Controls halve lighting costs for Plymouth 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.
