Serco Group plc., International task and facilities management company have recently completed the scheduled refreshment and re-decoration of the East Atrium of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.Central to the project was the direct replacement of the then existing 150-200W Halogen fixtures with state of the art LED luminaires supplied by PuraLED, the Architectural and Commercial Lighting Division of Essex based Zyphos LED Systems Limited. Serco Project Manager Ian Cunningham has calculated the Norfolk and Norwich will save £1,600 annually in energy costs to light the atrium and that the entire project is expected to pay for itself through the savings in energy and the much reduced maintenance costs.
Outlining PuraLED's contribution, Zyphos Technical Manager Adam Knight said, "I can't say enough good things about how this project went. Our task was to replace the down-lighting Halogen's that were ceiling mounted at 18metres and which previously had required regular lamp replacement after every 5,000hrs of operation. The only access to the ceiling is by Cherry-Picker and suspended from the ceiling is a feature sculpture which has to be taken down during maintenance operations".
"The atrium has three levels", said Steve Whiteley, Operations Director for Zyphos, "On the ground floor there is a conference area and a shop which are closed during the evening, however the main entrance is used by shift personnel and the walkways and corridors leading off from the atrium provide access to wards, theatres and other hospital facilities. So achieving the correct level of illumination was not just a matter of aesthetics but also of traffic and safety.
"Lighting calculations for the project were supplied on Dialux", continued Adam,"For the illumination we supplied a mix of PuraLED floodlights, projectors and spotlights. In all we supplied 46 fixtures, all pure white LED versions with a 5500K-7500K light temperature. None of the fixtures is by any means the largest in the PuraLED Series and I was delighted we could achieve the required lumen levels and improve the aesthetic appearance of the hospital atrium using our smaller versions. Overall the light is much more evenly distributed, cleaner and significantly brighter and the installation much tidier and neater than previous".
"The new lights are to be on 8 hours per night", added Steve Whiteley "Which given the expected lifetime of the fixture LEDs means they should still be operational in twenty years. All the fixtures are low wattage, the biggest our ø225 Series 36LED spots draw just 54 watts, so the installation is both very economical in maintenance terms and carries a fast payback in energy saving."
Asked how smooth the installation had been. Adam Knight said, It was a very straightforward installation which we integrated straight into the existing control system. We had anticipated some access problems and with Serco had set up rules and guidelines, including safety procedures. Serco's installation crew exceeded our every expectations and I really can't praise them enough. The entire installation was completed in just two days"
