Iconic further education establishment Newham College, in situated in East London, has recently instigated a comprehensive lighting upgrade at both its East Ham and Stratford campuses. Not unusually, the college wished to move away decisively from traditional light fittings towards an LED-oriented infrastructure, with sensor-based controllers allowing energy consumption to be optimised with regard to occupancy and usage patterns.
With two primary campuses – East Ham and Stratford – Newham College also runs six local neighbourhood learning centres as well as the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey. It has a strong record of academic excellence, and in 2018-19 registered an overall achievement rate of 90.9% – making it the best performing college in London.
The project was given the go-ahead when the college secured funding from the Salix Finance FE College Fund, which has in recent years helped realise numerous energy efficiency and carbon reduction projects in Further Education colleges. Making a total investment of £768,000 across the two sites, Newham College engaged Energys Group to supply and install a range of its latest LED light fittings, panels, sensors and controllers.
Dramatic reductions in energy costs
Installation and commissioning were completed earlier this year. As well as offering dramatic reductions in energy costs and carbon emissions, the new lighting has been praised by staff, pupils and visitors.
The revamped lighting infrastructure draws from many current products in the Energys range, including IntelliDim smart solutions. Using cutting edge sensors, IntelliDim products are designed to be used with a smartphone app that allows the commissioning of precise light levels to maximise energy saving, as well as setting parameters for occupancy time out and daylight harvest in a seamless dimming. It is common for IntelliDim to deliver a further 10 to 30% saving on top of that which is normally gained by upgrading from traditional lamps to LEDs.
Newham College has been equipped with significant numbers of both IntelliDim LED Panels and IntelliDim LED Linear Fittings. Meanwhile, a project that encompassed indoor and outdoor areas at both campuses made use of numerous other Energys products, including: LED Downlights, LED Decorative Suspended Lights, IP65 LED Hi-Bay Lights, Self-Test Emergency Tridonic LED lights, IP65 Outdoor LED Wall Lights, flood lights, security lights, LED SON replacement lamps, inground LED uplighters and spotlights.
Covid secure installation
The installation work was carried out to a schedule that ensured minimal impact on normal college activities, while there was full compliance with Covid-19 health and safety regulations.
The forecasts generated by Energys indicate that both campuses will enjoy significant benefits economically and environmentally in the coming years. At the East Ham campus, a spend of £478K has a likely Return on Investment (RoI) of 5 years. Projected per annum savings are £95K (energy costs), 77,497 kWh and 160.14 tonnes (CO2). Meanwhile, at the Stratford campus, a RoI of 4.5 years is expected on a spend of £290K, with projected per annum savings of £65K (energy), 389,184 kWh and 107.92 tonnes (CO2).
Advancing environmental goals
Miguel Tigsilema, Group Operations Estates and Facilities Manager at Newham College, comments: “We are delighted with the results of this collaboration with Energys, which is already making a significant difference to our expenditure on energy. It is also clear that the new lighting is going to advance our long-term environmental goals and the journey towards achieving net zero. The greatly improved quality of the lighting has also been much commented upon.”
Raj Gunasekaran, Account Director for Energys, adds: “It is always very rewarding to work on such a large-scale project where the impact of LED lighting is so transformative. The Newham College lighting revamp certainly fits into this category, and will make a major contribution to its long-term carbon reduction strategy. We are also pleased that the new lighting has had such a positive reaction from staff and students.”
