Author: russellcoombes

Innovative LED lighting systems are helping to keep the Bakerloo line lights on with improved safety, higher reliability, and lower cost

Ulverston, Cumbria, 26 September 2022 – MARL International has commenced delivery of energy-saving lighting for the Bakerloo line rolling stock operated by Transport for London (TfL). The line’s lighting will be upgraded completely by 2024.

TfL tasked MARL International with designing, manufacturing, and installing a complete retrofit LED lighting system for its 72TS Bakerloo line fleet. Within six months of receiving the brief, the company had designed a brand-new LED lighting system that is now being installed within the Bakerloo line’s fleet of 36 trains and 252 carriages.

Crucial to success was fitting the LED lighting systems into the limited space available, mechanical compatibility with existing lighting mounting points, maintaining the appearance of the carriages, and supplying appropriate illumination levels for passengers when the train is above and below ground.

Adrian Rawlinson, Managing Director of MARL International, commented, “We are proud to have delivered a major upgrade on time and on budget. London’s Underground network is an exceptionally demanding environment, and the LED lighting systems supplied by MARL met and exceeded the operating expectations of TfL.”

The exhaustive development phases started with a large and rigorous set of rail performance and safety design standards. Some 4,000 pages of standards formed the basis of MARL International’s complex Verification and Validation(V&V) design matrix.

TfL’s requirement to deliver reliability led to the creation of an energy storage system, allowing all the train’s interior lighting to run without power for more than three seconds, across track gaps where no power is provided to the train.  Comfort and security are enhanced by keeping the lights on continuously across the Bakerloo line with only very minor intermittent interruptions due to some of the larger traction gaps.

Swapping the dated fluorescent tubes to the new LED lighting system achieved a 50% energy saving, as well as securing substantial savings in energy and maintenance costs.

The fleet’s 4,906 lighting units, including 512 power supply units, a million LEDs and more than three million components were designed and manufactured at MARL International’s Ulverston site.

Voting opens for projects vying for £5k lighting installation prize

Ansell Lighting has announced a shortlist of four projects in its Shine a Light campaign, which aims to recognise and reward the work of community organisations that provide vital support and services.
Entries for the competition, in which the winner will receive a lighting installation worth up to £5,000 to help improve its facilities, flooded in from all over the country. Now four, selected by a team of lighting experts at Ansell, will be put to the public vote.

Spark Community Space, in Southsea, Portsmouth is a charity set up by Becki Simmons after she suffered a brain injury and felt there wasn’t a safe comfortable space for her to spend time. Spark offers access to support and services to people who feel like they don’t ‘fit in’, so they can ‘Spark’ back into life. The charity is about to move into brand new premises and wants to ensure the lighting will cater for all the groups and organisations that will be using the space.

Cleethorpes Band was established more than 140 years ago as ‘brass banding’ became popular in the UK. The band still forms an important part of the North East Lincolnshire community today, performing regularly in the surrounding area.

Its rehearsal room and premises in an old printing works needs lighting renovation to enable players to more easily see their sheet music, and to make the building more welcoming to new members.

From Tiny Seeds Community Interest Company in Holmfirth, Huddersfield, provides free parenting, baby and childcare support to local families. Kate and Tracey, who have both worked in childcare for many years, were approached by the local council to set up the centre in 2021 and they are now hoping to develop a sensory room within the centre to support families with additional needs, as there is currently no sensory service provision within the local area. Lighting plays an important role in a sensory room and so the prize could be transformational for the project.

Elmbridge Community Eco Hub, in Walton-on-Thames, provides a multi-functional safe space and range of community minded activities, including a Community Fridge; a Library of Things, regular Repair Café, Seed Bank, Book/Boardgame/Jigsaw swaps, Skill Share and litter picking sessions, and a huge community garden.

The Hub is housed in a 200-year-old former stable block but the lighting is old and ineffective so improved lighting would help accommodate the different activities the building is used for.

Voting for the four projects is now open via https://shinealight.anselluk.com until Friday
October 14 th . The project with the most votes, which will be announced later in October, will receive a lighting consultation and design, Ansell Lighting products and a contribution of up to £2,000 towards installation by an approved electrician.

Mark Abbott, Managing Director at Ansell Lighting, said: “We were really impressed and also touched by the entries we received – there are some fantastic community projects and organisations out there, mostly run by amazing volunteers, who really do give so much to their local communities.

“We think our shortlist includes a great selection of projects and hope that our friends and customers take some time to read about the work they do and then vote for their favourite. We can’t wait to help the winner to transform its space and expand its good work.”

The Circular lighting live conference and exhibition sold out over a week before the event was due to take place. With 250 registered attendees from specifiers, manufacturers and suppliers, the one day conference, which took place on 22 September, discussed how the lighting industry can make the circular economy a reality.

Chaired by Ray Molony, Editor of Circular Lighting Report, the packed conference room heard key presentations on forthcoming EU and UK legislation, and the plethora of different environmental metrics that exist, including assessments of circularity (TM66), embodied carbon (TM65), environmental product declarations, and life cycle assessments. Practical discussions included how to encourage more remanufacture and reuse in the lighting sector.

The pivotal role of the specifier in encouraging more sustainable lighting was tackled by two panels, both composed of five experts, drawn from across the industry.

The conference was complemented by a vibrant supplier exhibition including a 3D printing demonstration from Platinum sponsor Signify, and other stands from Gold sponsors ASD Lighting, DW Windsor, Lucent, Orluna, Primelight, Silent Design, and Trilux.

Commenting on the event, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said
“We have been thrilled by the level of energy and commitment expressed during Circular Lighting Live. It really does seem that we all get it: The really significant changes we need to make to address the climate crisis, and to improve material efficiency.”

“We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback. So we’ve already announced that Circular Lighting Live 2023 will take place on 21 September 2023. We will be at a bigger venue, so we will be able to welcome many more delegates and sponsors.”

Gareth Davies, Principal Lighting Consultant at Stantec said
“Great to see this coming to the forefront of the industry. I think this has opened a lot of eyes to the magnitude of the task ahead, and also shown that it is not an impossible goal. A lot of people have realised we are not where we’d like to be and we need to start/accelerate our movement in the right direction. The conference offers a great chance for people to journey together and support one another in this critical area.”

One of the main takeaways of the event was the value of TM66, the CIBSE and SLL specification for circularity in the lighting industry. TM66 is increasingly being seen as a helpful tool to allow specifiers to identify lighting products that are properly designed with circular economy principles.

Nigel Harvey added “Recolight was proud to host Circular Lighting Live. It aligns perfectly with our ambition to desire to support and encourage our industry to become more sustainable. And we did our best to practice what we preach: the programme, delegate list, and feedback form were emailed rather than printed. The venue chosen favoured public transport, rather than travel by car. And even the food was vegetarian, to reduce the carbon footprint.”

• Voting opens for projects vying for £5k lighting installation prize

Ansell Lighting has announced a shortlist of four projects in its Shine a Light campaign, which aims to recognise and reward the work of community organisations that provide vital support and services.

Entries for the competition, in which the winner will receive a lighting installation worth up to £5,000 to help improve its facilities, flooded in from all over the country. Now four, selected by a team of lighting experts at Ansell, will be put to the public vote.

• Spark Community Space, in Southsea, Portsmouth is a charity set up by Becki Simmons after she suffered a brain injury and felt there wasn’t a safe comfortable space for her to spend time. Spark offers access to support and services to people who feel like they don’t ‘fit in’, so they can ‘Spark’ back into life. The charity is about to move into brand new premises and wants to ensure the lighting will cater for all the groups and organisations that will be using the space.
• Cleethorpes Band was established more than 140 years ago as ‘brass banding’ became popular in the UK. The band still forms an important part of the North East Lincolnshire community today, performing regularly in the surrounding area. Its rehearsal room and premises in an old printing works needs lighting renovation to enable players to more easily see their sheet music, and to make the building more welcoming to new members.
• From Tiny Seeds Community Interest Company in Holmfirth, Huddersfield, provides free parenting, baby and childcare support to local families. Kate and Tracey, who have both worked in childcare for many years, were approached by the local council to set up the centre in 2021 and they are now hoping to develop a sensory room within the centre to support families with additional needs, as there is currently no sensory service provision within the local area. Lighting plays an important role in a sensory room and so the prize could be transformational for the project.

• Elmbridge Community Eco Hub, in Walton-on-Thames, provides a multi-functional safe space and range of community minded activities, including a Community Fridge; a Library of Things, regular Repair Café, Seed Bank, Book/Boardgame/Jigsaw swaps, Skill Share and litter picking sessions, and a huge community garden. The Hub is housed in a 200-year-old former stable block but the lighting is old and ineffective so improved lighting would help accommodate the different activities the building is used for.

Voting for the four projects is now open via https://shinealight.anselluk.com until Friday October 14^th. The project with the most votes, which will be announced later in October,  will  receive a lighting consultation and design, Ansell Lighting products and a contribution of up to £2,000 towards installation by an approved electrician.

Mark Abbott, Managing Director at Ansell Lighting, said: “We were really impressed and also touched by the entries we received – there are some fantastic community projects and organisations out there, mostly run by amazing volunteers, who really do give so much to their local communities.

“We think our shortlist includes a great selection of projects and hope that our friends and customers take some time to read about the work they do and then vote for their favourite. We can’t wait to help the winner to transform its space and expand its good work.”

Located in the ancient city of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India, the Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, one of the main deities of Hinduism. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingams, which are shrines that are said to be the most sacred abodes of Lord Shiva. The temple is located on the side of the holy river of Shipra and is a place of great religious and spiritual significance.

As part of a beautification programme of the premises, the Smart City Corporation of Ujjain embarked on a project to introduce façade lighting for the main temple. This was to run in conjunction with a second phase to add audio synchronisation. Lighting control specialist Gayatri Technosystems was appointed to the project.

 

The vision for the lighting design was to use decorative colour tuning LED (RGBW) fixtures to create a variety of moods, including a vibrant environment in the evenings. The brief required the lighting system to fulfil the function of illuminating the temple during festivities and days of national importance, such as Republic Day and Independence Day, and stipulated that the system needed to be operational every evening without requiring any human intervention – instead running on various timers and pre-set audio tracks. 

 

The RGBW lighting controls were installed first, with the additional audio synchronisation being completed two months later.

To ensure the desired effects could be achieved, Gayatri Technosystems specified several solutions from dynamic lighting control experts Pharos Architectural Controls. 

Three market leading solutions from Pharos now play an integral role in the temple’s lighting and audio system – the LPC 1 (Lighting Playback Controller 1), the VLC 50 (Video Lighting Controller 50) and the RIO A (Remote Input Output Audio). 

 

The LPC is an all-in-one control solution perfect for LED lighting installations. Two LPC 1s are now installed at the temple, allowing for the creation of dynamic, precise and fully-customisable pre-programmed lighting effects. The LPC 1 also offers the freedom of powerful real-time manual overrides, with the added advantage of a compact form factor that makes the solution highly flexible in any installation.

The VLC 50 is a powerful yet cost-effective architectural lighting control system for large LED pixel arrays. It provides a simple solution for playing video content across an array, and also offers a range of creative, generative effects. The VLC 50 delivers a capacity of 50 universes, or 25,600 channels.

Completing the control element of the system is the Pharos RIO A. This device has an audio output, supporting a linear timecode or up to 30 band spectrum analysis, and features installation-friendly connectors within a rugged DIN-rail mounting enclosure to add to its appeal.

Other elements of the lighting and audio system include loudspeakers and a 4-channel power amplifier from Electro-Voice, an 8 Channel DSP from Bosch, and wall washers and floodlights from Lighting Technologies.

Tony Symms, Regional Manager – Asia Pacific at Pharos Architectural Controls, said: “The Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple is a highly important cultural and religious site in India. The use of dynamic lighting and synchronised audio has undoubtedly enhanced the visitor experience, and allowed the temple to celebrate and mark special occasions and festivals. It is very rewarding to know that Pharos has played a key role in this successful adaptation of such a historic site.”

Thanks to the new façade lighting scheme, the Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple has been transformed into an illuminated beacon that draws you in as darkness falls. The dynamic scheme has no doubt enhanced visitor experience, but more importantly the temple is now inclusive of the wider culture of India.

Chief Lighting Designer, Jo Plismy of Gong, is passionate about her designs and was delighted to work with Interior Designer, Aurelié
Lambert on the refurbishment of the charming and eclectic Ĥotel Gramont, in the heart of the Paris Opera District. 

When Aurelié Lambert was given the opportnity of re-imagining the 25 rooms at the Ĥotel Gramont, she knew that the lighting would play a key part and that Gong’s beautiful fixtures would help bring her vision to life.  The brief was chic and eclectic, with a theme of travel and in the style of a cabinet of curiosities.   Unique pieces paired with beautiful classic design were used to create rooms that were timeless, beautiful and comfortable.

Jo Plismy has vast experience working with Interior Designers and knows just how much impact the lighting can have on hotel bedrooms, “Hotels are all about the experience for the guest and lighting is vital for helping to create the right atmosphere in a room.  In most cases, the design will require several layers of lights including, floor, table, wall and pendants which all work independently.  This not only helps in achieving the required relaxing and comfortable atmosphere, but also plays an important part in the lighting being functional too.”

Hotel bedrooms usually serve a number of purposes from sleeping and reading, to dressing, relaxing and working, which means an array of lighting choices must be carefully considered.  “Lights can also be used to help zone the space” comments Jo, “dedicated lights by the bed are needed for reading, while you may choose a table lamp for the desk and working area, and further brighter lighting for the dressing area, as well as general ambient lighting.  All of these lights work together to create a beautiful overall layered effect and give the user the choice of creating little softer, relaxing pockets of light for a restful, romantic environment”.

A combination of lights were used from Gong’s Wall Lighting Collection to provide perfect illumination for reading in bed.  Jo explains, “Wall lights have an advantage over table lights as they don’t take up space on a bedside table.  Many designs are also adjustable, allowing the user to direct the light to the exact place they want.  The Peggy Bedside lights shown above and below feature a matt finish shade with a beautiful golden interior, which creates a lovely warm light.  The bases are made of brass with an antique finish to give a high end look”.

The rooms are now a delicate mix of subtle fabrics including linen, jute and velvet, paired with carefully selected objects from all over the world. The multitude of considered lighting options further elevates the interior style, ensuring each space is inviting and welcoming.  Jo comments, “The Ĥotel Gramont is a little gem in the heart of the busy Opera district and the rooms have been beautifully reimagined and perfectly designed by Aurelié.  She has cleverly used a blend of styles and era’s adding fun, quirky touches to ensure guests have an unforgettable experience.  We are so pleased our lights are now a part of this stylish boutique hotel and that we have played a part in it’s beautiful decoration”.

• Ansell Lighting unveils new bi-directional suspended linear

The ideal solution for modern and design-led settings, Marlo is a brand new suspended linear light from Ansell Lighting.

Innovatively designed, the bi-directional luminaire emits light at a 90°angle, yet features advanced lens technology that ensures optimum glare control and comfort. UGR<19 rated, Marlo is the perfect fitting for commercial, retail and educational applications and features a discreet internal switch for settings where directional lighting is required.

Constructed from a robust black-coated aluminium, Marlo is available in 1200mm and 1500mm lengths. Both sizes are available in either 3000k or 4000k colour temperature.

Easy to install, Marlo has adjustable suspension points and is pre-wired with 2m cable length, giving plenty of scope for hanging heights.

Mark Abbott, Managing Director at Ansell Lighting said: “Linear fittings are an ideal solution for many applications, used not only to illuminate the area but also to make a real design statement.

“With Marlo, we focussed on creating a fitting that would provide a contemporary and modern aesthetic to any install whilst also delivering the optimum lighting quality possible.  Versatile, it also offers users the option to switch between bi-directional and directional lighting, supporting their requirements.”

The inaugural LiGHT22 exhibition takes place this November and Rako, Britain’s leading smart lighting controls manufacturer, will be on Stand 57 showcasing its extensive product range and connecting with visitors.

Taking place on 22-23 November at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, LiGHT22 is the UK’s only dedicated high-end lighting specification exhibition for designers, architects and specifiers.

On its stand, Rako will be demonstrating the new capabilities of its refreshed app. The app now allows users to control colour temperature and light intensity with a touch slider. It means clients can adjust the lighting to suit their needs for a particular task or set scenes to link the lighting with their individual circadian rhythms.

The Rako app enables users to have easy hand-held control across the entire product range, including lighting, curtain and blind control.  Connecting via a Hub the app allows programming and storing of new scene levels and offers colour wheel control for RGB and RGBW fittings.

“We are delighted to be bringing our refreshed app to LiGHT22,” explains Paul Wafer, Director at Rako. “Tunable colour temperature and its perceived benefits have been growing in popularity recently. For obvious reasons, designers, specifiers and end users are interested in the sleep and health benefits of circadian lighting, and we have definitely seen an increase in requests for tunable lighting as a result. As a British brand with all of our products manufactured in the UK, it’s great to be exhibiting at a new UK-based show and we’re looking forward to showing visitors what we can do and what we can offer.”

Also on display will be Rako’s extensive keypad ranges including EOS and Modular. The attractive, screwless design of Rako’s EOS keypads create a clean and uncluttered aesthetic.  Recessed into each plate are six push buttons, offering a reassuring and tactile interface, that would complement any interior.

Rako Modular keypads are designed to offer a high degree of versatility, including a choice of control options and finishes that deliver unrivalled customisation and a premium quality aesthetic to enhance user experience and meet interior design requirements. Capable of accommodating up to 12 push buttons in three different button sizes, a variety of lighting, shading and audio control configurations are available.

Both keypad ranges are available in seven premium finishes to suit contemporary or more traditional interiors.  They can also be matched with Heritage Brass electrical accessories as well as cabinet and door hardware.

 

The company’s range is designed to match existing products with RoHS compliant alternatives in the face of changes to the legislation

Warrington, 12 September2022 – LEDVANCE is showcasing its innovative portfolio of lighting products that conform to recent changes in the RoHS directive. The legislation, which regulates the use of mercury in lighting products, was revised in Spring 2022 by the UK/EU commission, impacting what products are permitted on the market for installations.

The use of mercury in lighting products was already prohibited in accordance with the RoHS directive. However, the directive had previously included exemptions for T5 and T8 fluorescent lamps, compact fluorescent lamps with plug-in bases (CFLni), HPD lamps and special-purpose lamps (e.g. UV-C lamps). Now, these exemptions, defined in Annex III of the regulation, have been amended by the EU RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU. The industry can expect a ban on all CFLni lamps from February 2023, and a ban on all T5 and T8 fluorescent lamps from August 2023.  The amendments to RoHS signify the end for all T5/T8 fluorescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps with plug-in bases in general lighting, which will have a significant impact on customers who are currently using these products. Many types of halogen lamps are already banned and this prohibition is also being progressively further extended. From September 2023 halogen pin lamps can also no longer be placed on the market.

Though the change is likely to cause anxiety for those in the lighting industry, LEDVANCE has chosen to present its portfolio in a way that simplifies the process for installers and wholesalers. The portfolio lists a product from the ban alongside a compliant alternative that can be substituted in its place. As LED products from LEDVANCE already greatly exceed the minimum requirements for lighting, this portfolio is thought to provide customers with innovative and future-proof solutions.

Commenting on the change, Nelo Neves, Managing Director for LEDVANCE UK and Ireland, said, “As a market leader in lamps, luminaires and electronic components, we strongly believe that we have a duty to support our customers in changes to legislation. Our current portfolio list makes changing to a different technology as easy as possible. If installers or wholesalers have any questions about switching to LED alternatives, they can simply contact our specialists directly and we’ll be more than happy to offer tailored advice.”

Wealden District Council is a local government district in East Sussex, England, responsible for 835km² of land in South East England, and home to over 160,000 residents. As part of the road to Net Zero, the council is committed to minimising its carbon emissions output at every opportunity. In order to achieve this, as well as create a more streamlined approach to managing council-owned properties throughout the region, Wealden District Council sought to deploy a cloud-based automatic test system for emergency lighting with 106 blocks of General Needs flats within the district.

In order to find the most reliable partner that would deliver the project, the council turned to Chris Batholomew Ltd, a leading electrical contractor. Having worked together on multiple occasions in the past, Wealden District Council needed a reliable source to help achieve its goal of creating more efficient, sustainable operations. Chris Batholomew Ltd introduced the council to its accredited partner, Energy Lighting and Compliance (EL&C), the UK commercial division of Mackwell Electronics.

Cloud-Based Automatic Testing

A UK-based, global manufacturer of emergency lighting technology and systems, Mackwell and EL&C are able to provide customers with a full emergency lighting solution – from system specification to commissioning. EL&C was contracted to deploy a cloud-based automatic test system for emergency lighting in communal areas across the 106 blocks.

Each building had previously relied on traditional emergency lighting, whereby Estate Wardens would have to physically visit each block and manually test that they were working correctly. The 106 blocks span across five postcode areas and Estate Wardens regularly had to cover a large geographical area when testing, driving between each site on a monthly basis. The goal of the project was to minimise the time spent on testing while keeping the emergency lighting compliant with regulation.

Across the 106 locations, there is a range of larger blocks, as well as multiple smaller blocks. Each block consists of 5-7 emergency lights, situated in corridors, stairwells, and front and rear exits. The entire project was split into two phases, with each phase lasting approximately four months.

Challenges

The project with Wealden Council was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there were a number of health and safety protocols that on-site engineers had to adhere to. This included:

• Weekly lateral flow tests, submitted to the council. Engineers could not go on site without a negative test
• No use of resident facilities or communal toilets and washing facilities. Engineers had to provide their own welfare
• Masks and gloves had to be worn at all times on-site

As a result of COVID protocols, the project took approximately two months longer than initially anticipated.

Another issue that was prominent for many organisations during the pandemic was that supply chains ground to a halt. This significantly slowed down a number of projects around the world. However, for Mackwell and EL&C, this was not the case.

Whenever Mackwell takes on a new project, it works quickly to ensure all necessary products are available from the very beginning in order to keep the project as streamlined as possible.

Results

Across the 106 locations, there is a range of larger blocks, as well as multiple smaller blocks. For the larger blocks, Estate Wardens remain on location at all times, making it easier for tests to be carried out. However, for smaller blocks, in line with regulation, there are no communal fire alarms – meaning that no tests have to be completed.

With EL&C’s new solution, the onsite testing and scope for human error have been completely removed. This has improved the council’s compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as well as allowing smarter use of the system to detect lighting faults and ensuring swift repair or replacement is undertaken to ensure compliance further.

Looking to the Future

The first phase of the project took place towards the end of 2020, with the second phase finishing in Q4 2021. The entire deployment was delivered over a 12-month period

Following the resounding success of the project, a third phase was developed in April 2022 and is to be completed by mid-2023, incorporating 12 Retirement Living Courts into the project.

During the pandemic, care homes were put under the spotlight when it came to resident health and safety. With automated emergency lighting installed, should a similar situation arise, fire safety testing can continue without the need for anyone to visit the site, allowing residents to maintain social distancing without compromising their safety.