This underpass near King’s Cross and St Pancras stations in North London is saving money on energy and maintenance since it had its old metal halide lights replaced with specially designed LED road tunnel luminaires from Philips.

The St Pancras Road underpass is a busy road, cycle and pedestrian route to the two major train stations, as well as providing access to Camden Council’s new offices. It was previously lit by around 100 twin-lamp metal halide fittings and the council saw an opportunity to visually improve what had become a gloomy and uninviting area. This was a ‘spend to save’ initiative to take advantage of energy-efficiency gains and lower maintenance costs while also reducing carbon emissions.

The lighting design was carried out by Philips and the new luminaires were installed by main contractor SPIE. SPIE’s John Broster said: ‘The previous luminaires were fitted into the soffit of the underpass and as this is a concrete strutted roof it would have been impractical to alter it. We needed a solution that could provide a direct replacement for the existing fittings.’

The stainless steel luminaires have been installed on a one-for-one replacement basis, to provide energy savings of more than 50 per cent. The new lighting has increased light levels and uniformity to remove the gloom, while the 4000K neutral white colour temperature has created a better and more inviting visual environment for users of the underpass. The tunnel feels safer and more pleasant.

The project also provided an ideal opportunity to make better use of lighting control. ‘As this is a short underpass the lighting only requires one-step dimming and we were able to adjust the existing system, using high light levels during the day and dimming at night to minimise the contrast for drivers entering the underpass,’ said Broster.

The council has achieved a significant reduction in energy consumption, while also reducing maintenance costs as the luminaires are expected to be virtually maintenance-free throughout their lifetime, and should pay for themselves in about five years.

Contact Novel Energy Lighting to discuss your LED lighting retrofit requirements. We work hand in hand with the major lighting manufacturers like Philips to specify, supply, and install projects. Tel: 0208-540-8287. Email: sales@novelenergylighting.com

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Lighting.co.uk reported – 50,000 LED luminaires have been installed by National Car Parks (NCP) since January, almost bringing phase one of the multi-million pound project to a close.

Phase one of the £10 million project includes the installation of over 60,000 LED luminaires across 149 multi-storey car parks throughout the UK – from Scotland to the South Coast. NCP is effectively relighting 45,000 car parking spaces. The retrofit is expected to save 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year and slash energy consumption on car park lighting by 65 per cent.

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The fittings are being supplied and installed by Future Energy Solutions (FES). Phase two of the project is expected to take another two or three years. The contract is funded by FES in partnership with the Green Investment Bank, eliminating the need for any up-front capital from NCP. Instead, NCP will pay out of the energy cost savings over time.

All the installations are maintained for the life of the contract at no extra cost to NCP. FES is installing around 22 types of LED fitting across NCP’s car park stock. One example of the retrofit underway includes the swap out of single 50W T8 fluorescent tubes for 29W LED alternatives.

FES commercial director Marcus Brodin told Lighting: “NCP’s CO2 emissions will be reduced by 11,000 tonnes per annum and mono-nitrogen oxide will be lowered by 248lbs over the same period. This is the equivalent of 10,924 trees being saved or filling up 321,695 fuel tanks every year.”

This is the first transport infrastructure project to qualify for the Government’s UK Guarantee scheme, which was launched in 2013 and which NCP says was vital to the success of this opportunity. NCP manages more than 150,000 car parking spaces across more than 500 car parks up and down the country, and expects the LED retrofit to lead to multi-million pound savings on energy over the lifetime of the new luminaires.

FES has is using a variety of controls across the NCP car parks, depending on the needs of individual spaces. “We have site-specific controls, it depends on the nature of the car park,” explained Brodin. “Strictly speaking we have a load of PIR controls in over half of the luminaires, along with daylight harvesting; the rest are standard or emergency fittings.”

Bodin said the contract does not have a clear end date, as NCP is constantly growing. “Every year NCP wins new contracts with councils or builds new car parks, so it’ll be on going. It’s a moving feast constantly.”

Novel Energy Lighting supplies a wide range of high quality LED lighting products. We stock the entire Philips Master LED and Megaman LED range of lamps, bulbs, and tubes. We can supply a large range of LED fittings range, including the best-selling Philips Coreline recess downlights, and FYT ceiling panels. Most of our products come with 3-5 year guarantee and a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Energy saving is up to 90% and up to 50,000 hours rated lifetime.

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