LED Lighting for a brighter future!

Trinity shopping centre in Leeds, with lighting designed by BDP - the more efficient the lighting, the more valuable the shopping centre Lux Reports: The latest report from UK shopping centres body BCSC and property advisor CBRE has added weight to the argument that LED lighting has become crucial to energy efficiency improvements and the valuation of malls. Making malls energy efficient adds five per cent to their value " British Council of Shopping Centres The report on the environment and rationale for sustainability has taken a deliberately financial stance on enhancing the value of shopping centres and estimated that making malls energy efficient adds five per cent to their value. BCSC president and chief executive of UK property investor Hammerson, David Atkins, said: 'In the past reports have tended to be either very theoretical or very technical. This is one of the first attempts to present the arguments in...

This underpass near King’s Cross and St Pancras stations in North London is saving money on energy and maintenance since it had its old metal halide lights replaced with specially designed LED road tunnel luminaires from Philips. The St Pancras Road underpass is a busy road, cycle and pedestrian route to the two major train stations, as well as providing access to Camden Council’s new offices. It was previously lit by around 100 twin-lamp metal halide fittings and the council saw an opportunity to visually improve what had become a gloomy and uninviting area. This was a ‘spend to save’ initiative to take advantage of energy-efficiency gains and lower maintenance costs while also reducing carbon emissions. The lighting design was carried out by Philips and the new luminaires were installed by main contractor SPIE. SPIE’s John Broster said: ‘The previous luminaires were fitted into the soffit of the underpass and as this is a concrete strutted roof it would have been impract...

REVIEWED LED GU10 lamps Four different LED GU10s - showing the variation in colours available Lux Reports: Nowadays, it’s nigh-on impossible to buy a luminaire from the DIY sheds or a high-street retailer which doesn’t have a GU10 cap. 12v lamps seem to have had their day as far as the mass retailers are concerned. It isn’t difficult to match the light output of a 20W or 35W halogen GU10, so we have only tested LED lamps that claim equivalence to a 50W. The European DIM2 regulation says that to make this claim, the LED GU10 lamp must emit more than 345 lm in a 90-degree cone. The total lumen output, including light that falls outside this cone, may be considerably higher. Some of the lamps tested emit over 500 lm so they would clearly be seen as an improvement if you retrofitted them in an existing installation of halogen GU10 (with th...

The power consumption benefits from LED street lighting could be compromised by the threat of voltage peaks from lightning strikes. Lightning density in Europe differs significantly from region to region. Mandatory image source specification: © British Crown copyright 2015, the Met Office Cities like Milan and Turin are expecting at least 50 percent less electricity consumption thanks to recent transformations to LED and Optotronic control devices from Osram. However, lightning strikes can risk the economic advantages as LED modules run with lower voltage levels and could be damaged from overvoltage.  This danger has increased with the UN Climate Council identifying increasing levels of lightning worldwide in its fifth assessment report (IPCC14).  Around 10 percent of the several million lightning strikes occurring each day impact on the ground, thereby causing voltage peaks. To effectively protect LED modules assemb...

Until recently, this tunnel in Stoke-on-Trent, England, had to be regularly closed to change failed lamps, causing disruption to drivers. Now, those old fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lamps have been replaced by over 600 linear LED luminaires, arranged in unbroken lines. It looks way better, and the lights should last about 10 times as long as the old ones – 20 years instead of two. The new lights, supplied by Philips, will also use significantly less energy. To help drivers adjust their vision when entering and leaving the 284-metre tunnel, the lights near the ends are brighter than the ones in the middle, providing 156 cd/m² of light near the exits and >2.0 cd/m² (dimming to >1.5 cd/m² at night) in the middle. They are also dimmed as the day progresses, to match the level of natural light or streetlighting outside the tunnel. I have reduced my overall maintenance costs, saved a substantial amount of money in energy costs, reduced the carbon footprint and re...

Turning on the taps:  Plumbing company Wolseley UK has tapped a government funding scheme to install new LED warehouse lighting in hopes of cutting electricity costs by £100,000 per year. Lux reports: A nationwide UK plumbing firm is upgrading the lighting at its central distribution warehouse in a move to save £100,000 ($157,000) a year in electricity costs. Wolseley UK is replacing nearly 4,400 light fittings with LEDs at its Leamington Spa facility and hopes to complete the job by the end of September,   the company said . The move to low-energy lighting will cut electricity consumption by around 236,000 kilowatt-hours during late afternoon and evening hours from November through February, and the total will equate to about 300 homes, Wolseley estimated. It expects the savings will pay back total costs of around £500,000 ($786,000) in less than five years. The company is financing the upfront costs in part with a £50,000 ($79,000) grant from the ...