistive loads they most certainly are not. At the instant of switch on, a tungsten filament lamp draws an inrush current that can be anything up to 16 times its normal operating current. To put this into context, a motor started direct on line will normally only draw a peak current of around eight times its full load current. This makes it very clear that switching filament lamps is a particularly severe duty for contactors.
Let the light shine inRising energy costs and greater awareness of environmental issues have led to facilities managers and building services engineers increasingly looking for innovative lighting solutions. Matthew Rice, Marketing Manager for SolaLighting, discusses the role of Daylighting systems in this quest.Published: 19 December, 2007The introduction of Part L of the Building Regulations emphasised the importance of avoiding unnecessary lighting during the times when daylight levels are adequate or when workspaces are unoccupied, and led to the need to look at the choices available for more energy efficient solutions. This, together with the fact that the use of natural daylight can help organisations achieve both significant cost savings and health benefits for occupants of their buildings means that natural daylight solutions are becoming ever more popular.
Making the most of new technologyBy Andrew Gordon, Segment Market Manager for Urban Architectural and Solid State Lighting, Philips LightingPublished: 21 November, 2007Solid state lighting (SSL) is a relatively new technology for the lighting industry. Among this technology are Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which are becoming increasingly available for a variety of applications such as displays, signs, traffic lights, car head lamps and brake lights, and city beautification. The technology is still in development phase to increase light output while reducing costs, and to provide an efficient warm white light.
Better by designBy Tracey Rushton-ThorpePublished: 22 August, 2007There is a lot in the news at the moment about products which are imported from China – and it generally isn’t good news, which makes us more than a little suspicious of any company claiming to be doing it well.
Make it easyPublished: 20 December, 2006Technology provides the answer to many of the challenges facing lighting control and monitoring, but it’s important to ensure that it’s easy to use. Paul Mans of CP Automated Lighting and Jon Theis of Intelligent Solutions (IS Ltd) explains how new software technologies combined with new ballasts are making life easier for all concerned.
- Shedding light on the Euro Energy DirectiveBy Neil Jones, Managing Director of Ex-Or LtdPublished: 25 August, 2006
There is still confusion and continuing debate over the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the European edict designed to bring about increased investment in energy efficiency measures in buildings. The timescale of implementation, methods of energy use calculation, type of certification required, how the rules will be enforced … none of these factors seem to be set in stone yet, at least in the UK.
Being creative and compliantBy Mike Attard of Ridi LightingPublished: 26 June, 2006One of the gripes that’s regularly heard when the topic of office lighting design comes up for discussion is that the CIBSE Lighting Guides LG3(a) and LG7 (2004) inhibit the creativity of the lighting designer. This may well be true in a minority of cases where a lighting designer is actually working on the project, but for the vast majority of commercial office lighting schemes where this is not the case, LG7 is a useful tool for ensuring that people who work in offices reap the benefit of good, effective lighting in the workplace.
Inheriting the DNA of energy conservation and sustainabilityBy John Aston, Product Marketing Manager, Lighting Controls, Philips Lighting SolutionsPublished: 20 April, 2006Lighting controls are widely applied and accepted today, particularly in office developments, and they are now clearly endorsed by regulations such as Approved Document L2 (A&B) 2006, due to their energy saving capability. In fact it is this specific ability that really established the present lighting controls industry.
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There is an obvious need for the industry to be more energy efficient and pay more attention to the ways in which energy is both used and wasted. Do you think we have the products on the market to meet our needs?



