Ex-Or Limited, European leaders in lighting management systems, was chosen to control the lighting throughout Harlow Council's prestige new £8.7 million Civic Centre. Ex-Or was specified to provide a range of controls and systems to automatically switch and dim the lights according to need. Its brief was to achieve maximum energy cost savings for the council, ensure automatic compliance with lighting legislation and deliver the most productive lit environment for Civic Centre staff.
The Ex-Or MLS Digital Managed Lighting System was chosen to meet these needs. It incorporates detectors which communicate with each other to provide the correct level of lighting to occupants in designated work zones. The system automatically detects the presence of occupants, measure levels of ambient light, and regulates luminaire output accordingly. In addition, it ensures lights in key circulation areas are kept on.
The imposing three storey building, part of a major town centre redevelopment scheme, includes open plan and cellular administration offices on the upper floors, a customer contact centre, an art gallery at the mezzanine level and the council chamber. At ground level, restaurants and a coffee shop overlook the relocated water gardens. Altogether, 1,200 luminaires throughout the building are now controlled by the Ex-Or MLS.
Kevin Barry, of Jones King Partnership, the lighting consultants for the scheme, said Harlow Council was keen to meet its environmental responsibilities by ensuring energy wastage was kept to a minimum in their new headquarters. With optimum levels of light being constantly maintained by the Ex-Or MLS, Harlow Council is benefiting from energy cost savings of between 40 per cent and 70 per cent when compared to a non-managed lighting system.
Said Kevin Barry: "In addition to energy reduction, the requirement was for a lighting management system that would create the most productive working atmosphere for occupants of the Civic Centre whilst automatically ensuring compliance with lighting legislation such as the latest requirements of the Building Regulations - Ex-Or fitted the bill on all counts.
"In addition, having specified Ex-Or for a local government building in Wiltshire, we knew the system was easy to install and offered proven reliability. The ease by which building occupants can alter their own individual lighting levels with a hand held remote control was another factor in making the decision."
As well as giving individuals control of their own lighting levels, the scene-setting function of the MLS system was specified to allow the building manager to pre-set a variety of differently lit environments to suit the varied use made of some areas. These scenes can easily be recreated by a touch of a button. In the council chamber, the system delivers pre-set lighting settings for full council meetings, audio visual presentations and small group sessions. The reception areas have a variety of pre-set lit scenes - subtly illuminated during times of public access, with higher levels of lighting during cleaning times, and with levels of lighting suitable for security purposes out of hours.
A further feature of the Ex-lighting installation was the employment of the Ex-Or CONNECT quick connection system which ensures seamless integration between Ex-Or equipment and the luminaires. It provides significant benefits when compared with traditiona installation methods, including the elimination of wiring faults due to its simplicity, installation time savings on site and dramatically reduced installation costs.
The Civic Centre is now fully occupied. Building work took 18 months and was completed on schedule. Building contractors for the scheme were Wilson Bowden Construction Limited. Lighting consultants Jones King Partnership commissioned Lorne Stewart plc to install the Ex-Or MLS.
