A combination of energy efficient Brilliance T5 fluorescent light fittings and BlueWave two-channel controllers from Chalmor is helping Myerscough College near Preston save up to a predicted £39,000 per annum on lighting costs. The savings on carbon emissions, combined with a fast payback, enabled the College to qualify for a substantial energy efficiency grant from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
Myerscough College is a Higher and Further Education College dating back to the 19th Century, with a strong emphasis on land-based courses, ranging from agricultural studies to a variety of sport courses.
As part of a wide range of initiatives to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, the College’s representative, initiated a survey of lighting in the equestrian centre, sports hall and ancillary areas such as toilets.
“The 400W high pressure sodium lighting in the equestrian centre and sports hall was switched on in the mornings and occasionally left on all day, irrespective of natural daylight levels or occupancy,” he recalled. “Consequently, upgrading the lighting to more controllable, more efficient fluorescent lighting – with additional daylight and occupancy control so we aren’t relying on people to switch off the lighting – will save the College a great deal of money,” they added.
In the equestrian centre, 48 x 400W SON fittings were replaced on a point-for-point basis with 4 x 54W Brilliance fittings, linked to BlueWave controllers. As well as providing a higher light output, thus enhancing safety through improved visibility, this enables the lighting to switch off automatically when there is sufficient daylight, or when the space is not in use. The lighting is also zoned so that only parts of the centre that are in use are illuminated. The return on investment in this area is predicted at just 1.4 years.
A similar situation prevailed in the sports hall, where 18 x 400W SON fittings were replaced with Brilliance fittings and BlueWave controllers, giving a projected payback of 2.1 years. Further BlueWave controllers have been installed in toilets to provide occupancy control of the lighting.
Even without additional control, Brilliance fittings provide a much longer lamp life (24,000 hours) than the 8000 hour life of SON light sources. As the enhanced control is predicted to reduce the running hours of the lighting by 60%, this will enable the College to make significant savings on maintenance. In the equestrian centre, for example, the re-lamping schedule will be extended from 0.8 years to 5.8 years.
In order to qualify for the LSC grant, the College had to demonstrate that the return on investment would be less than five years and that the capital cost would be less than £200 per tonne of CO2 saved.
“The LSC grant was critical to the upgrade work proceeding and Chalmor proved very helpful in providing the required figures. The new lighting has been well received by users and has made a significant contribution to our energy reduction programme,” Alan Nickson, Section Leader for Agriculture and Countryside concluded.
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