LED lighting shows its capabilities at ExCel
LED lighting installed in various areas of the ExCel exhibition and conference centre in London has considerably improved the quality of lighting and is achieving significant energy savings. The new lighting has been installed in the central boulevard, which is over 700 m long, the entrance canopy to the conference centre and the walkway alongside the adjoining dock.
Engineering and energy manager Chris Barnes explains how the need for the improved lighting came about. ‘During the phase two expansion of ExCel, we used ETFE roofing above the new section of the central boulevard to allow us to harvest a lot of daylight. The phase one section was still lit by 400 W high-pressure sodium (SON) lamps that produce variable colour rendering as they age, so it looked dark by comparison. We specifically wanted to improve the lighting so that visitors could flow through the two areas without noticing a big difference in lighting conditions.’
A trial of eight DuroSite LED 150 W high-bay lights from Dialight each replaced a 400 W Son lamp at a height of 10 m. Lighting levels more than doubled from 100 to 220 lx. The installation was then extended to 194 LED high-bay lights throughout the central boulevard.
The work was carried out by Elite Electrical, with four people working for six nights on two ‘magic carpets’.
Since then, LEDs have been retrofitted to the canopied entrance of the conference centre. For aesthetic reasons, each 450 W sodium lamp was replaced with two 150 W high bays — one pointing up and the other down.
Another project was the installation of 25 LED high bays to illuminate the walkway along the dock edge, which previously relied on light from inside the building for illumination. Being able to turn off the building lights at night has resulted in energy savings of 78%.
Replacing SON lamps with LEDs is saving over 250 MWh of energy a year.
There are now plans to install LED lamps throughout the 46 conference halls.
