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28
Officials slam badly lit Olympic Village as ‘unlivable’
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The Olympic Village is not up to scratch and lacks good lighting, international officials are claiming.
The Rio 2016 Athlete’s Village is the biggest in Olympic history, but the accommodation is plagued with teething problems.
The Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro has been described as ‘unsafe’ and ‘unlivable’ just two weeks before the Games are set to begin.
No lighting has been installed in the stairwells of the 31, 17 storey tower blocks that comprise the largest accommodation site in Olympic history.
Australian Olympic officials have said that they will refuse to let their team move in unless the lighting issues are rectified, an issue which they say will put their athletes at risk if left unresolved.
Great Britain, the USA, Italy and New Zealand have also raised complaints with Olympic officials and some athletes plan to boycott the village.
Other maintenance problems have also been reported such as blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring and dirty floors.
Rio officials are said to have dispatched a team of cleaners and electricians to solve the snagging issues and in the mean time some athletes are being offered accommodation in hotels.
As hosts, what we want is for everyone to feel at home. It is natural that you have some kind of adjustments to do, but we will make the Australians feel at home here
Janeiro Eduardo Paes – Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Janeiro Eduardo Paes, responded to the Australian criticism by claiming that the Rio Olympic Village was considerably better than the one provided by Sydney for the 2000 games.
‘As hosts, what we want is for everyone to feel at home. It is natural that you have some kind of adjustments to do, but we will make the Australians feel at home here,’ the mayor said in response to the criticism.
‘I almost feel like putting a kangaroo in front of their building to make them feel at home,’ Paes concluded.
Essentials aside, the Olympic Village apartments do come with air-conditioning and mosquito repellers in an attempt to prevent another major problem set to threaten the 2016 Games, the Zika virus.
building lighting · led lighting · Novel Energy Lighting · olympic village lighting · rio lighting · rio olympics · stairwell lighting · tower block lighting
23
Philips Revitalises Cairo’s Iconic Opera House With Spectacular Connected LED Lighting
Comments off · Posted by admin in LED, LED Floodlights, Philips LED
On the occasion of Philips sixth consecutive Cape Town to Cairo roadshow, Philips today unveiled the newly illuminated Cairo Opera House.
– Philips 21st century connected LED lighting technology revitalises Cairo’s Opera House – bringing new life to this iconic building, whilst also reigniting cultural pride and saving energy.
– Over the past five years the Philips Cape Town to Cairo roadshow has spread light across Africa improving and beautifying cities, and illuminating iconic landmarks
Philips has provided the Cairo Opera House with a stunning makeover that has radically boosted the beautification of this iconic building. By using its latest LED lighting technology, which has a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours(1), Philips will enable the Opera House to reduce its energy consumption by up to 80% compared with conventional lighting currently used in the Opera House.
Reigniting cultural pride
The Cairo Opera House is a cultural landmark renowned for leadership, excellence and imagination. It has carved itself a significant position in the cultural landscape of Egypt and the Middle East. With its appealing mix of high-quality traditional events, and its unique venues as well as its state of the art facilities, the Cairo Opera House is exceptionally suited to fulfill its mission to become a representation of art in Egypt and across the world.
Tamer Abol Ghar, Country Manager Egypt & General Manager Africa, Lighting Professional End User Sales, commented : “It is with great pride that we can today unveil the stunning LED makeover of the Cairo Opera House. The lighting not only magnifies the beauty of the renowned building, but it will also enable a significant reduction of energy consumption at the Opera House. As the global leader in LED lighting, we have made massive strides in recent years with regards LEDs, and it’s really quite remarkable to witness the effect the lighting of a building or a landmark can have on an entire city or region. We have no doubt that the people of Cairo will enjoy the Opera House for many more years to come, and hopefully as a result of the dynamic new lighting it will be seen in a completely new light not only by locals, but by the world.”
Philips’ new lighting concept focused on highlighting the importance of the building as a source of cultural pride. Located in the southern part of Gezira Island, this iconic building now houses new Philips dynamic lighting, which ensures it is visible from anywhere up to half a kilometre away on the River Nile. The new Philips lighting design has guaranteed that the viewing points of the Opera House are the main feature, with light and shadow applied in such a way that the building’s structures are also emphasized.
The initial challenge for Philips’ design team was to give the iconic Opera House a more innovative look while maintaining the authentic and historic atmosphere of the Opera House. The Philips team applied its innovative Vaya LED lights which create an endless spectrum of colors to highlight the features of this architectural masterpiece, and allowed Philips to introduce a vibrant ambience that changes depending on the performance happening inside the Opera House.
The usage of intelligent RGB (Red, Green & Blue) flood lights on the façade of the Cairo Opera House turns the hall into a landmark that is highly attractive, adding visual comfort as well as an expressive environment at night. The domes of the building have been illuminated using intelligent RGB floodlights with wide beam angle to highlight the octagonal base shape
The entire project at the Cairo Opera House took Philips four months to complete – this included the design, implementation and installation of 160 Philips latest Color Kinetics Vaya LED RGB (Red, Green & Blue) Lighting luminaires.
Ninth and final stop of the Cape Town to Cairo roadshow
Cairo marks the grand conclusion of Philips’ annual pan-African Cape Town to Cairo roadshow that kicked off on 11th May 2015, in Cape Town. Cairo is the ninth stop on the roadshow’s journey which covered 12,000 km across 11 cities and 8 countries over a period of 4.5 months. Cape Town to Cairo has gained significant momentum over the past five years, allowing Philips to get to the heart of some of the key issues facing Africa – including Mother and Child Care, the rise of non-communicable diseases, energy efficient LED and solar lighting solutions, as well as shining a spotlight on the need for clinical education and training.
The 2015 roadshow continued to drive the conversation around sustainable energy solutions. As part of Philips dedication to improving healthcare in Africa many substantial innovations and partnerships were announced and Philips illuminated a number of iconic buildings, which will leave behind a permanent legacy, while also reducing energy consumption.
Visit www.novelenergylighting.com for LED lighting products by Philips
architectural lighting · building lighting · cairo opera house · led building · led lighting · Novel Energy Lighting · outdoor lighting · philips led · philips lighting · wall wash
18
Edinburgh lights up stairwells in historic tenements with modern LEDs
Comments off · Posted by admin in LED, LED downlights, LED Floodlights, LED panels
Lux Magazine reports: When you live in a private apartment block in Edinburgh, the stairwell lighting can be like an extension of the outdoor street lights in the sense that the Edinburgh City Council pays for it. And so it is that the great British streetlight battle has gone indoors.
No, the Edinburgh City Council is not turning off the stairway lights. Rather, the Council is – you guessed it – replacing around 90,000 bulbs in thousands of the city’s so-called tenements with energy saving LEDs models, according to the Edinburgh Evening News.
The city expects the £9 million project to cut energy consumption and slash costs by 50 percent.
Edinburgh’s tenements include the historic privately owned buildings that make up a large part of the city’s distinctive housing stock, known for stone facades, high ceilings and ornamental detail. Many of them date from the 19th century; some are older, and some date up to the 1970s. Various public policies look after their heritage and maintenance.
‘Not many people realise that the council does pay for and maintain the stair lighting in all the tenements in Edinburgh and there is a need to upgrade them,’ Councillor Rickey Henderson told the paper.
The city will solicit bids. It anticipates a four-year project at a cost of about £6 million for lamps and fittings and £2.9 million for the work.
‘To get better quality and more environmentally friendly lighting we will tender for that work,’ Henderson said. ‘The investment will need to be taken out of reserves but will be put back over a period of time because the lights will be more efficient and the maintenance costs will be reduced.’
One controversy in the UK’s raging streelight debates is that LED lamps illuminate only a narrow area compared to conventional sodium lamps.
Will that be a problem in the tenement stairwells? The Edinburgh Evening News reported that:
‘Housing leaders admitted there had been concerns when street lighting was replaced with energy-efficient alternatives, amid worries urban areas were not being properly illuminated. They stressed a pilot of the proposed new service had already been carried out in six tenement stairs, with residents who completed questionnaires expressing full satisfaction.’
A pilot is one thing. This is a project in its infancy, with many more steps to climb.
See our range of LED bulkheads here.
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Photo: Stairing at LEDs. Edinburgh council is installing energy efficient LEDs in stairwells of many of the city’s historic tenements. Image is from StockCube/Shutterstock
building lighting · energy effficient lighting · energy efficient lighting · LED lamps · led lighting · led street lights · led streetlighting · lighting scotland · Novel Energy Lighting
