With the NHS in England’s annual carbon footprint now 21 million tonnes, and the Department of Health having set an ambitious target of a 10 per cent reduction by 2015, and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050, Hochiki Europe stresses that a new generation of LED emergency lighting products can contribute significantly to reducing hospitals’ and other healthcare facilities’ carbon footprint, while also fulfilling a useful extra role.
The company says that, with lighting accounting for ‘anywhere between 10 and 20 per cent’ of a hospital’s total energy bill, the introduction and innovative use of LED emergency lighting has already seen forward-thinking health estate managers achieve significant savings.
It says: “Correctly specified, installed, and maintained, emergency lighting plays a vital role in keeping a building’s occupants safe from the potentially deadly consequences of a failure in the general lighting. While a traditional system is often just left in ‘standby’ mode until required, the flexibility of a modern, LED-based system means it can also be used as a secondary lighting source – one that is far more cost-effective than using the mains equivalent.
“LED luminaires produce less than five per cent of the carbon emissions of fluorescent lighting,” the company adds. “This allows operating costs to be minimised, without compromising efficiency. They also operate via functional extra low voltage (FELV) power, eliminating the need to run a mains electricity supply to every luminaire, which vastly reduces the amount of wiring associated with 230V cabling.”
Alongside their energy efficiency benefits, Hochiki Europe says LED emergency lighting systems offer ‘enhanced levels of control’. For example, at particular times of day, when certain areas may have a much lower footfall, such systems can be used to provide general lighting via one of seven different illumination levels. As each luminaire can be independently controlled, areas of a building can be lit where and when necessary – for example care home residents can have low-level lighting overnight in their rooms.
The company adds: “Low-level lighting can also enhance security, giving the impression that areas that are, in fact, closed, are occupied. A separate switch can also be installed to activate the emergency lighting system to provide light at a pre-determined level to assist manned security patrols.”
While lighting can be controlled via timers, and light levels configured to suit particular requirements, in the event of an alarm, the system will return to its primary use, and adjust the light levels accordingly.
