Exterior lighting for commercial premises

Exterior lighting is an important consideration for any commercial property design, essential for heightening safety and security as well as enhancing a building’s aesthetic and visual appeal.

When designing and installing an external lighting scheme, considerable thought must be given to energy consumption and ratings When approaching the design and installation of exterior lighting for a commercial building, a great place to start is by defining why it is needed and what function it is expected to achieve. Is it purely a design element or is employee or visitor welfare a key concern?

Once these crucial concepts have been detailed, it’s then time to consider individually the different spaces that require illumination. Of course, the design elements will differ according to the requirements of each individual project, but commonly this will encompass car parks, pathways, pavements to the entrance doors and the entrance area itself. Façade lighting to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the building may also be a requirement for the illumination of company signage unless already supplied pre-lit by a specialist sign company.

When it comes to product specification, in each area it is likely that different products will be most suitable. For car parking areas which are remote from the building structure, floodlights and street lights are an ideal solution, providing high levels of illumination to keep individuals and their vehicles safe. It’s also worth ensuring that the specified luminaires are specifically designed to minimise glare for drivers moving around the car park.

For pedestrian walkway and access areas, bollard lights are a stylish and practical way to illuminate the path and improve safety after dark. Typically, two to four feet high, bollards improve visibility by projecting light horizontally and/or downward. Many are also CCT selectable, enabling different colour hues to be delivered.

The obvious choice for entrance areas are wall mounted lights. Available in a huge range of styles, encompassing both traditional and contemporary designs, wall lights are not only practical lighting options but have decorative appeal too. As with bollards, many are CCT selectable, meaning the same hue can be achieved throughout the external scheme.

Regardless of the type of fitting required, when it comes to external lighting it is also important to consider the construction of the products selected. Die-cast aluminium, polycarbonate or stainless-steel casings are robust and offer the best performance against the elements for a longer lifespan. Ensure products with a hight IP and IK rating are selected.

At a time where energy costs are spiralling and businesses and other commercial organisations are focussed on reducing their carbon emissions, when designing and installing an external lighting scheme, considerable thought must be given to energy consumption and ratings.

LED light sources are the most energy efficient available, using about 85% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and as much as 50% less than fluorescents. They have a much longer lifespan too, ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 hours or more at constant operation, requiring less maintenance.

Automation plays a key factor in improving energy use and automated technology should undoubtedly be incorporated in an eternal lighting system. Where possible, utilising ‘smart’ products to create a connected system will deliver the most controllable and energy efficient external lighting solution available. Systems embedded with technology such as Octo WiZ Connected technology enable numerous luminaires to be linked together and controlled, allowing different scenes, groups and schedules to be created as required. This means that external lighting can be set to come on automatically at the end of the working day, for example, or colour temperature can be programmed to become brighter during the late afternoon as natural day light begins to fade. Scheduling time of use, output levels and colour temperatures will all ensure optimum energy use and will eliminate any reliance on human intervention – reducing the risk of users accidentally leaving the lights on and wasting energy.

Alternatively, products with either photocell or motion sensor detection technology will also help to optimise energy use. Floodlighting, street lighting and bollard products are often fitted with this technology, enabling the luminaires to turn on as either daylight reduces or motion is detected and off as morning light brightens or stillness resumes. They are convenient, low maintenance options that require almost no human intervention once installed.

One final consideration in the external lighting planning process is emergency lighting. It is advisable that there should be a proportion of lighting products incorporated within any external lighting scheme that has emergency functionality, delivering illumination to keep areas safe and secure even in the event of a mains power failure. Emergency lighting can be an integrated feature within the mains lighting equipment or dedicated stand-alone luminaires can be used – either way, it will need to meet the requirements detailed within BS5266-1:2016, BS1838:2013 and BS EN 50172:2004.

Wall lights are not only practical lighting options but have decorative appeal too

“LED light sources are the most energy efficient available, using about 85% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and as much as 50% less than fluorescents”