Month: May 2023

Sylvania Lighting has been awarded with the Red Dot Design Award 2023 in the Lighting Design category for its innovative Concord Equinox LED downlight. The product’s unique design redefines the current standards for LED downlights, with no central visible light source, allowing the user to experience the effect and not the impact of the luminaire. The Concord Equinox brings innovation, flexibility, and style together, and offers any environment a highly modern and stylish appearance due to its halo effect. The Red Dot Design Award is one of the most sought-after design competitions in the world with more than 20,000 entries per year. In this year’s edition, the Red Dot jury comprised of 43 experts from 20 countries.

“We are proud that Sylvania Lighting, with its Concord Equinox has received the Red Dot Design Award 2023. This unique luminaire is a true innovation in the downlight segment and brings immense possibilities to architects and interior designers alike. This is the sixth time that Sylvania Lighting has won a Red Dot Award, which is a great honor and recognition for all our designers and manufacturing community in the United Kingdom. We anticipate the design community to embrace this product across Europe. It confirms our commitment to invest in European research and development and to continue bringing innovation to the global lighting market,” said Simon Reed, Global Vice President & CEO (EMEA) for Sylvania Lighting.

Concord Equinox – a new design benchmark

Concord Equinox has been developed, using the latest optical technology. The product features an adjustable optical system which allows light to be emitted not only downwards but also upwards, creating a beautiful halo effect on the ceiling. This direct and indirect architectural lighting creates a unique atmosphere and enhances space. Concord Equinox has been developed in partnership with QuarkStar^TM, who provided the optical technology for this project. QuarkStar’s^TM system of light refraction allows, for the first time, an indirect component to be integrated into a downlight without supplementary optics. This results in a sleek, discreet, and conceptual design that also produces a tailored distribution with a UGR (Unified Glare Rating) of less than 19, putting Equinox in the highest quality classification in European interior lighting standards.

“Concord Equinox has been developed in collaboration between our R&D, product, marketing, and production teams. The result is a revolutionary luminaire which brings cutting-edge innovation to the traditional downlight segment. The game-changing design and exceptional technology create a unique light rendition that generates emotion,” says Agnieszka Paprocka, Senior Product Line Manager EMEA at Sylvania Lighting.

Recolight, the specialist WEEE compliance scheme for the lighting industry, is pleased to announce the promotion of Cindi Novell to the role of Operations and Compliance Manager.

Cindi has over 8 years’ experience working closely with former Operations Manager, Amel Gharbi, whom she replaces.

Commenting on her appointment, Cindi said:

“I am delighted to be joining Recolight at an exciting time, as we drive to Net Zero and a more sustainable, circular, and efficient service.”

Announcing the news, Recolight Chief Executive, Nigel Harvey said:

“With Cindi’s wealth of experience working in the Operations Team, she was a natural choice for promotion. Cindi will play an integral role in further enhancing the efficiency and value of our WEEE collection service.”

An extensive range of customisation options make Ansell Lighting’s new Kamar floodlight a great choice for any application.

With a sleek and modern die-cast design offering beam angles ranging from 8° to 60°, the floodlight is suitable for commercial, hospitality, retail and industrial settings and is also ideal for adding dramatic architectural impact to buildings such as church exteriors.

Multiple control functions including DALI as standard, DMX, and Casambi (on 35W and 100W versions) enable the Kamar to offer complete controllability.

A huge variety of CCT options can be selected – 2000K, 2200K, 2700K, 3000K, 4000K, 5000K, TW and RGWB – to create the optimum in visibility or mood, and accessories such as a low glare hood and honeycomb film provide the solution where applications require glare optimisation and upward lighting.

Mark Abbott, Managing Director at Ansell Lighting said: “The Kamar floodlight delivers the ultimate in choice, control and style and is suitable for even the most complex projects.

“It can withstand temperatures ranging from minus 30°C to 50°C and its durability is further assured with IP66 and IK09 ratings. This, coupled with a 54,000 hour lifespan, means we can offer the floodlight with a reassuring five year guarantee.”

The Kamar is available in two sizes: 330mm x 219.5mm x 100mm and 452mm x 450mm x 160mm.

 

Richard Jackson, Executive Director, Designs for Lighting (DFL)

One of the first things local authorities need to consider when installing new streetlights is where to put them.

Streetlights are needed beside roads and pavements to keep drivers and pedestrians safe. If you’re not careful, though, you could obstruct the use of footpaths and inconvenience or endanger the public, which doesn’t fly with the UK government (as you’d imagine).

You’ll also need to consider spacing. Put streetlights too close together, and you’ll get too much brightness in one area — otherwise known as glare — making pupils dilate and surrounding areas appear darker. Uncomfortable and unsafe… not ideal.

Think you can just dim the lights? If only things were that simple.

Streetlights must be bright enough to ensure sufficient visibility. Around 5,000 lumens will be ideal for residential areas, and up to 18,000 lumens can be used for sites like roadways and building perimeters. Still, they can’t be too bright…

As they’re on from when it gets dark to when it gets light, overly intense streetlights can be a real pain to nearby residents — especially if the light source is too cool-toned or there are high levels of light spill, as these qualities can mess with people’s circadian rhythms (or ‘body clocks’).

Ultra-bright lights will also consume a lot of energy, which is expensive and wasteful: two things you don’t ever want but must avoid at all costs in today’s turbulent economy and with increasingly strict sustainability expectations.

So, if you can’t just turn streetlights off and you can only dim them to an extent, what can you do to avoid causing a light nuisance?

Invest in high quality, eco-friendly lighting solutions that can be adjusted to suit challenging site requirements, of course!

NO-NUISANCE SOLUTIONS

The lighting industry has developed many innovative solutions to help councils and authorities rise to the challenge of modern street lighting — and LEDs are a great example.

Today’s LEDs are loved for their low energy consumption, long lifespans and design flexibility, boasting superior affordability and efficiency compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. As a result, they’re being used to update towns and cities across the country helping save Somerset County Council £157,000 and lower its CO2 emissions.

So, how do LEDs’ unique features help reduce light nuisance?

Firstly, LEDs emit light in just one direction, illuminating what you want them to with minimal light spill  — especially when combined with shields and louvres. That means no angry residents or wasteful, environmentally unfriendly light spill — just safe, efficient streets.

As for brightness and hue, LEDs come in a variety of correlated colour temperatures (CCTs). Opt for a CCT between 2,700 K and 3,000 K for a soft, warm tone to help neighbouring households sleep easy.

Lighting designers can also combine LEDs with adaptive lighting profiles, using sensors to adjust streetlight brightness based on how many vehicles or pedestrians pass by and how dark the ambient lighting is. The result? More fit-for-purpose, adaptive and sustainable lighting.

Vinod Pillai, Design Director at Studio Lumen, discusses the process of how lighting designers work collaboratively with interior designers and the ways in which lighting impacts overall project design.

Vinod is one of the leading lighting designers in the Middle East, boasting a portfolio of projects that spans all sectors of the built environment. Having started his career as an architect working on predominantly hospitality projects, his introduction to lighting design was incidental. Lighting design has taken a focal point in his work since, and the mission at Studio Lumen is the creative integration of light and shape to compliment the architecture.

This transition from architect to lighting designer allows Vinod to truly understand the impact that lighting has on a space, architectural features, and interior design.

The collaborative process of interior and lighting design

One of the most important factors for a successful design collaboration between lighting designers and interior designers is an innate synergy and trust. If the two firms are receptive to each other’s ideas, it can become a seamless process to identify how the lighting will enhance the interior design. It is key that interior designers have an appreciation for lighting design, understand the process, and acknowledge that lighting goes in hand in hand with the vision that the interior design is creating.

The process of any design project will first begin with interior designers, who appoint lighting designers at the schematics stage to request their input on visuals and concepts for lighting. A benefit of collaboration at this early stage is that lighting designers can ensure the right light is produced on visuals to be shown to the client, which presents a coordinated and well-thought-out design. Clients are increasingly starting to understand the importance of lighting and the role it plays in scene setting, mood lighting, and creating atmosphere.

The impact of lighting on interior design

If the lighting is not correct, it can make a perfect interior design redundant by causing guests to feel uncomfortable. Creating a memorable experience depends on the five senses coming together seamlessly. For example, the music and lighting in a restaurant must gel seamlessly with the décor and the food. The right balance between colours, architecture, furniture and finishings can set the tone and atmosphere of a space.

Vinod believes that a space always has a story to tell, and lighting brings this out by highlighting who the main and supporting characters are. The way that objects and areas are lit draws attention to the foreground or the background to guide people’s senses and emotions in a space.

Creating award-winning design projects

Studio Lumen were the lighting designers of restaurant Indego by Vineet, winner of the restaurant project of the year at the Light Middle East Awards in January 2023. Studio Lumen collaborated closely with architects and interior designers LW Design Group to bring this award-winning design to life.

Having worked together on previous hospitality projects, Studio Lumen and LW Design Group collaborated closely from the beginning to ensure the project met the brief for the client. As the restaurant has a strong following and identity, Chef Vineet provided a personal touch to the experience and chose elements that were synonymous with the brand.

The interior design focused on keeping the core pillars of the brand that work successfully, including the deep red colour, the use of screens, sculptures at the entrance and incorporated chequered flooring to create an authentic Indian brasserie feel. The lighting highlights these different elements, creates layers, and the shifting gradient wows diners as they enter and keeps them comfortable as they travel through the space. A private and intimate ambience is created through plant lighting and table lamps.

One of the challenges of this refurbishment project was elements that were brought in at the end which didn’t marry up completely with the initial lighting design scheme. The open plan kitchen design created a challenge for balancing the functional white light for the chefs with the warm ambient light in the dining area. The mirrored ceiling was installed to expand on the space and create a double height effect. This solution enabled Studio Lumen to light the mirrored ceiling and whilst ensuring that the effect can be seen while keeping the light sources hidden. In this way, seamless light installation enhanced the interior design finishes.

Lighting design has proven to be an integral part of both interior design and a crucial consideration for design as a whole. Lighting designers and interior designers must work collaboratively to create a cohesive design which marries up elements of both practices and achieves the end goal for clients.

Experts gathered in London on 27 April 23 to discuss the opportunities and the challenges of remanufacturing lighting equipment.

More and more lighting manufacturers are adding reconditioning to their business model. A new standard is being published, and regulations are likely to change to incentivize remanufacture. Now is the time for all to embrace the drive to truly sustainable lighting.

 

“It’s increasingly clear that the remanufacturing of luminaires is moving from the fringe of the industry to the mainstream, driven by the environmental priorities of clients and their specifiers. This is already a big, profitable sector, and it can only grow rapidly in the coming years.”
Ray Molony, Editor, Circular Lighting Report

At the one-day special conference hosted by Recolight, we learnt how to sell the concept of reconditioned lights, develop best practice sustainable policies and procedures, comply with the relevant standards, and set up a testing and compliance regime for reused luminaires.

Simon Fisher of F Mark explored the ways we can sell the concept to our clients; Natalia Duffy of Cundall looked at lighting design using reconditioned luminaires; Kevin Stubbs of Llumarlite took us through BS8887; Tom Ruddell of Egg Lighting showed us what a testing and compliance regime looks like; Francesca Cameron of Recolight gave us a first glimpse of Circular Place, a portal to connect organisations that have used or surplus product to organisations that can make use of them. David Clements of FUTURE Design showed us how to remanufacture at scale; Andrew Nixon of Gamma Illumination and Darrell West of Eco Fix UK Energy Solutions LTD walked us through some successful remanufacturing projects.

A panel discussion with both manufacturers and specifiers looked at the barriers to the adoption of a reuse culture in the lighting sector and discussed ways in which those barriers could be overcome. Panelists included Alison Gallagher of Arup, Tom Ruddell of EGG Lighting, Martin Thompson of Tridonic, Antonina Crino, of Signify, and Howard Lawrence of Commercial Lighting Systems Ltd.

Several attendees commented on the event:

“In an ever-confusing overload of environmental and sustainable information, the Recolight events bring clarity to the issues affecting all players in the lighting industry.  Importantly, much of the focus comes from those that are already ‘doing’ so is based on the reality of being able to achieve future goals.”
Martin Thompson, Tridonic

“Remanufacturing is now a defined and suitable alternative to simply purchasing new products. The appetite and will to engage in remanufactured solutions is evident and regulations and standards are in the final phase of development to help deliver the confidence and certainty that a remanufactured product is safe, compliant and credible.”
Simon Fisher, F Mark and founder of the Regen Initiative,

“The Remanufacturing Lighting Conference was a fantastic event that really underlined the benefits of the approach, with inspirational case studies to evidence the merits and processes in action. Incredible to have such a wealth of expertise and innovative thinking in one room – the event left me with excitement and optimism for our sustainability journey!”
Tom Ruddell, Egg Lighting

“A well devised conference on such a critical topic with insightful viewpoints from stakeholders in all parts of the process.  Thanks to all the team at Recolight!”
Lewis Smith, Smith Dixon and Associates Ltd

 

Delegates shared challenges they face with remanufacturing. Getting the message across about remanufacture, that it is not just about retrofit. Associated costs in striving for a net zero business. Acceptance from end users to renew rather than replace Lighting.

There were many positives with delegates saying:

• Remanufacture is not just about cheap retrofits but the more important aspect is to stop taking natural resources from the planet and then putting them back into landfill at end of life.
• This is a developing segment and whilst at source it is about modifying habits for the greater global and environmental good, there are commercial opportunities to be explored. The increase in attendees demonstrates the significance of sustainability in both cases.
• The remanufacturing sector is quickly becoming formal and picking up pace. Leading lighting design professionals are on board with the concepts, message, and key terms.

Summing up the event, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said “It was fantastic to witness over 70 lighting leaders really engaging on the challenges and opportunities that lighting remanufacture now presents.  The room was buzzing with energy. The scene is now set for material growth in this sector, as more manufacturers get involved, and more end users demand reuse as an option.”