Lighting Control

Improving Energy Conservation has never been easier
to control and measure.

The First and easiest Step in creating a more energy Efficient Facility:

Lighting Control is one of the easiest and most cost effective methods to improve your Sustainability Performance in your Facility. Often simply changing the luminaries will yield results, improving the functionality of lighting Zones, Splitting Circuits out of excluded areas, Identify Emergency Lighting Circuits (often they are mixed) and integrating systematized control. Some of these Lighting Control Methods are outlined below:

Lighting Control Strategy	Description
Light Zoning	Divides the Circuits in to purposeful Zones
Occupancy Detection	PIR Light Activation – Lights Off after a delay
Time & Data Schedules	With Zoning create better separation control
After Hours	Reduces and monitor’s unnecessary activation times (billing also)
Light Harvesting	Automate lighting to Lux sensors to follow the sun (East & west devices)
Facade Control	Automate Facade lighting to a Lux sensor
Blind Control	Close Blinds in the evening to hold heat during winter months are reduce easterly Sun heat in the Morning during Summer months

Lighting Control: Costs to improve the lighting control Zoning

The zoning of your lighting system is inexpensive and flexible. Re-Zoning circuits is a straight forward task of deciding which work areas operate at different times and their lighting demand from the staff that use that particular work area. Once this decision is made, an electrician can be engaged to provide and install the hardware to provide some individual switching.

Consider the costing per each double T8: If you have a double light, T8, with an electronic Ballast, we will be assuming, for their calculation, 75Watts. (75 x 5 days x 12 hours x 52 weeks = 234Kwh) at say 25 cents per Kilowatt hour is approximately $60/year.

In considering the zoning, look at each light fitting as $60 per year cost and balance this with the consideration of the staff requirements to perform the duties without issue. Your electrician coast is approximately $1000 per day plus materials and incidentals.

Occupancy Lighting Control – “how to”:

Consider the above zoning strategy which you have successfully implemented and used switches installed on a wall plate. Add to this circuit or lighting zone, one per zone, an occupancy sensor for additional control. What this adds to your system is that the lights will auto off if there is no movement in the zone.

The switch on the wall is used as an override “off” or disable of the lighting circuit, but should some one forget to turn of the lights on the way out, then the lights will switch off after a given or programmed time.
The application of an occupancy sensor needs careful consideration of the staff activities. Perhaps, a timer might be more appropriate, but may not be as energy conservation effective.

Synergies between Energy Management, HVAC, and building Systems:

The Synergies that exist between lighting control and other services include the HVAC, Lifts, Car parks and much more, integrating these together can amplify your sustainability performance, Lift lobby lighting with Access control, air conditioning and the Car park exhaust system as simple yet keen example, if your record your Energy Consumption prior to these strategies implemented and then again after, the business case is a obvious, then extrapolate those figures across 2 years, 5 years.

Costing the Return On Investment with effective Lighting Control:

Costing these and other strategies into a lease arrangement can be profitable for both the long term tenant and the building owner, if the

lease is say 3 + 3 and the math generates the sustainability improvements paid for in the first 3 years then the option take up is more probable.

Each Tenancy, each building has it own opportunities to ensure cost return, improved Value and overall sustainability improvements.

• Emergency Lighting. Legislation compliance, testing and upgrades.
• Car Park Lighting control via timer and lux sensors reduces costs.
• Switchboard Control Center. Lighting control can be simple as re zoning and switching via wall lights or a complex system, involving digital control, timers, occupancy sensors, digital controllers and more.
• BMS Lighting Control Panel, Note the multiple lighting circuits controlled via contactors and the emergency lighting is separated from the general lighting to ensure compliance and serviceability