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 | | SETSQUARE HELPS TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT AT THE CABINET OFFICES IN WHITEHALL | | | Setsquare limited | | 20/06/2008 | | | 22 Whitehall in central London, occupied by the ‘Cabinet Office’, has recently installed the InfraPOD presence-based lighting control system from Setsquare Limited in order to dramatically reduce energy wastage and carbon emissions.
Lighting typically accounts for up to 40% of the total energy usage within office buildings. Consequently, leaving lighting on when it was not needed was proving to be a common cause of energy inefficiencies at 22 Whitehall. To address this issue, Facilities Management company Ecovert FM, commissioned its preferred supplier, UK manufacturer Setsquare Limited, to survey, design, manufacture and install a flexible presence based lighting control system which would be able to accommodate the specific requirements of this Cabinet Office Building.
A spokesperson for Ecovert FM said “The cost verses the efficiency return at 22 Whitehall was good and Setsquare’s technology provided an innovative solution to the ongoing problems relating to luminaires being continuously left on. Following the installation of their lighting controls we have experienced a 60% saving in energy usage within this building, giving us an annual cost saving of £6,268, as well as a 44,9221kg reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.”
This project follows the success of InfraPOD presence based lighting control installations at other Cabinet Office buildings and has played a major role in the Government’s sustainable development objectives, which aim to increase energy efficiency performance within the offices of the Government Estates.
The use of the InfraPOD presence based lighting control system required both English Heritage and local authority approval and the Cabinet Office’s architects were tasked with ensuring that it caused minimal disruption to the building’s fabric and that its cosmetic appeal did not detract from the interior’s architectural features. The unobtrusive design of this innovative lighting control system and the way its installation was executed proved to be ideal for this type of application.
The existing lighting scheme within 22 Whitehall, consisted of a total of 488 high frequency luminaries which had been specified for their energy efficiency. 416 of these are located within the office areas, whilst a further 72 are used to illuminate the lift lobbies. The luminaries within the offices were being left on for 19 hours per day, whilst the lift lobby luminaires were operating for a full 24 hours a day.
To address this issue, in order to dramatically reduce energy wastage, Setsquare’s InfraPOD modular range of passive infrared occupancy detection sensors was specified to provide a versatile and flexible presence-based lighting control solution. Featured in both the large open plan offices and the lift lobbies it has proved ideal for the different types of environment within this prestigious Government building.
Setsquare’s sophisticated presence detection lighting control system features a control unit which incorporates switching time delay and photocell adjustment, enabling up to ten low profile detector heads to be linked to one controller by using low voltage 2-core screened wire. As each sensor contains a passive infrared detector, this system reacts to movement, thereby ensuring that the lighting is only on when the zone is occupied.
An adjustable timer, within the unit, maintains lighting during defined periods of inactivity. As soon as movement ceases and after a specified period of time, the luminaries will be extinguished and will not be re-energised until the system is activated by someone moving into the zone. By ensuring that lighting is only energised when body movement is sensed, or when there is insufficient natural lighting, this system has achieved substantial energy cost savings whilst also reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
Rather than ceiling or wall mounting the InfraPOD detection sensors, Setsquare used that same installation method used at another Cabinet Office Building. This involved mounting the sensor heads in between the diffuser fins on the suspended mounted luminaries. As the detection sensors are positioned at a lower level than the existing ceiling height, the detection pattern within the centre of the controlled zone is more concentrated, making it sensitive enough to detect the movement of hands on a computer keyboard or mouse.
To achieve a higher level of sensitivity in the outer perimeters of the detection zone, Setsquare installed additional InfraPOD detectors. These provided the required detection capability so that where no movement was detected within a short time delay period the lighting would be automatically extinguished.
The versatile design of the InfraPOD system has made it simple to add additional detector heads, thereby enabling awkward areas, such as the lobbies and corridors, to be effectively covered by the lighting control system. To suit this client’s requirements, the InfraPOD controls are operated independently from those within the office and meeting rooms. This design solution avoids the lighting within the corridor areas being on, when no one is in the area.
As the lift lobby areas are facing a central atrium Setsquare utilised its InfraPOD Controller, with a dual relay, to achieve a twin light level switching operation using the photocell. This enables the system to take into account the effect of natural daylight in order to further reduce energy wastage.
By linking the InfraPOD control unit to a photocell detector, the system is able to utilise the dual relay to independently switch off the separate rows of lighting, as soon as the required lux level is reached. These controllers have also been used around the windows on the front elevation of the building to effectively control two rows of luminaries, automatically turning off each row as and when there is sufficient background or ambient lux levels.
This capability enables the system to switch at two independent lux levels, whilst still responding to the same movement. In doing so, it is able to use the available natural light to create a 50% reduction in energy usage by simply switching off the row of lighting that is not required. As this system only needs one photocell to operate up to 10 sensor heads, it has reduced the overall cost of installation. This solution has avoided having to install combined sensor heads with built-in photocells and then having to undertake the cost of disabling these photocells when they are not required.
In areas where there is little or no natural daylight available to make the use of a photocell worthwhile, the system has established occupancy lighting control zones so that when a presence is detected, lighting would automatically turn on within that zone and turn off when vacated.
To suit the operational requirements of the cellular glass fronted meeting rooms, Setsquare featured its optional ‘demand button’ to enable users to override the system during visual media presentations. This switch takes the system from a presence mode, where the lighting is controlled by movement sensors, to absence mode where the lighting will need to be manually energised prior to being controlled. In absence mode it allows people to momentarily move in and out of the space without having to turn on the lighting, subject, of course, to there being sufficient ambient light.
This switching solution was different to that used in other Cabinet Office Buildings as in these locations it wasn’t possible to use the demand button due to the design of the building. Instead optional key switches were incorporated into the design scheme to allow the user to over-ride the system, whilst avoiding unauthorised tampering.
Each zone operates independently but, for example, should it be necessary to remove the glass partitions within the cellular office areas, these zones can be linked together using low voltage ‘2 core screened wiring’, so that they can operate as one zone to maximise the system’s versatility.
The Ecovert FM spokesperson concluded: “Due to the flexibility of Setsquare’s lighting control technology we have been able to effectively manage the lighting requirements in the different areas of the building at 22 Whitehall. Setsquare delivered the project on time, to specification and budget and provided us with full and professional support before, during and after the installation, including training at the end of the project. We would recommend Setsquare to anyone who is serious about reducing their carbon footprint in a cost effective manner” | |
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