Controls halve lighting costs for Plymouth City Council

Ex-Or, lighting control
The simple on/off control of lighting according to occupancy and daylight has nearly halved lighting costs in the civic headquarters of Portsmouth City Council

An estimated £39 000 a year is being saved by Portsmouth City Council following the installation of Ex-Or lighting controls throughout its civic headquarters to eliminate the unnecessary use of lighting. The annual energy con­sumption for lighting has been nearly halved from 1259 MWh to 655 MWh, representing annual CO2 savings of 326 t.

The glass-fronted civic offices on Guildhall square has a floor area of 31 679 m2 over seven floors and accommodates over 1500 staff. Before the Ex-Or installation, lights were on for much longer than the core time of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The council’s electrical-services manager Jamie Cake decided that controls were needed to ensure lights were on only where and when required.

After a competitive tender, Ex-Or was chosen to supply Gold Series LightSpot detectors for open-plan areas. LightSpot Standard series detectors were installed to control lighting in corridors and lift lobbies. Lights are turned off when there is no-one in the area, and integral photo-cells turn lights on only when there is not enough daylight. The longer-term plan is to install digital ballasts so lighting can be dimmed.

The controls were installed by council M&E contractor Kier. It is a simple matter to change lighting patterns when workstation layouts are altered.

For more information on this story, click here:  Nov 2010, 121
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