Build Back Better

Espenes Rest Stop Hardanger, Norway

BY LIGHT BUREAU

Lighting design practice: Light Bureau

Lighting design team: Paul Traynor, Arve Olsen, Christina Haraldseth, Benjamin Reinhoff, Øystein Johansen

Architects: Code Arkitektur

Notable suppliers: Light Graphix (Rebel Light), Stoane Lighting (Rebel Light) LED Linear (Fagerhult), iGuzzini

Pictures: Fovea Studio

The Espenes Rest Stop – a ‘destination experience’ by the Norwegian Scenic Routes' initiative – took both PLATINUM and GREEN.

The building seamlessly blends nature-inspired aesthetics with intelligent lighting design to create a landmark that subtly enhances its environment while respecting its essence.

The horizontal line of the water, the peaks of the surrounding mountains and the wind conditions all informed the distinctive geometry of the roof. The lighting design by Light Bureau is similarly inspired by the place and the surroundings; the cool moonlight that illuminates the mountain tops and the nearby glacier in contrast to the warm light of fire.

Guided by the philosophy of 'less is more' and a 'design with intent' approach, the lighting scheme accentuates the building's sculptural form and the interplay of light and shadow. The lighting's careful interaction with the metal surfaces evokes an ever-changing ambiance when seen from either end of the pavilion that lends an ethereal quality to the space.

Light Bureau used less than 40W of power to illuminate the 50-metre-long roofline. The local ecology is respected, such as in the dimly lit roof.

The project incorporates luminaires from manufacturers that use circular economy principles by allowing for flexibility in repair, upgrading and upcycling.

For the functional aspect of the lighting, thoughtful solutions were employed. In the restrooms, specialised steel and acrylic bollards double as floor lamps, creating a gentle ambiance.

It’s been a record achievement for entrants in the lighting category of the Build Back Better Awards 2023. No fewer than 18 entries won awards, including 10 projects, five products and three industry initiatives. The judges awarded no fewer than seven Platinums, their ultimate accolade and a record number in this category. It was also an unrivalled year for Green awards, with a total of 13 awarded, reflecting significant investment in sustainability by the lighting industry in recent years. Schemes rated included ones in the UK, USA, Norway and Denmark.

Good Lighting Technical Advice Note for Cumbria

BY DARK SOURCE

This guidance document developed by Dark Source Lighting Design Studio and Friends of the Lake District to provide technical lighting guidance won both PLATINUM and GREEN.

The technical advice note is designed to conserve and enhance the Dark Skies across Cumbria and is the document is backed by many local and national supporting bodies, local planning and highway authorities, and demand from architects, communities, installers wanting to do the right thing with lighting, especially given Cumbria’s highly-valued environment. Loaded with striking illustrations and graphics, the publication covers good lighting principles, positive lighting outcomes delivered through getting lighting right, different forms of light pollution and their impacts, the planning and lighting design process and, crucially, what good practice looks like through visuals and examples.

The document sets a new benchmark by covering a whole region, rather than just a Dark Sky Reserve or community; it has a policy goal of a net reduction in light pollution; is adopted by a wide range of endorsing organisations and communities and contains bespoke visual graphics to convey good lighting principles.

The Good Lighting Principles form a golden-thread throughout the technical advice note to deliver best practice.

Applying the high environmental quality of Cumbria, whether for landscape, biodiversity or heritage, the publicaion explains where current mainstream ‘standards’ do not deliver environmentally sustainable lighting.

The note helps to deliver a net reduction in light pollution. In doing so, more people will be able to see the wonder of the night sky, fulfilling a basic human need for self-identity, and placing yourself in the wider universe.

The Regen Initiative

The Regen Initiative – which won both PLATINUM and GREEN – was conceived and launched to offer a lighting fixture refurbishment service, by breathing new life into existing fixtures, all while sourcing from localised supply chains in line with circular economy principles, with carbon reduction being a key factor of success.

The principle of remanufacturing is a lot harder than just fitting new. To fit new is often easier and simpler for the client, so educating on the way to the end goal is essential. Remanufacturing provides much better carbon efficiency and a much better product as it eliminates carbon and reduces waste, keeping existing products in circulation for longer.

Remanufacturing requires a complete change in mindset, production and process from the linear take, make, waste economy, where old light fittings are discarded and replaced with new.

In most cases, the process involves keeping the original luminaire material, known as the core, and converting the light source to LED. This helps to create a solution that saves energy, time, money, and ultimately, the environment.

Conceived by F Mark and Coco Lighting, and now partnered with Eco Fix UK, the Regen Initiative aims to work together collaboratively to provide more efficient lighting that stands the test of time, to challenge the status quo and to strive to provide solutions without sacrificing quality or compromising on safety or ethical standards.

Creating circular solutions for the lighting industry involves establishing strategies and practices that prioritise sustainability and resources efficiently, helping alleviate supply chain issues and demands that put pressure on the economy.

TM65.2 Embodied Carbon in Lighting

BY CIBSE

TM65.2, the lighting version of Cibse’s Technical Memorandum 65 for embodied carbon in products, won both PLATINUM and GREEN.

The lighting edition of TM65 – a widely-accepted metric for measuring embodied carbon – includes new materials, special definitions and acronyms from the lighting sector and product case studies from 18 luminaire manufacturers.

TM65.2 ‘Embodied carbon in Lighting Equipment’ makes it easier and quicker do measure the embodied carbon in lighting equipment. There will also be a web-based calculator tool. It will complement TM66, the CIbse standard for measuring the circularity of a luminaire.

Although both TM65 and TM66 are self-certification standards, a number of organisations are believed to be planning independent verification services.

TM66 itself will be expanded in the coming months to include information for facility managers, and more details on emergency lighting and control equipment.

TM66 co-author Kristina Allison of Cibse’s Society of Light and Lighting says the new TM65 for lighting will help designers, specifiers, engineers and manufacturers better understand embodied carbon in lighting equipment.

‘Remember, it’s not a life cycle analysis but gives a very reasonable assumption of the amount of embodied carbon equivalent within a luminaire or lighting equipment.’

The document is designed to enable lighting designers, specifiers, lighting engineers and manufacturers to understand the amount of embodied carbon that a light fitting contains.

The document was written by Kristina Allison (Atkins Global) (project lead), Dr Irene Mazzei (Stoane Lighting/Edinburgh Napier University) (technical lead), Jonathan Rush (Hoare Lea Lighting) and Simon Fisher (F Mark/Recolight).

Building Crafts College

London

BY SILENT DESIGN

The lighting project at Building Crafts College in east London which reused luminaires removed from a Cat A fitout in a London office won both GOLD and GREEN.

Office design and fit-out firm Morgan Lovell and lighting remanufacturer Silent Design saved 300 linear metres of luminaires from a commercial office building on the South Bank when a tenant moved in and wanted a custom Cat B scheme.

The fittings – initially earmarked as waste – were then taken to the Silent Design’s Marlow, Buckinghamshire, facility where they were upgraded and tested.

A number of 3m runs of linear LED were cut and fabricated into shorter 1500mm units. Each had two custom end-caps added.

Downlights were converted from fluorescent to LED.

The company even reused floor tiles rescued from a job in Watford as packaging for the lights while they were transported.

The luminaires were then upgraded where necessary, remanufactured and tested.

They were installed in the Building Crafts College, an educational establishment in Stratford, East London which trains bricklayers, stone masons, joiners and carpenters. They are controlled via presence and daylight dimming using wireless Casambi technology, a discrete Bluetooth-mesh based system that lends itself well to remanufacturing projects.

Silent Design has given the customer a five-year warranty on the reused lights.

London Borough of Haringey, UK

BY URBIS SCHRÉDER

The roll-out of a Central Management System for the London Borough of Haringey’s 25,000 street lights won both a GOLD and GREEN Build Back Better Award.

The local authority selected the cloud-based EXEDRA platform from Urbis Schréder to optimise energy use and configure the street illumination at a local level in real time.

Haringey is responsible for around 25,000 street lighting assets, and as part of its ongoing commitment to energy conservation and carbon reduction completed a six-year programme to upgrade these to LED. Significant energy savings of around 60 per cent had already being realised, however in order to provide additional connectivity and control to better meet future community and resident needs Haringey sought suppliers to provide a Central Management System (CMS).

Following a formal tender process in 2021, the Exedra platform solution from Urbis Schréder was selected and the deployment commenced in September that year.

Unlike traditional CMS solutions, Urbis Schréder’s EXEDRA platform is cloud native, microservice and serverless, utilising the functionality and tools of Microsoft Azure IoT. Lanterns and other devices are connected via cellular nodes, which allows larger amounts of data to be transmitted to and from the deployed devices, thus enabling real time and live communication and facilitating over the air software and firmware updates to help ensure end-to-end security of the solution over the lifetime.

The initial benefit of the new technology is that the lighting is now responsive and adaptive to help deliver the right light in the right place at the right time for the user and task being carried out.

For instance, if Tottenham Hotspur is playing at home, lighting can be increased to full output to help visitors and residents get home safely.

Energy savings of up to 60 per cent have been achieved in some areas with the new platform while still meeting best practice in BS5489.

Picture: Alex Bland

Kings College Chapel

Cambridge, UK

BY ATELIER TEN

The lighting of the historic Kings College Chapel in Cambridge by Atelier Ten won a PLATINUM Award.

The brief to designers Elga Niemann and Jonathan Gittins was to design a state of the art, flexible interior lighting scheme that would be sensitive to the history and fabric of this important building whilst catering for the diverse range of activity that takes place in the chapel.

The chapel has no triforium, but rather a 20m sheer wall providing no obvious opportunities for concealing and fixing lighting equipment. To overcome this challenge the team designed custom luminaires with a bespoke clamping mechanism. These were discreetly mounted within the stonework ribs, thereby concealed behind columns in the main view towards the altar.

The luminaires feature multiple adjustable spotlight heads to highlight the beauty of the vault and provide flexible lighting scenes for services and performances. The spotlights use tuneable white LED allowing the warmth of light to be adjusted during the day and to suit different services.

The installed load for the chapel is less than 6kW, extremely low for a building of this size and volume. But the operational energy will be considerably lower due to the sophisticated DMX control system.

With the building already being over 550 years old, longevity of the lighting installation was a consideration from the outset. The luminaires were designed with future replacement and upgrade in mind. The main aluminium ‘bar’ onto which the spotlight heads are mounted is hollow and houses drivers and controls.

Lighting supplier: Stoane Lighting

Picture: Shatanik Mandal

Orientkaj Metro Station Copenhagen, Denmark

This transformational light installation at Orientkaj Station in Copenhagen won a PLATINUM in the lighting category.

Light Bureau was challenged to create a site-specific lighting art installation that would increase feelings of safety while bringing delight and visual interest to the space. As lights couldn’t be fixed on the railway structure, the team created a pole-based system, with remote steel leaves, each with individual patterns and colour themes.

The leaves are made of saltwater- and acid-resistant stainless steel with a lifespan of several decades. The surface is electro polished to make them highly reflective, thereby adding an additional lighting component.

The steel leaves give the otherwise ordinary spotlights a completely new and unique character, giving the area a distinctive identity that makes it an inviting and exciting urban space.

The design softens up the bright spotlights and adds a playful atmosphere, while improving perceived safety and wayfinding on the square.

With minor adjustments of the reflectors, it was possible to reuse the existing LED-luminaires and create a spectacular illumination of the station square and elevated railway, without using additional energy. The luminaires are iGuzzini Woody in warm white with a wide flood optic.

Lighting design: Light Bureau

Lighting design team: Eszter Horóczi, Filipe Almeida, Frederik Waneck Borello, Helle Frøjk Knudsen and Rune Brandt Hermannsson.

Client: By & Havn (‘City & Harbour’) and Copenhagen Municipality

Architects: COBE architects

Construction: Per Aarsleff

Consulting engineers: Wicotec Kirkebjerg

Suppliers: Gladsaxe Klip & Buk, Induflex, Unicoat and iGuzzini. Pictures: Rune Brandt Hermannsson (Light Bureau)

Castlefield Viaduct

Manchester, UK

BY ARUP

The illumination of Castlefield Viaduct – a 330m-long railway structure that’s been transformed into an urban park – won a Build Back Better GOLD Award for Arup.

The lighting design by Arup avoids bland, uniform illumination and actually downplays the use of light. Glimpses of light are designed to intrigue and entice visitors. Once inside, lighting discreetly draws visitors through, piquing their curiosity to explore further, but still allowing them to enjoy the night skyline from high level. Using gentle, warm-white light differentiates the viaduct from the urban scene and minimises impact on biodiversity, in particular bat roosts beneath the deck.

To maintain the drama and avoid overlighting, rechargeable hand-lanterns are on offer to support accessibility and inclusivity, allowing everyone to enjoy the space.

Luminaires styled like the overgrown grasses which inhabit the viaduct are positioned around seating benches and are reprogrammed using wireless BLE technology to glow in a gentle, random ‘swaying’ pattern to mimic the movement of nature in the breeze creating a magical experience.

The second section incorporates unique garden areas created by local community partners. Lighting was designed to provide focus within these planters, and to be easily reconfigured by the gardeners as the foliage grows and adapts to its space. At the end of this section, the internal event space is fitted with adaptable track and spot lighting to cater for any education or hospitality event, with festoon lighting allowing functions to spill out into the gardens.

The lighting levels are deliberately low, partly to enable the backdrop of the city to be visible through the structure but mainly to respect the flora and fauna already living on and around the viaduct. Power density for the site is less than 1W/m2.

Rothko Chapel

Houston, Texas

BY GEORGE SEXTON ASSOCIATES

Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, won a Build Back Better GOLD Award for a relighting project by George Sexton Associates.

The building was founded as a meditative space to promote peace and to display fourteen paintings by the artist Mark Rothko.

Since its opening in 1972 it was apparent that there were problems with the illumination of the chapel interior. The brightness of the large central skylight was visually overpowering compared to the dark paintings and allowed excessive illumination levels that could be damaging to the artwork.

As part of the renovation of the Rothko Chapel completed in 2020, the design team sought to restore the original form and proportions of the skylight while addressing the problems of the original design.

To that end, George Sexton Associates, in collaboration with Architectural Research Office, developed a louvre system that follows the profile of the original skylight while gently washing the perimeter walls with natural light.

Supplemental artificial lighting for the paintings is provided by a set of digital projectors concealed at the skylight ring. Light from the projectors is directed to the perimeter walls via a set of mirrors suspended below.

Lighting for paintings is provided by digital projectors with LED sources, which do not require regular access for relamping. Long-term replacement of the projectors can be achieved through operable panels at the skylight ring. The total connected artificial lighting load is estimated to be 1.5W/square foot.

The designers on the project were George Sexton, Owen Brady and Chen Lieu.

Arup

Manchester, UK

BY ARUP AND THE REGEN INITIATIVE

The reuse of luminaires at Arup’s Manchester office has won a GREEN Build Back Better Award.

Arup teamed up with luminaire remanufacturing business The Regen Initiative to reuse the lights in a major refurb of its lighting.

The fluorescent gear and lamps were replaced with LED modules and drivers, and some additional luminaires were repurposed from a Category A fit-out office in Leeds, which would otherwise been disposed of.

The Regen Initiative undertook the design, prototyping and testing on-site of the retrofit solution to ensure that the optical performance could be maintained, along with a high quality of light and visual comfort. LED drivers with no visible flicker or strobe effects were also integrated. The controls system was changed from from a wired architecture to a wireless platform. The controls harmonised the use of natural and artificial daylight through daylight linking, ensuring that artificial lighting is only necessary when truly needed.

A key project objective was to reduce embodied carbon by renovating or repurposing furniture and equipment and using recycled construction materials as an exemplar demonstration that Arup could show its clients as a proof of concept.

The project reduced carbon consumption by over 47 per cent and cut energy use by 72 per cent. It also avoided 85 per cent of the material having to be sent to an approved Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment handler. The reduction in power density resulted in 5W/m2 for LED, compared to the fluorescent density at 13W/m2.

Entopia Building Cambridge,

BY BDP

The lighting of the Entopia Building in Cambridge has won a GREEN for BDP.

Some 350 luminaires removed from a London office fitout were reused in the exemplar sustainable building for Cambridge University.

BDP upgraded and reused the lights in the transformation of a 1930s telephone exchange in the £12 million project to create a new headquarters for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

The original supplier of the lights agreed to re-test and rewarrant the lights, and new endplates for the fittings were 3D printed so they could be installed on the exposed ceiling. This process was reliant on insurance approval and the client’s willingness to engage in the reuse process.

Energy consumption post-refurbishment is expected to be less than 16 per cent of the pre-refurbishment level.

The adoption of a ‘fabric first approach’, in which reducing energy demand is prioritised above obtaining energy from more sustainable sources and is considered in design before the building services, led to a remarkable improvement in the predicted energy performance of the building envelope, its structure and the components that enclose the internal spaces.

This enabled a corresponding reduction in equipment capacities required in the building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems.

The energy performance of the building will be monitored via a three-year post-occupancy evaluation (POE) programme to allow actual consumption data to be compared with predicted performance.

By reducing the requirements for the building’s services, the team could achieve a substantial corresponding reduction in the building’s carbon and material footprint.

Max Fordham was the consulting engineering at later stages in the project. The lighting designers were Colin Ball and Scott Kluger.

Pictures: Jack Hobhouse

Senate House Steps University of London

BY BDP

Senate House Steps, an exemplar showcase for the circular economy, has won a GREEN Build Back Better Award.

A new, fully flexible and demountable architectural installation, it is a symbol of opportunity and a new place for students at the heart of the university estate, also encouraging use by the wider community.

As part of an estate-wide review, BDP recommended a series of small-scale interventions aimed at making the Bloomsbury estate feel more welcoming; small changes but with the potential to make a massive impact.

‘Senate House Steps’ is an inspiring space to visit, instilling a sense of belonging as a place where students want to relax with their peers.

Timber beams positioned just below the underside of the steps were the mounting point for luminaires to uplight the elegant and dynamic design of the structure. This highlights the Spanish-Steps style form and flexibility whilst illuminating the intricate architectural logic. This up lighting focuses on the underside of the steps, minimising light pollution.

Indirect spill has been orchestrated to bounce light around the beams and reflect light through the gaps between the steps, visible from the front.

Aligned with the architect’s sustainable vision, the lighting design promotes the circular economy by using specified Ecosense luminaires which were upcycled from existing stock.

Standing in the shadow of the University’s iconic Bloomsbury HQ, the 7.3 metre-tall structure is a symbol of the dynamism of the students and the wider university community. Introducing orange as the primary colour signifies opportunity, and the form and flexibility of the Spanish Steps style delivers a sense of stage and presence. The success of the social value delivered is reflected by the huge popularity of the structure.

The lighting designers on the project were Sarah Alsayed and Colin Ball.

Picture: Nick Caville

NightScape Technology

BY LUMILEDS

NightScape technology, which minimises the blue component of LED modules, has won a PLATINUM Award.

Blue light content is a critical factor as it has been shown to have a significant impact on the circadian rhythms and behaviours of humans, plants, and wildlife. It is increasingly the focus of attention for local authorities, municipalities, policy makers and legislators.

Communities across the world are grappling with how to reduce the impact of artificial light at night and municipalities and governments are addressing the issues of light pollution and wildlife impacts with lighting ordinances that proscribe both the design of light fixtures and the nature of the light that they emit. Some local authorities –such as Maui in Hawaii – even limit blue to under 2 per cent of new exterior light.

Designers often want warm colour temperatures of 3000K and 1800K for outdoor applications but these can still have relatively high percentages of blue light content and cannot come close to achieving less than 2 per cent. Phosphor-converted amber, or a 3000K white LED and an amber filter or amber optics are options, but both have significant downsides.

NightScape Technology is the first white light to significantly reduce the percentage of blue content between 400nm and 500nm to less than 2 per cent. It is now possible, thanks to this advanced LED technology, to start with the right light for night-time illumination.

The technology is available in Luxeon 3030 HE Plus and Luxeon 5050 Square LED emitters, two workhorses of the outdoor lighting industry. Over time, the technology can be applied to Lumileds’ full range of white LEDs.

These products with NightScape Technology will have a correlated colour temperature of 1850K and blue light content of just 1.8 per cent in the 400-500 nanometer range of the visible light spectrum.

Lorelux sustainable urban luminaires

The Lorelux range of range of street and urban lights made from post-consumer plastic waste has won both a GOLD and GREEN.

With wall thicknesses greater than 5mm, Lorelux luminaires are ultra-resistant to impact and scratch and solve the problem of long term corrosion in a sustainable way using Plastic Second Life certified and infinitely recyclable materials, with up to 98 per cent post-consumer plastic content.

By using recovered materials and reusing the polymer lighting body – by repairing or upgrading its technological components –  it’s possible to reduce the extraction of raw materials and save about 15 kg of CO2 for each  avoided replacement (source: LCA study conducted in accordance with the requirements of ISO14040 and ISO14044 international standards).

They are resistant to corrosion by atmospheric agents and pollutants, with no flaking or discolouration from UV rays.

Thanks to the Rotoskin technology, Lorelux luminaires are characterised by an anti-UV and self-cleaning protective shield in recyclable and PSV (Plastic Second Life) certified polymers, giving the products an impressive structural strength and resistance to UV rays, as well as to discolouration.

These features give the luminaires exclusivity in design, since rotomoulding technology – used for manufacturing Lorelux products – is eco-friendly and flexible at the same time, allowing manufacturing single-pieced objects with complex outlines, with no welding lines or joints.

The Rotoskin manufacturing technology, patented by Lorelux, allows manufacturing urban lighting luminaires through a moulding process that is free of gases and toxic vapours, by using PSV (Plastic Second Life) certified and UV stabilised polyethylene. In this way, the brand has implemented a set of actions to foster a transition from a linear to a circular economy system.

Firestay Sustainable Geo

BY BELL

The Firestay Sustainable Geo fire-rated downlight has won a Build Back Better GREEN Award.

The Firestay Sustainable Geo® modular downlight has a housing which is designed to remain in the ceiling for life, as any replacement of the light engine doesn’t require removal of the housing.

The Geo-Mod® light engine enables the user to replace the CCT LED unit at the end of product life, with the module designed to be returned to a local Bell Lighting collection hub such as an electrical wholesaler.

Bell says that in turn, 90 per cent of all material returned will be re-used and re-manufactured.

There are six bezel options – white, satin, brass, antique brass and matt black – and four colour temperatures. The packaging is manufactured from 100 per cent recycled material.

The measures mean that the patented Geo has achieved an ‘excellent’ TM66 rating for its circularity.

There’s a seven year warranty, a lumen maintenance ratio of 80 and an IP ratings of IP65. It’s also certified fire-rated for I-joists.

Downlights are a huge category in the lighting industry. AMA Research estimates that 20 million downlight units are released into the UK Lighting market every year, with only 25 per cent of the material used currently recycled.

ReCinder BY ROSY NAPPER

ReCinder, a project to create light made from waste coal ash, has won a Build Back Better GREEN Award.

Product designer Rosy Napper, a ceramic specialist and a graduate of the Central Saint Martins art school in London, created a series of luminaires made from waste coal ash and discarded ceramic. She says that the recycled material has a unique translucent quality.

Napper has created the ReCinder range using the medium, which she believes is one of the few 100 per cent recycled ceramic materials available which is capable of a translucency to rival porcelain. The latter is increasingly seen as unsustainable.

The material can filter blue light, while letting all other colours of light pass through. The light source is Ledvance LED battens. Napper believes the material has applications in luminaires for domestic lighting applications.

Aeromax

The Aeromax standalone solar-powered luminaire and energy storage system by Acrospire has won a Build Back Better GREEN Award. Developed with its partner Green Frog Systems, the Aeromax harnesses solar power during the day and stores it for use during nighttime hours. It features advanced solar harvesting and energy storage capabilities with an efficacy of 194 lm/W.

On one charge it can provide continuous illumination for up to 15 days autonomy without additional charge from the sun. It is also capable of power additional devices such as CCTV and Smart City sensors and controllers. It meets it meets P3, P4 and P5 road lighting classes.

Options include a bat-friendly LED version which uses monochromatic LEDs which emit wavelengths that peak at 590nm or 690nm and do not have any blue (470nm), making them less disruptive to bats by minimising their attraction and interference. The Aeromax offers a range of control options from PIR to the Acrospire’s CMS platform, Smart Asset Management. Aeromax embodies a robust and durable design, ensuring a long lifespan of over 100,000 hours with the solar panel rated for 25 years. The product has a fully-recyclable design.