Lighting Lighting a greener way Philip Wilcox, sales director at Wirefield, looks at a cost-effective and environmentally friendly lighting upgrade in Norwich ince it opened in 2001, The Forum (pictured above) has become one of Norwichs most iconic venues. It welcomes more than 35,000 visitors every week to its exhibitions, performances and workshops, and is a place where people gather to socialise. In June 2018, the lighting in the 209-space underground car park was due for an upgrade, to reflect the status the building has gained in the local community and help future-proof the car park for years to come. Intelligent lighting isnt new, but the challenge is to install the most energy-efficient lighting complete with dimming controls and emergency status reporting without control wires, which is why The Forum called on Wirefields expertise. We proposed to upgrade all fittings from fluorescent to LED lighting to reduce running costs and use our intelligent wireless Eye-Wi control system, which has a number of benefits: The light output can be turned down. Upon changing to LED lights, the car park was lit to more than 500 lux (illuminance) the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) guidelines call for less than a quarter of this Lights can be installed on a one-for-one basis with no S Our customers have noticed a difference, and we are delighted to be doing our bit to help the environment additional control wiring between fittings, allowing a quick installation with no client disruption Linking the fittings together means that users are always walking into a lit area Wireless controls mean we can link across circuits to suit the car park layout, rather than the electrical layout Emergency fittings self-test and report any faults back to a tablet computer reducing engineer time on site. Making a difference In the car park, the energy savings have exceeded 80 per cent since installation. In January, the plantroom lighting was upgraded too, and now the saving on the entire buildings electrical load is more than 15 per cent. This was achieved by reducing lighting outputs from 65W to 24W and linking light fittings in groups of 6-10, maximising savings by only illuminating areas in use. Fittings dim to 10 per cent in roadways. On ramps and in car park bays, lights turn off when not in use, although some key lights stay illuminated throughout the day. These are known as police lights because, by keeping these on, we ensure that all access points to the car park can be seen by customers wherever they are. This helps to maximise the feeling of safety, even when using intelligent dimming controls. Our customers have noticed a difference, and we are delighted to be doing our bit to help the environment, says Teresa Wood, The Forums head of estates. We are confident that the combination of the LED lights with the Eye-Wi control system gives us the maximum benefits, both in terms of energy and cost savings. 40 britishparking.co.uk PN Sep19 pp40-41 Wirefield.indd 40 22/08/2019 12:17