Dynalite Europe has recently installed an advanced lighting control system, incorporating MapView energy management software, to replace an existing system at Scotland’s Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).
The EICC is at the heart of the global meetings market. It has attracted countless high profile international events including the Commonwealth Heads of Government, NATO and hundreds of international association and corporate events.
Large-scale events such as these create a considerable amount of green house gas emissions, contributing to global warming, so there is a determination to meet environmental challenges head on.
As part of this commitment, an EICC Plan–it Green program was set up, to offer clients support and advice on how to do something positive in relation to climate change. The centre is ISO 14001 accredited, and has received several prestigious green tourism awards for its commitment and delivery of its own sustainable events program.
Key elements of this project focused on energy conservation, minimising maintenance costs and providing total control of lighting ambience within the designated spaces.
“We chose the Dynalite lighting control system”, said Mike Floyd, facilities manager at EICC, “to effectively reduce energy wastage, improving our housekeeping and facilitating smarter building operations to help reduce the EICC’s carbon footprint.
“The versatility of this system enables us to add equipment, and gain from further operational cost savings. Movement sensors are being installed into public toilets and corridors, so when these areas are unoccupied the lighting system automatically turns off to reduce energy wastage.
“In the front of house, the Dynalite system will be linked to lux sensors which measure the level of natural light that pours in, automatically triggering the sensors as soon as the ambient light reaches a certain level, turning off luminaries near the windows.
“This system has given us greater control over the light levels. We have been able to reduce the light output by 20% in some areas, which gives us a corresponding saving on energy usage, as well as extending lamp life to reduce our maintenance costs.”
The lighting control network is conveniently accessed remotely via laptop thanks to the integration of DLight lll and Mapview. Light settings can be changed, and the system interrogated from anywhere in the building.
An LCD touch-screen enables a large number of control areas to be accessed from the one device. This powerful screen displays logos, button configurations, floor plans and diagnostic icons, as well as being able to perform, if required, sequential or conditional logic tasks for multi-functionality of push buttons.
The Dynalite dimming system has been used to create 5 different scenes in the reception area. Lighting over the stairwells and escalator has been set at a higher output level to address health and safety issues.
The lumen output has being reduced in the other luminaries to minimise energy usage without compromising the lighting design scheme. These architectural scenes have created real aesthetic appeal, particularly when viewed from the exterior of the building through the large glazed windows.
“We chose the Dynalite System against that offered by the original equipment manufacturer, having seen its quality and overall capabilities which provided us with the best solution for our long term needs”, said Mike Floyd.
“It not only provides an extremely easy to use and effective lighting control solution but can also talk to our building management system to work in sync with, for example, our air-conditioning system, to further improve our operational efficiencies.
“We are really happy with the System’s performance and have had good support from Dynalite throughout the project. They have not let us down and whenever we have needed help they have provided it.”