Light efficient design sets University of Nottingham on path to brighter lighting

This was in response to the university’s rising energy costs with lighting accounting for approximately 20 per cent of the total annual UK energy bill, its commitment to reducing overall carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and the requirement for brighter campus lighting for added pedestrian safety.

Installed at the main 300 acre University Park Campus in Nottingham, Light Efficient Design’s retrofit solution has enabled the existing lighting columns, heads, holders and fittings to be reused. Approximately 1,000 retrofit LED units were ordered for relamping the external areas of the University Park Campus – comprising around 750 lamp tops – while leaving sufficient quantities for potential requirements elsewhere. Local contractor Manor Maintenance was chosen to manage the installation following The University of Nottingham estates team’s tender request.

Nottingham’s University Park Campus is widely regarded as one of the largest and most attractive in the country and has been a Civic Trust Green Flag Award Winner every year since 2003 – the only university campus to achieve this status. This required the conversion to modern high quality Light Efficient Design LEDs from the incumbent yellowy orange LPS lighting to be achieved non-invasively, with minimum disruption to day to day campus life, and in keeping with the surrounding environment and buildings architecture. Maintenance budget constraints meant that ease of LED product installation and ongoing reliability was also a prerequisite in the interests of optimising labour and servicing costs.

For the Campus driveways, pathways and roadways Light Efficient Design specified its 8023 35 circuit watt LED retrofit lamps, which, compared to the incumbent 58 circuit watt LPS offering, provide a 40 per cent energy saving. Following quick and easy bypassing and disablement of the existing HID ballasts and control gear, the simplicity of the retrofit lamp design allowed the installer to reuse the lamp fittings and fixtures, enabling each post to be retrofitted in around 15 minutes. A number of Light Efficient Design 8028 20W bollard and wall pack LED retrofit solutions were also supplied for replacing existing 70W metal halide lamps.

Said Richard Clayton, electrical engineer for The University of Nottingham, estates department, ‘We chose the Light Efficient Design retrofit LED solution as it ticked all the boxes. At a third of the cost of traditional non-retrofit LED lamp post lighting, we recognised their retrofit lamps to be considerably more affordable as they do not require replacement of the existing lamp columns or heads. The quick and easy installation also enabled labour savings through greater productivity.’

Added Gavin Scott, the University of Nottingham’s environment manager, ‘We are confident the LED solution is already providing a sustainable solution which will help us in our mission to drive down our energy costs and carbon emissions. The lamps are also greatly enhancing the quality of light for improved student, staff and visitor safety and their simple, unobtrusive, design and installation ensures the overall look and feel of our campus environment is preserved.’

The success of the initial University Park Campus installation has already resulted in The University of Nottingham planning to extend retrofit lamping to its nearby Sutton Bonnington Campus. This will entail the installation of approximately 250 Light Efficient Design retrofit LED lamps. Discussions are also underway for a similar project at the University’s Jubilee Campus. 

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