The scarred exterior of The Address in Dubai last week. Investigators now believe that the lighting installation was to blame for the blaze.
Lux reports: The lighting installation at The Address in Dubai is now being blamed for the spectacular New Year’s Eve fire, say the police.
A short circuit on the cabling to a projector light fitting on the14th floor has been identified as the source of the blaze at the 63-storey luxury hotel.
Fire experts say the fact that only one of the four light fittings on that projecting ledge had melted cables, coupled with witness statements, pinpoints the cause of the disaster.
The news will send shock waves though the lighting and installation industries in the region and will inevitably lead to calls for better standards of equipment, training and tighter specifications.
The pinpointing of the source of the fire to the external lighting explains the mystery of why the internal alarms – which are triggered by smoke – did not sound immediately. Hotel guests told police that they didn’t hear the alarm and only evacuated the building when they were instructed to by hotel staff.
Dubai Police chief Maj Gen Khamis Al Muzeina told the National newspaper yesterday: ‘The results of the investigation come after inspecting the area where the fire started, collecting and testing evidence as well as listening to witnesses’ testimonies.’
Dubai Police forensic scientist Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed told the press that the lighting cables run alongside cabling to other services on the ledges. He believes the fire began between apartments 1401 and 1504, in an area that contained a small, 1.1-metre-wide pathway and a ledge.
‘Experts checked apartment 1504 and came to the conclusion that the fire spread to the unit from the side of the window, which looks onto the pathway and the ledge, and not from inside the apartment,’ Mr Ahmed said.
Fifteen people were injured, while one person suffered a heart attack while being removed from the building.
Lux Reports…The principal legislative requirements for hospitality and leisure facilities in the UK lie in the relevant Building Regulations. These are now separated out between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and while there are some core elements, each has its own nuances so make sure you have the right guidance document for where your building is.
For lighting, the main crux is the part dealing with conservation of fuel and power. In a nutshell, it’s energy efficiency. Hospitality has always been a bit of a grey area where the building regulations are concerned as it includes ‘general areas’ as well as ‘display lighting’, which has much less stringent efficacy demands. The third section is for ‘office, industrial and storage’ where luminaire performance instead of lamp efficacy, is the driver, with additional facility to bring in lighting controls.
The Building Regs, the HSE’s guide to lighting at work and theEsos regulations. Pay attention, we’ll be asking questions later
If you’re feeling lazy, it would be easy to convince yourself that all hospitality lighting is display lighting, but the guidance is quite clear that display lighting should be on separate controls to facilitate it being switched off when ‘people are not inspecting exhibits, merchandise or being entertained’. This effectively precludes the widespread use of inefficient sources, even in restaurants as more efficient lighting must be provided during cleaning, setting-up times etc. It is also worth noting that any task which is predominantly desk-based falls into the office category so reception areas will almost inevitably fall into this category.
The legislation governing the quantity of light is pretty much restricted to that published by the Health and Safety Executive, and its guide on lighting at work. As might be expected, it really only deals with the health and safety aspects of lighting for people in the workplace, rather than the creation of pleasant or appropriate lighting environments. It says it’s important that lighting in the workplace:
allows people to notice hazards and assess risks;
is suitable for the environment and the type of work (for example, it is not located against surfaces or materials that may be flammable);
provides sufficient light (illuminance on the task);
allows people to see properly and discriminate between colours, to promote safety;
does not cause glare, flicker or stroboscopic effects;
avoids the effects of veiling reflections;
does not result in excessive differences in illuminance within an area or between adjacent areas;
is suitable to meet the special needs of individuals;
does not pose a health and safety risk itself;
is suitably positioned so that it may be properly maintained or replaced, and disposed of to ensure safety;
includes, when necessary, suitable and safe emergency lighting.
The guide also gives recommended illuminance levels, although these are only split into five categories dependent on risk and level of detail with average illuminances ranging from 20 lx for circulation to 500 lx in drawing offices. It also gives minimum levels deemed acceptable. Given the limited scope of the categories, it is better to obtain more detailed guidance.
Guidance
The Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) publishes a raft of lighting guidance which reflects the relevant European standards. This covers not just the recommended illuminance levels for the tasks involved, but also application guidance.
The SLL’s Guide to the Lighting of Licensed Premises differs from many of their technical guidance as it is aimed primarily at the manager of the premises – a non-expert. By contrast, the ‘Code for Lighting’ is highly technical and probably more suited to larger chains of premises with lighting specialists or facilities managers within the staff. Having said that, the licensed premises guide does tackle design considerations such as distinguishing the bar back from drinking or eating areas as well as detailed guidance on surface colours as well as key factors such as colour rendering and selection of suitable lamp types for different areas within the building and the principles in the guide can be applied in many different types of hospitality and leisure facilities.
Many people will have experienced poor lighting in restaurants and bars and the key remains to consider the users of the space. Creating a moody, subdued lit environment is not much help if you can’t read a menu. The SLL guidance always puts the users at the heart of its design guidance and the licensed premises guide is a useful starting point.
Esos
Much of the regulation and guidance for hospitality and leisure facilities covers the individual buildings. But companies comprising a large number of facilities, such as hotel or restaurant chains, must also comply with the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme, or Esos.
Esos will require large companies to conduct a full energy audit by the end of 2015 – and repeat it every four years.
The definition of a large undertaking is a company or organisation with 250 employees or with a turnover in excess of €50m (£38m, $57m); this includes all organisations – including not-for-profit ones – that are part of a corporate group that includes a large undertaking. If a company qualifies for Esos and is not fully covered by ISO 50001 they will need to carry out an Esos assessment.
Esos itself goes much further than purely the building premises; industrial processes and transport are also part of the assessment so companies with fleets of company cars or transportation lorries are going to have to assess each vehicle.
The deadline for submission of the Esos assessment is 5 December 2015.
Emergency lighting
To comply with the Fire Safety Order, you need to have emergency lighting and look after it properly. Facility managers or owners are required by law to test their emergency lighting once a month. The fines can be in the thousands for people who can’t provide a monthly test record, and the responsible person can end up with a hefty fine or even a prison sentence if someone ends up getting hurt as a result. Turn to page 60 for more on how to stay out of trouble on this one.
Foibles
When is industrial not industrial? Well, in pretty much every chic hip eatery or drinkery in every major city in the UK. The prevalence of squirrel cage-style filament lamp dominates the interior design scene of just about anywhere that sells pulled pork these days. Now, these filament lamps clearly don’t meet any of the requirements of the Building Regulations and fall into the inefficient sources that were banned years ago. So how have they survived the cull? Simply because they are sold as non-domestic, ‘rough service’ lamps for use in industrial areas such as factories and building sites where they might get knocked about.
Retro-style exposed filament lamps and luminaires are big business. But it’s a fine line as to whether you could actually specify them if you reconsider the Building Regulations. Urban chic is all well and good, but there’s more choice than the ubiquitous squirrel, believe me.
Call us today to begin your hotel LED lighting retrofit. Tel: 0208-540-8287. Email: sales@novelenergylighting.com
The Down Hall Hotel, one of the UK’s most established country house hotels, has achieved considerable energy savings on lighting thanks to a simple retrofit to Megaman LED lamps. With Phase 1 of the project concentrating on the main function rooms, lounge and anti-lounge areas, the current estimated figures are 7736kw of energy saved per annum which equates to an annual CO2 saving of 4.21 tons.
Located in Hatfield Heath on the Hertfordshire/Essex borders, Down Hall was built in the Italianate style of architecture, which was a distinct 19th century phase in the history of Classical architecture and the hotel dates back to 1322 with luxurious interior and ornate ceilings, all set in 110 acres of parkland. The hotel has many high ceiling function rooms including the Prior Suite, and this was the first room to be considered for the new LED lamps.
With chandeliers and wall lights in constant use, the old Halogen 28W lamps were constantly failing which meant a scaffolding tower had to be erected each time to replace the lamps, taking up valuable maintenance time and causing serious potential health and safety issues. On review of the lighting it was agreed to switch the existing lighting to Megaman’s 5w candle lamps in warm white, which also offer dimming capabilities for changing the ambience of the room at different times of the day and evening. On completion of the Prior Suite, the staff at Down Hall were so delighted with the result that the other function rooms, namely
Rookwood, Lyndhurst, Harley and the lounge and anti-lounge, were also changed to the new LED lamps. Bob Parker at Down Hall commented “We are extremely happy with the new LED lamps which, apart from the energy savings achieved, actually look better and complement the existing fittings, plus they offer 50,000 hours life. The light output is excellent and staff are commenting that the new lighting has improved the whole ambience of the building. We are now in the process of putting Phase 2 into action which will include the Bridgeman Selwin Suites which is our main ballroom for wedding receptions”.
Novel Energy Lighting supplies LED lighting to the hospitality sector and can provide many references of hotels which have been retrofitted. We sell LED lamps and fittings, and can provide services such as surveys, lighting designs, and installation to help you start saving energy as quickly as possible.
Call us: 0208-540-8287, or email: sales@novelenergylighting.com for more information
LUX Reports: Hadrien Bera leads a team of 20 engineers responsible for the overall asset management of London’s grand hotel Claridge’s in Mayfair. It’s a challenging role; requirements to save energy aren’t easy to balance with the need to maintain the look and feel of a lavish Grade II listed building with art deco interiors, frequented by the royals and sometimes referred to as the ‘annexe to Buckingham Palace’.
Lux spoke to Bera to find out how he plans to make the lighting in the prestigious, 200-year-old building more efficient.
Lux: What are the biggest lighting challenges you face at Claridges?
Bera: We’ve got a lot of different systems and it is difficult to keep enough stock because a lot is custom-made. That forces me to plan ahead and to create stocks of critical spares so any issues would have as little disruption to the hotel’s operations as possible.
We’ve got chandeliers in the main reception that use incandescent candles, which also comes with challenges: I am looking at replacing these bulbs which are energy hungry and more and more difficult to source but I cannot just replace them with anything. This is one of the first features our many guests will see so it has to look in tone with the rest of the art deco style of our lobby. It’s easier to be creative and to focus on energy efficiency in the back of house areas.
Have you had much experience using LED technology?
We’re replacing all the filament lighting in our suites with LEDs. The project is still in the early stages and I’m experimenting with different LED manufacturers. With this kind of major refurbishment project, we use lighting designers who will specify the best fittings to meet the operational requirements and also the best lighting outputs.
We’ve got 197 guest bedrooms and the amount of lighting will vary from 10 to 50 light fittings per room. In all our latest rooms, the lighting is 100 per cent LED, from the strips in the pelmets and the wardrobes, to the candles in the bedside tables, the GLS in the standing lamps and the spot lights. At this stage, about 50 bedrooms are fully lit with LEDs, so we still have a long way to go.
Do you have energy reduction targets?
There is not a set target in regards to energy saving. The aim is to ensure that we do not compromise on quality and that we do this in the most sustainable way possible. Then, it is up to me to propose projects to accomplish that. I obviously ensure that the energy is not wasted by having a strict maintenance program but this is not enough, we need to be as proactive as possible to ensure we remain at the top of the game.
Is it difficult to justify investments in energy-efficient lighting?
It’s relatively easy if payback is short. Any investment that would take longer than three years to pay for itself would be difficult to justify and anything that would take less than two years would always be preferential. A business case needs to be submitted to show and justify the return on investment. This requires a lot of research and months of trials. That also gives us the time to negotiate with our lighting provider to make sure that we get the best products at the best price.
In my opinion, many people had a bad first impression of LEDs when they were at their developing stages. This is slowly changing but it is up to us, facility managers, to change this by shortlisting the best possible applications, showing the difference in regards to the ‘feel’ LED can provide, the energy consumption and the associated CO2 emission reduction. This is important and this is why this process is so lengthy.
How do you go about installing new lights without disturbing guests?
When we’re satisfied with the lighting products, we have to do a whole bedroom in one go. We’ll do a survey first to ensure we know exactly what is required, place the order, block the room off and then go in one day and replace all the lighting. Once the room has been converted, we would leave it for a couple of months to gain additional feedback from the rest of the team, from the guests and from the hotel management team before we move on to the other rooms.
For the corridors, the same process applies but the work would be carried out at night when we would convert the corridor into sections, which can take up to two or three nights. This is to ensure that the task doesn’t affect the operations of the hotel or disturb our guests.
What other lighting plans do you have for Claridges?
Façade lighting is another project that I am working on. The hotel is a listed building and its architecture is spectacular. It deserves the best façade lighting we can obtain. There are, of course, different ways to achieve this and everything we do has to be submitted to the authorities to gain the mandatory planning permissions.
At the moment I am at the design stage where I am reviewing with a lighting consultant how we can achieve the best results. In previous Lux editions, there have been a lot of interesting case studies, especially the feature on the Science Museum façade lighting replacement. The result was amazing and it was interesting to see their process.
Novel Energy Lighting supplies LED lighting to hotels and the hospitality sector. Please call (T: 0208-540-8287) or visit us today to discuss your needs.
See the stunning, circular lighting concept in the Waldorf Astoria in Berlin, and find out why LED products take a central place in Trilux’s approach to lighting.
Lux reports from the Trilux stand at LuxLive 2014, to see the company’s latest lighting innovations and hear about what they’re seeing in the market.
Lux Imagines: What would happen if all the fittings in Britain’s hotel bedrooms were replaced with LEDs? And what if we add all the corridors and toilets to the equation? Lux‘s lighting economist, Dave Tilley, has done just that in this thought-provoking calculation based on hotel industry information and 2015 projections.
First, Tilley considered changing eight incandescent and halogen lamps to LED in every one of the UK’s 615,000 hotel bedrooms – and then a complete changeover including common areas in 31,000 hotels.
Let’s see what happens:
Conclusion
The results are staggering: £131 million ($199 million) and 677,000 tonnes of CO2 could be saved if Britain’s hotels changed their bedroom, corridor and toilet lights to LED.
But for many businesses, the capital investment needed to do this is still considered a barrier, even when it might pay for itself in a year or less.
The scale of the potential savings – and their contribution to CO2 reduction targets – should capture the imagination of the hotel industry. But government should also be more involved in encouraging better lighting, if it is serious about lowering the country’s energy consumption.
Novel Energy Lighting has supplied LED lighting to many hotels in the UK, and can support you in your hotel retrofit. We also offer LED lighting finance through our partners at Lombard Capital to eliminate the capital barrier, and allow you to pay for your upgrade from the energy savings alone! Visit us to discuss the opportunity in more detail, or call: 0208-540-8287
