Lighting Journal February 22

Professional best practice from the Institution of Lighting Professionals

February 2022

BLENDED LEARNING Lessons from the award-winning lighting scheme for UCL’s new student centre NEURO LOGICAL Understanding, and celebrating, neurodiversity within lighting design ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE? Using theatrical lighting techniques to illuminate public spaces

The publication for all lighting professionals

Underpass Lighting

Mirfield Underpass Case Study 39 x ASD Invincible 1573mm Cornice Mounted 59.15 W | 6,350 lm | 107.3 lm/W

Before

ASD Lighting PLC, Mangham Road, Barbot Hall Industrial Estate, Rotherham, S61 4RJ, United Kingdom

asdlighting.com +44 (0) 1709 374898 sales@asdlighting.com

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

3

Contents

06BLENDED LEARNING

36 SUSTAINING CHANGE

12TALKING TALENT

40A NEW HOPE

The new student centre at UCL has successfully balanced delivering lighting that works for quiet learning rooms, busy open-plan study areas, a café and a student welfare hub, as well as achieving high sustainability credentials, as Lora Kaleva outlines

The IET’s latest skills survey has highlighted continuing skills gaps and talent shortages within engineering, with an already difficult situation being compounded by Covid-19 and Brexit.

Peter Harrison, Kimberly Bartlett and Graham Festenstein also provide important ILP perspectives

18‘MALAY MAIL

Despite being held virtually because of the pandemic, the CIE’s MidTerm Meeting ‘in’ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, covered a lot of ground, with new appointments, new publications and important updates from its Technical Committees. John O’Hagan reports

22

‘DIVISIONAL REVIEW

Following the CIE’s Kuala Lumpur meeting, its Division 4, which deals with exterior lighting and transportation, held its own virtual meeting, where work in progress across a range of areas was reviewed, writes Nigel Parry

THE WORLD’S 24‘ALL A STAGE?

Theatrical and architectural lighting are very different beasts and never the twain shall meet, right? A research project has highlighted how lighting designers may occasionally be able to use theatrical lighting techniques to light public spaces, as Anna Sapounaki, Thanos Balafoutis and Katerina Skalkou explain

30

AUTHENTICITY APPLIED

Lighting world heritage sites is about achieving a balance between respecting, preserving and enhancing their history and authenticity while at the same ensuring they remain safe, functional, attractive and evocative at night.

Shahabedin Zeini Aslani reports

A recent ILP webinar outlined how moving to a more sustainable lighting approach to projects may need to be as much about a cultural and mindset shift for everyone, including the client, as about coming up with novel product or operational solutions

Artist Steuart Padwick’s ‘Hope’ sculptures have been designed to highlight the urgency of the climate emergency. Alexia Gkika shows how lighting the permanent sculpture in Glasgow’s Cuningar Loop therefore required a solution that emphasised environmental sustainability and the circular economy, as well as being sympathetic, sensitive and effective

12

06

44MATERIAL GAINS

Last month’s Lighting Journal focused on how lighting can step up and contribute more to mitigating climate change and improving sustainability.

Nicole le Sage argues that greater use of aluminium, especially secondary, recycled aluminium, could be one way

24

48NEURO LOGICAL

More and more employers are now recognising the value that neurodiverse people, with conditions such as Autism and ADHD, can bring to the workplace, and lighting design is no exception. But neurodiversity is still often misunderstood, as Aviva Gunzburg, herself a neurodiverse lighting designer, explains from her own experience

52‘COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr Jon Lewis makes the case for offering CMS or lighting control as a managed service, arguing this could be one way for local authorities to reconnect with their tenant businesses and smaller villages, as well as providing valuable revenue in a challenging economic climate

40 COVER PICTURE

The atrium skylight at the new student centre at UCL. Turn to page six where Lora Kaleva outlines the story behind the award-winning lighting scheme from BDP. Photograph by Alan Williams

IS 56‘‘NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE’

Continuing our profiles of inspirational women working within lighting, lighting engineer Elizabeth Thomas, the first female and Asian President of the ILP back in 2015, outlines how lighting continues to inspire her

48

ILLUMINATING INTERIORS WARMING COLOURS & ADJUSTABLE WHITES

AMBIANE™ AP

anolislighting.com

www.theilp.org.uk

AIR3

Trusted on the UK's most challenging highways

Market leading efficacy - up to 180lm/W Lightweight - less than 12kg Vibration tested to ANSI C136.31 Level 2

® Before

After

Range of low glare optics Direct Drive® Technology Up to 56klm output

M2 Viaduct | 400W HPS (449W) to 172W AIR3 | 60% energy saving 02380 982022 | www.indolighting.com | info@indolighting.com

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

5

Editor’s letter

I

Volume 87 No 2 February 2022 President Fiona Horgan Chief Executive Justin Blades Editor Nic Paton BA (Hons) MA Email: nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk

Lighting Journal’s content is chosen and evaluated by volunteers on our reader panel, peer review group and a small representative group which holds focus meetings responsible for the strategic direction of the publication.

If you would like to volunteer to be involved, please contact the editor. We also welcome reader letters to the editor.

Design George Eason Email: george@matrixprint.com Advertising Manager Andy Etherton Email: andy@matrixprint.com Published by Matrix Print Consultants Ltd on behalf of Institution of Lighting Professionals Regent House, Regent Place, Rugby CV21 2PN Telephone: 01788 576492 E-mail: info@theilp.org.uk Website: www.theilp.org.uk Produced by Matrix Print Consultants Ltd Unit C,Northfield Point, Cunliffe Drive, Kettering, Northants NN16 9QJ Tel: 01536 527297 Email: gary@matrixprint.com Website: www.matrixprint.com © ILP 2022

The views or statements expressed in these

’m not a betting man, but I’d wager that, for lighting professionals involved in hiring or recruitment within their organisation, the past few months have been busy. Within lighting and many other sectors there has been a lot of talk and worry about what has been called ‘the great resignation’.

For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the pent-up musical chairs of people leaving or joining that many organisations have experienced since the autumn. In truth, it’s not that surprising when you think about it. The combination of 18 months of employees hunkering down to ride out the pandemic and employers either freezing recruitment or leaving vacancies unfilled during that time was always likely to result in something of a dam bursting when things gradually began to return to ‘normal’ or whatever approximation of normal we’re now all working within.

For lighting, however, the headache of unfilled vacancies, skills gaps and talent shortages is much more than a cyclical pinch-point. As we report from page 12, the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) latest skills’ survey has concluded that less than half of new engineering recruits have either the necessary technical or soft skills needed for work within the industry.

That’s, of course, a shocking and damning finding. The report highlights the ongoing impact of, and damage from, both Brexit and Covid-19 but, as ILP Technical Director Peter Harrison, Vice President – Education Kimberly Bartlett and Vice President – Architectural Graham Festenstein all make clear in their accompanying commentaries, this is a malaise that runs deep within the industry and has been a problem for a long time.

Just from my own perspective, I’ve lost count of the number of times over the years that ILP members have told me how they ‘fell into’ lighting (something Kimberly also admits to). Yes, of course there are lighting design degree programmes and the ILP’s exterior lighting diploma but, to me, it beggars belief that an industry as important to our infrastructure and day-to-day living as lighting still broadly survives by such informal, Heath Robinson-esque modes of entry, career development and progression.

What’s the answer? Obviously, talking about it is a good start, and the IET should be congratulated for keeping the issue in the spotlight. Its recommendations for change or action also make a lot of sense. However, the fact that, as the IET’s Simon Edwards readily concedes, ‘frustratingly’ little has changed in the 15 years it has been running the survey begs the question: ‘why not?’.

Yes, creating new educational, competence and career pathways for any sector – whether we’re talking apprenticeships, technical qualifications or degrees – isn’t straightforward and has to be done with care as, after all, we’re talking about the future careers and ambitions of young people. But it is doable.

The government’s reforms to apprenticeships in recent years and the introduction of T Levels have, if anything, put a greater focus on technical education and qualifications than we’ve seen for a long time. So why hasn’t any of this filtered down to, or been embraced by, lighting? Will this report kickstart change? Cynically, I’m not going to hold my breath.

Finally, on a separate note, if you have the time do check out Aviva Gunsburg’s article from page 48 about her experience as a neurodiverse lighting designer. It’s a very candid account of what it’s like not to be ‘neurotypical’ and how this affects – and indeed enhances – how she approaches the craft of lighting and lighting design.

It also in fact links to the skills debate, as Aviva makes the important point that, while more employers are now recognising the valuable talents and attributes neurodiverse people can bring to the table, they still too often still face discrimination or simply a lack of understanding within the workplace. Equally, she touches on what I feel is an absolutely fascinating question: how can we light spaces to help Autistic and neurodiverse people feel more comfortable? It’s well worth a read.

Nic Paton Editor

pages do not necessarily accord with those of The Institution of Lighting Professionals or the Lighting Journal’s editor. Photocopying of Lighting Journal items for private use is permitted, but not for commercial purposes or economic gain. Reprints of material published in these pages is available for a fee, on application to the editor.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

ILP members receive Lighting Journal every month as part of their membership. You can join the ILP online, through www.theilp.org.uk. Alternatively, to subscribe or order copies please email Diane Sterne at diane@theilp.org.uk. The ILP also provides a Lighting Journal subscription service to many libraries, universities, research establishments, non-governmental organisations, and local and national governments.

UNDERWATER...UNDER CONTROL ARCSOURCE™ SUBMERSIBLE

anolislighting.com

www.theilp.org.uk

6

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

The new student centre at UCL has successfully balanced delivering lighting that works for quiet learning rooms, busy open-plan study areas, a café and a student welfare hub, as well as achieving high sustainability credentials

By Lora Kaleva

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting

T

he new student centre at UCL (University College London), just off Euston Square, was a much-needed addition to the university’s central London campus.

The bustling university was in desperate need of more space dedicated to the learning and wellbeing needs of its students.

The brief for the new building outlined the requirement to create an inspiring learning environment varying in character and size, yet also including individual study and group collaboration settings together with more social spaces.

There was a necessity to future-proof the building to enable flexible seating arrangements and alterations at a later date, with sustainability also at the forefront of the design. Nicholas Hare Architects teamed up with BDP’s team of engineers, acousticians and lighting designers to meet the demanding brief.

The proposed site for the student centre would connect several key buildings and form an integral part of the campus. One of the intricacies of the site was to bridge the varying levels, starting from the frontage at Gordon Street, joining with the lower ground level of the old Wilkins Refectory, linking up to the raised Japanese garden to provide clear thoroughfares through the busy campus.

DEDICATED STUDENT SPACE

The new UCL student centre. Main image (left): the atrium stairway. From top: the café, another view of the atrium (showing how the ceiling is entirely empty of lights), and the quiet contemplation room. Photographs by Tom Niven and Alan Williams

Nicholas Hare Architects rose to the challenge and proposed a central atrium with a feature staircase linking the various levels, which also acts as a hub connecting all the routes. Around the lively central atrium 5,300m2 of learning spaces are distributed across eight storeys, with over 1,000 seats accessible 24 hours a day.

There is a café, a student welfare hub, quiet learning rooms and busy open-plan study areas. The role of the lighting design was to fulfil the brief requirements and to reinforce the aesthetic of the architectural vision.

The client’s brief was simultaneously open yet demanding. UCL certainly needed a dedicated student space but was unsure how to realise this ambition.

The architects had a very clear idea of the kind of spaces they wanted to create.

Overall, the interior design is elegantly minimal, with accenting through the combination of concrete and timber finishes, together with some colour features.

There was a desire to keep the smooth concrete ceilings as clear as possible and to minimise visible services. Bulkheads and acoustic rafts were strategically positioned to hide the majority of the ceiling services. www.theilp.org.uk

7

8

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting To meet the brief, the lighting design was anchored in the following baseline principles: task-based illumination, flexibility, balance with daylight ingress, balance of colour temperature, light direction and levels and sustainability. We’ll now look at each in turn.

TASK-BASED ILLUMINATION

There was a certain degree of uncertainty about how the students might use some of the areas. This led to a desire for flexibility, where furniture and partitions could be changed at a later date. However, the requirement for ultimate spatial adaptability can be at odds with the requirement for optimum sustainability.

For lighting, this means that, if a large open study space is to have fully flexible seating arrangements, the lighting needs to be quite uniform and also at a reasonably high level throughout the whole space.

The most recent iterations of the BS 12464 standard for lighting of indoor workplaces encourages reducing ‘blanket light levels’ and instead taking a stepped approach [1].

This means task, surrounding and background areas using respectively lower and lower light levels in a bid to reduce overall light wastage (such as lighting circulation between desks at the same high level as the desks).

To adopt the stepped approach, however, it is necessary to have a good idea where the task will take place in a room so as to be able to tailor the light levels accordingly.

Conversations with the architects enabled us to define some spaces where the task area will be fixed. Most appropriate were the quiet study rooms, as they were smaller and equipped with large working desks – a set-up less likely to be reconfigured.

As soon as the fixed furniture zone had been defined we were able to tailor the design according to the stepped approach, as recommended by the British Standard.

Task lights were fixed to all working desks to provide the highest necessary light levels.

The lighting over the desks was provided by downward directional luminaires recessed in the ceiling rafts. The position of the rafts was coordinated with the position of the furniture so that the directional luminaires were directly above the workstations.

Soft uplighting integrated in the raft perimeter provided sufficient illumination to the adjacent circulation zone. Thus, we achieved 500 lux on the immediate task zone, 300 lux on the desks and 100 lux ambient in the circulation zone and room perimeter. www.theilp.org.uk

The atrium skylight. Photograph by Alan Williams. Accompanying this is some of the very positive feedback left by students.

Overleaf: the exterior façade. Photograph by Tom Niven

This approach was adopted for all the spaces with fixed furniture positions, providing light only where it was needed. All desks were equipped with integrated task lights, which enabled the overall light levels to be lowered. The positions of the acoustic rafts and the furniture were aligned, allowing the room perimeter to drop down to lower levels without compromising the quality of light to the workspaces.

NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY

In addition to the dedicated quiet study rooms there were larger open-plan areas for social study. These had soft seating, smaller coffee tables and easy chairs, so allowing the students to arrange the fur-

nishings to suit their group study set-ups.

In these areas we ensured that the light levels were overall higher and more uniformly distributed than in the quiet study rooms. This was achieved by directional luminaires recessed in the acoustic rafts where available, and arrays of omnidirectional pendants where ceilings were higher and without rafts.

Uplight was provided throughout, either integrated in the rafts or through the pendants. We aimed to achieve 350 lux to 400 lux to negate the need for task lights, as no mounting positions for desk lamps would be available. The relatively higher energy consumption in these flexible zones was balanced out by the more economical arrays in the other rooms.

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting contemplation rooms. The lack of daylight is less of a concern in the contemplation rooms and the shower blocks, as they are only transiently occupied.

The learning spaces, on the other hand, are populated by students for protracted periods of time. To enhance these basement learning spaces we relied heavily on vertical lighting and uplighting. A bright horizon eyeline on all sides ensures there are no dark spots and creates an impression of spaciousness.

Where the ceiling height allowed, we used luminaires with direct/indirect distribution. The bright ceilings reduce the feeling of being in a lightless room and create a comfortable glare-free working environment.

ACHIEVING A BALANCE

There was also a need to balance with daylight ingress. The central atrium of the student centre has a glazed roof. This, and the large floor-to-ceiling windows situated on the outer façades, provide ample natural light.

The building can function in both natural and mechanical ventilation mode, depending on internal conditions and ambient temperatures. As a result of the windows positioning, the daylight ingress was quite directional. During the day the large windows are very bright, so it was important for the artificial lighting to balance the daylight to avoid dark walls and minimise the contrast between glazed and solid surfaces.

The balance was achieved by providing copious vertical lighting on all the solid

surfaces opposite the windows. Linear luminaires were positioned consistently local to the walls. This created an even visual effect between the bright glazed surfaces and the bright solid walls.

In the evenings, when the windows darkened, the vertical lighting would dim but not switch off. Creating a glow on the horizon eyeline meant that the spaces appeared pleasantly bright, even at night.

This was important as the building is used in a 24-hour cycle, so the light had to be flexible enough to provide appropriate levels of illumination day and night.

There are two basement levels in the student centre, neither of which has access to natural light. One level is predominantly learning spaces, whilst the other houses welfare facilities and quiet

The theme of bright ceilings was extended throughout the building. Wherever permissible, uplight was integrated in the ceiling rafts and bulkheads. Reflected light from these details illuminated the circulation routes. This negated the need for additional lighting in the ceilings, allowing the concrete to be visible and uncluttered.

Where it was necessary the light was supplemented by low level details. The feature staircase in the atrium was lit entirely by handrail lighting. This makes access and maintenance of the light system much easier as there is no need for specialised equipment to reach the glazed atrium roof. Likewise, the walkways that cross the atrium were lit only by handrail lighting.

Throughout the building there was a consistent colour temperature strategy. In the natural environment humans have evolved to expect cool light above them (the sky) and warm light below them (the fire). This also coincides with the pre-electricity cycle of having high light levels provided by daylight and less, but warmer, lighting from candles and oil lamps in the evening.

The relationship, therefore, is both in time and in direction. The application of these principles in the student centre was thus: uplighting and high-level lighting was consistently cool (4000K) and lowlevel and decorative lighting was consistently warm (2700K-3000K).

We wanted to match the colour temperature to the materials and create an invisible, yet pervasive, glow in the building.

The cooler uplight complements the pale concrete ceilings and the warmer light accents the furniture and warm stone floor.

The lighting control system also contributed towards maintaining these natural cycles and upholding the balance. www.theilp.org.uk

9

10

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting The scene setting is controlled through a photocell on the roof.

On gloomy overcast days the brightest setting is activated to ensure the building looks bright and welcoming. On sunny days the mid-level scene is active, providing a balance to the natural light, but not competing with it. In the evenings the lowest scene is activated, dimming levels down automatically to create a softer, more relaxing environment. There is also a scene for special evening events for the university, with even lower ambient levels, but enhanced accent on the low level and decorative elements.

HIGH SUSTAINABILITY CREDENTIALS

Based on the client brief, the project aimed for high sustainable credentials and achieved BREEAM ‘Outstanding ’ accreditation.

The building has adopted innovative passive and active features that reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

Photovoltaic panels on the roof have helped to achieve an EPC A rating and meet the London Plan 35% carbon reduction requirements [2]. Over a 25-year design life this will save 867.5 tonnes of CO2. A green roof improves biodiversity in the local area.

In terms of lighting, in addition to using energy-efficient luminaires, the intelligent control system supports a flexible environment. Photocells, presence and absence detection as well as automated scene-setting is used throughout.

The atrium is almost entirely lit with natural light during the day, with the handrail lighting on the top levels only switching on after dusk. The lighting controls, together with the principles of task-based illumination, have helped minimise energy wastage throughout the building.

CONCLUSIONS

Whilst the principles outlined above apply to the entire building, there was also a desire to create a choice of different spaces for the student to pick.

In a building full of study desks, we wanted to make sure there is a diversity of environments so that everyone can work in their optimum mode. The architecture, décor and acoustics worked hand in hand with the lighting to provide students with that choice and to create separate identities for the study spaces.

As the main users were going to be young people, we wanted to add colour, [1] BS 12464 Light and lighting. Lighting of work places Indoor work places, https:// www.en-standard.eu/bs-en-12464-1-2021-light-and-lighting-lighting-of-work-places-indoorwork-places/ [2] The London Plan 2021, https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/ planning/london-plan

www.theilp.org.uk

some fun and surprising decorative elements that would not perhaps be expected in an institutional building.

Lively areas such as the café and openplan group study rooms have more decorative pendants and floor lights to convey a different atmosphere from the quiet concentrated study rooms lit through the ceiling rafts and by task lights. The small pods have feature wall lights.

The two quiet contemplation rooms rely on a perimeter wash detail and no ceiling lights to create peaceful and glarefree environment fit for meditation and relaxation. The basement study rooms feel pleasant and bright and are just as popular with the students as the day-lit top floor.

Most of all, we achieved a seamless integration with the architecture and other services to create a holistically designed, exciting new place for the students. Based on the feedback received, the student centre was a definite hit with the target audience.

We’re also extremely pleased and proud to have won a number of awards for the project.

These include the Lux Awards 2019 for Office, Education and Healthcare Lighting Project of the Year; the RIBA 2021 London and National Award; the LIT Award 2021 Workplace lighting category; the Prix Versailles 2020 Campuses, Special Prize – Interior category; the 2020 Civic Trust Award; and the AJ Architecture Awards, Higher Education.

Lora Kaleva is senior lighting designer at BDP

Lighting infrastructure

by Pudsey Diamond

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

11

Floodlight brackets

www.theilp.org.uk

Pudsey Diamond Engineering Ltd I sales@pudseydiamond.com I www.pudseydiamond.com I 01264 336677

12

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

The IET’s latest skills survey has highlighted continuing skills gaps and talent shortages within engineering, with an already difficult situation being compounded

by Covid-19 and Brexit

By Nic Paton

L

ighting professionals have long understood, and by and large long accepted, that probably the most common route into lighting is ‘falling in’.

Whether you arrive within lighting via engineering, architecture or electrical or some other route, the chances are that lighting may not have been the original destination you had in mind.

It ought to be stressed there is nothing wrong in principle with coming to a career tangentially in this way. But the fact that pathways into lighting, academic or otherwise, do tend to be somewhat haphazard has been an area of concern for the ILP for some time.

The ILP’s work around the exterior lighting diploma, ‘fundamentals’ courses and others has long been about trying to standardise and formalise at least some routes into the profession, to give people who have ‘fallen into’ lighting the skills and competencies they need, and to complement the more academic routes such as the MSc in Light and Lighting at The Bartlett, among others.

A lack of direct or easy-to-follow pathways at different levels means people who may have valuable skills or talents to offer may be lost to the industry along the way or never even realise that opportunities may be available to them to take up. It may mean school-leavers or apprentices will

never appreciate lighting is a ‘thing’ they might be able to do, or graduates consider as an option.

At one level, therefore, the headline conclusion of the latest Institution of Engineering and Technology’s IET skills and demand in industry survey – that less than half of new engineering recruits have either the necessary technical or soft skills needed for work within the industry – is perhaps unsurprising.

That doesn’t, however, make it any less concerning. The research was built from a survey of more than 1,000 engineering employers carried out between August and September last year.

The study looked at the impact of

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Skills and training

SKILLS SHORTAGES

Some of the key findings from the IET report

Half (50%) had been shifted to remote or home working. When it came to Brexit, 45% were reporting difficulties exporting to and from other countries, and 40% increased bureaucracy.

Nevertheless, and more positively, 79% were still confident in their organisation’s economic prospects over the next 12 months.

Covid-19 and Brexit on the sector; workforce needs; skills, training and recruitment; sustainability and looking to the future. We’ll look at each in turn.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND BREXIT

The impact of the pandemic on staff recruitment and skills has seen more than half (55%) of engineering companies in the UK having to deal with staff being ill or self-isolating as a result of Covid-19.

A similarly high proportion (51%) were furloughed or, worse, made redundant during the earlier parts of the pandemic.

WORKFORCE NEEDS

When it came to current workforce needs, more than two-thirds (67%) were experiencing internal skills gaps in engineering or technical skills, with 44% reporting this at technician or skilled craft level and 41% at professional level.

The main skills gaps were around upskilling or retraining existing employees (40%) and recruiting new staff with the right skills (39%).

More than half (51%) felt the government should be doing more or providing more support to facilitating training and skilling.

A massive 96% of those polled which had identified a skills shortage within an employee felt this affected their business in some shape or form, with 42% reporting applicants lacking the right technical skills.

More than a third of the employers polled, 34% – the highest yet in similar IET surveys over the past 15 years – reported a lack of applicants for roles.

Nearly two-thirds (63%) felt applicants lacked the right technical or specialist skills or knowledge, nearly half (49%) thought the same thing about ‘soft’ skills, and 71% felt applicants often lacked the right technical or specialist skills for their specific role.

Worryingly, a third (33%) identified ‘complex problem-solving skills’ as a particular concern.

A lack of recruitment from a diverse talent pool was also potentially fuelling the problem, with only a third of businesses taking action to improve the diversity of their workforce across gender (33%) or ethnicity (30%).

Young people coming into the industry often had few or none of the necessary technical skills or knowledge they needed, nearly half (46%) concluded, with the same percentage saying the same about soft skills.

Equally concerning, a quarter (25%) said their response to these shortages or www.theilp.org.uk

13

14

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Skills and training gaps was simply to recruit fewer apprentices or graduates. More positively, however, 45% said the answer would normally be to provide more training.

Simon Edwards, director of governance and external engagement at the IET, said engineering employers were in general reporting a lack of applicants for roles, something causing more difficulty in recruitment, with the 34% complaining of a lack of applicants for roles, a ‘marked’ increase on the 22% reported in the IET’s 2020 skills survey.

‘To solve this skills crisis there needs to be deeper engagement between government, employers and the education system to produce a talent pipeline that can sustain a thriving UK economy,’ said Edwards.

‘The IET has already started engaging with government by calling for the embedding of engineering in the existing science, technology and mathematics learning at primary school,’ he added.

However, Edwards also highlighted the ongoing, systemic nature of the problem facing the industry. ‘Workers are in high demand but we don’t have the readily available recruits with the right skills to fill the labour market – something we have been reporting via the skills survey for the last 15 years. Frustratingly nothing has changed,’ he said.

Areas such as design and manufacturing (36%) and energy and environmental sustainability (35%) were likely to be key in-demand skills for the future, the survey also concluded. Turn over for the survey’s key recommendations.

‘WE NEED A SCHEME TO MAP STAFF COMPETENCE AND SKILLS GAPS’

A

s I approach the end of my career in lighting, it is with sadness and some regret that we don’t have an accepted career development path that recognises competence in the various fields of our work, a competence framework, writes Peter Harrison.

Such a framework exists for contract operatives, supervisors and managers through highway sector schemes that is recognised by clients. So why isn’t there a scheme for clients?

This would facilitate a client career path making recruitment more equitable and highlighting to senior client management the training needs of their staff in a structured way.

Many ‘fall into’ lighting rather than choosing it as a career option. Most are happy to be a part of the lighting fraternity but are desperate for the skills to make rational decisions. As senior, experienced employees leave client organisations as part of cost-cutting downsizing exercises they are often replaced by junior and/or inexperienced people. Budgets are squeezed and one of the first things to suffer is often the training budget.

COMMITMENT FROM INDUSTRY

At such a time the training budget should be expanded to fill this skills gap, but it isn’t. This exposes these people to possible breaches of construction, design and

management regulations or general health and safety legislation. What is needed, I’d argue, is a client competence scheme to map staff competence and skills gaps. This, of course, is reliant on one thing, commitment.

Such a scheme would mean commitment from the industry as a whole to work together to develop a framework. It would mean commitment from each of the various facets of lighting, interior, road, architectural, sports and public realm, whether asset managers, designers or manufacturers to work within the framework to develop compatible schemes.

Of course, such schemes would be useless if there isn’t also commitment from specifiers and clients for them to be a requirement. There also needs to be commitment from individuals to take responsibility for their own competence, identifying skills gaps and recording their continuing professional development.

Finally, possibly the most important commitment must be from client senior management to accept their responsibility to ensure their staff have the competence to fulfil their duties.

Peter Harrison is Technical Director at the ILP

‘WE HAVE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION’

A

s a lighting professional I too ‘fell’ into lighting after temping at my local council’s transportation office, writes Kimberly Bartlett.

Spending time in the profession as a trainee technician, learning the ropes from the experts, was invaluable but lacked the opportunities that formal training and qualifications can provide.

Time spent in apprenticeships, vocational training programmes and degrees provide transitional skills that allow us to move anywhere in or out of the industry and to justify our position/prospects in an ever-changing world.

It is no secret that a large chunk of lighting professionals do not have a degree or, if they do, it is usually not in a directly comparable field. But that is not for lack of trying.

www.theilp.org.uk

LIMITED OPTIONS

At the moment, there are very limited options in formal qualifications and new joiners to the industry are effectively shoehorned into the best fit apprenticeships or on to the broader engineering degrees.

As the skills gap widens, along with loss of great talent from around the globe, we will be seeing more and more of our professionals moving on to new challenges or life stages; we will become more and more reliant on the new blood coming into the industry (and rightly so).

It is therefore on us to work together as professionals with our colleagues, sister institutions, governing bodies (such as the Engineering Council) and academia to create that pathway to competence that rings true for us all.

From design to implementation,

research to analysis, specifier to assessor we all need to be working to defined plans and pathways, to be able to benchmark ourselves and our potential hires against a solid foundation.

I see a future full of ideas and collaboration that just needs harnessing before it is too late to do so.

At some point, if we do not start on this journey soon enough, our light will go out and, with our centenary coming up, we owe it to ourselves and the hundred years of our forebears to rise up and do what is right for the next generation.

Kimberly Bartlett EngTech AMILP MIET MCIHT is the ILP’s Vice President – Education as well as associate | regional lead – Lighting & Energy Solutions at WSP

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

15

Exedra, the solution to deliver cities people love to live in.

Agnostic Approach | Connected Design | Adaptive Lighting | Field Services | Logic Bureau Get in touch with us to find out more at marketing@urbis-schreder.com

www.theilp.org.uk

www.en.schreder.com

16

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Skills and training KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

The IET survey has made seven key recommendations around improving training and diversity and reducing barriers into the industry.

1. Invest more in ‘upskilling ’. Engineering employers should ensure they have formal workforce development strategies and upskilling programmes in place.

2. ‘Leverage’ apprenticeships more effectively. Apprenticeships should be better used to equip individuals with new skills and knowledge to address skills shortages. More widely, increased government funding of apprenticeships would improve the skills profile of recruits both nationally and locally.

3. Put more emphasis and investment into training as well as building resilience and preparedness. Engineering employers recognise that training has helped employees deal with new novel challenges raised by the Covid-19 pandemic. But undertaking training during difficult periods provides its own issues. ‘Employers should be forward-looking and ensure employees are well-trained throughout their employment, before the point of crisis,’ the IET has argued.

4. Champion and promote diversity.

While some progress has been made in improving proportions of technical staff across gender and ethnicity, more can be done, the IET has argued, particularly in an environment where engineering employers are looking to recruitment to address skills gaps.

5. Sustainability ‘should be embedded’ within current workforce planning.

Employers recognise that sustainability will grow in importance over the next few years, therefore the skills needed for sustainability should be central to any current recruitment strategy, the IET has said. This will enable them to be embedded within the workforce as net zero targets approach.

6. Address future skills’ requirements.

Engineering employers recognise there are areas of skills particularly important for their growth in the future, but significant proportions acknowledge that they do not have these skills, the IET has made clear.

‘Improving these skills within the workforce should be addressed in the current moment to avoid employers becoming uncompetitive or unprepared to deal with future challenges,’ it has added. www.theilp.org.uk

7. Work with educators to improve the skills’ pipeline. There continues to be a mismatch between employers’ desire for new entrants to the workforce to have experience and the proportion engaging with educators to offer this experience. ‘Employers who engage with educators have the opportunity to shape the skills pipeline for the industry,’ the IET has recommended.

FIND OUT MORE

The full IET 2021 skills and demand in industry survey can be found at https://www.theiet.org/ media/9234/2021-skills-survey.pdf

‘NONE OF THIS HAS EASY ANSWERS’

S

kills shortages and gaps within lighting design as well as engineering were centre-stage at the first meeting of the ILP’s new architectural committee in December, writes Graham Festenstein.

The committee is hoping now to meet quarterly to discuss issues of interest or concern for ILP members from a lighting design or architectural background.

The committee is all about engaging with our members to find out what they like, what they don’t like, what direction we should be going in at the ILP, what things we can be doing or offering that would help and making suggestions as to what we can do to improve what we offer.

New ILP Chief Executive Justin Blades attended the first meeting to welcome members to the committee and to introduce himself.

TRAINING CONCERNS

While the discussion was relatively free-flowing; for me it was telling that we ended up having a detailed debate about training.

There are ongoing concerns that the entry level into lighting design is generally a master’s-level degree, such as that run by The Bartlett.

This, at one level can have its advantages, especially in ensuring lighting designers come into the industry with a high level of academic and theoretical skill.

But, at another, having the bar to entry set this high can be restricting and excluding; it can deter potentially good people from getting involved in lighting or even recognise lighting as a possible career. It may well deter kids who are perhaps slightly less academic – and so are unlikely to do a degree, let alone a

master’s – but nevertheless could be a great assettotheindustry.

Within engineering, there is at least a route to accreditation through EngTech and the committee discussed the value of having something similar for lighting design.

You can sometimes find too that, while people’s theoretical knowledge may be strong after having completed a master’s, they may lack some of the basic, practical skills, which then need to be learned or re-learned within theworkplaceenvironment.

NEW PATHWAYS NEEDED

There was discussion around how manufacturers could perhaps be encouraged to become more involved with training, for example the possible role of bursaries. It was discussed that other models for education or training need to be investigated, such as new apprenticeship models and/or vocational pathways, such as BTEC, as an entry level into lightingdesign.

Obviously, none of this has easy answers, as the IET survey has highlighted more widely for engineering. But it was nevertheless a valuable discussion, and one I’m hoping can be built on during 2022.

If anyone would like to find out more about, or even join, the architectural committee, please get in touch via Engagement and Communications Manager Jess Gallacher, at jess@theilp.org.uk The committee is open to all, and you can commit to as much or as little as you wish.

We’d love to hear from all interested ILP members.

Graham Festenstein CEng MILP MSLL is the ILP’s Vice President – Architectural as well as owner of Graham Festenstein Lighting Design

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Examplary running head

Longer warranty, shorter lead times, unforgettable customer service.

Heritage

Solar

Street Lighting

Handrail

Life is easier with Acrospire Time to switch? hello@acrospire.co acrospire.co

www.theilp.org.uk

17

18

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Despite being held virtually because of the pandemic, the CIE’s Mid-Term Meeting ‘in’ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, covered a lot of ground, with new appointments, new publications and important updates from its Technical Committees

By John O’Hagan

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

CIE update

A

s ILP members will undoubtedly be aware, CIE-UK is the UK national committee of the International Commission on Illumination or CIE (from the French ‘Commission Internationale de l´Éclairage’). ILP is a sponsoring organisation member of CIE, and what follows is an update on some of the latest and upcoming CIE activity.

The national committees of the CIE come together as the General Assembly at the time of the Quadrennial Session and at the Mid-Term Meeting.

Last year (2021) was a mid-term year and the General Assembly took place on 24 September. CIE-UK was represented

by Steve Fotios, supported by Stuart Mucklejohn.

Amongst other business, two important topics are considered: the appointment of the president-elect and farewell to the past president.

Dr Jennifer Veitch (Canada), currently CIE vice-president technical, was appointed president-elect and will take up the role of president at the end of the quadrennial session in Slovenia in September 2023.

Dr Yoshi Ohno, CIE president 20152019, will at that point step aside from the role of past-president and end his service to the CIE Board of Administration.

This, however, does not end Yoshi’s involvement with the CIE (which extends back to 1991 when he attended the 22nd CIE Quadrennial Session in Melbourne, Australia). He will still actively contribute to CIE technical work and promoting the activities of the CIE. Hugh Barton from the UK, of CIE Technical Committee 4-47 ‘Application of LEDs in Transport Lighting and Signalling’ received a CIE national committee award at the General Assembly for taking on the work as chair of that committee.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the CIE 2021 Mid-Term Meeting was held virtually, from 27-29 September. The event was organised by CIE Malaysia. There were more than 200 participants from 37 countries (the UK had the second largest national representation).

Although we could not be there in person, the social events gave an opportunity to gather in less formal ways, from the trivia evening/morning/afternoon (organised and hosted by Tony Bergen, Peter Thorns and Vineetha Kalavally) to the fledgling ‘Professional event’ (hosted

by Peter Blattner, CIE president, and Jennifer Veitch.

Plus it was fantastic to get a feel for Malaysia and the city of Kuala Lumpur (KL) through a live online cooking

demonstration given by Sara Khong, and the 360-degree tour around KL with guide Jane Rai. Whoever knew that Kuala Lumpur means ‘muddy waters’?

Another first for CIE conferences was the awarding of prizes for the best oral presentation, best oral presentation by a student, and best poster paper. The prize winners at CIE 2021 were: • Best oral presentation. This was won

by Valérie Muzet of the French public agency Cerema for her presentation, ‘Is it possible to achieve quality lighting without considering the photometry of the pavements?’.

• Best oral presentation by a student.

This was won by Steffen Hartmeyer of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for his presentation, ‘Towards a framework for light-dosimetry studies: methodological considerations’.

• Best poster paper. This was won by Jim Uttley of the University of Sheffield, for his paper, ‘The effect of changes in light level on the number of cyclists’.

These papers and all the full conference papers (running to more than 900 pages) will be available in the coming weeks from the CIE webshop (https://www.techstreet.com/cie/). These will include various open-access papers, which will be available for free download as secure pdfs.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

The CIE has more than 70 Technical Committees (TCs) working on new technical reports and international standards.

If you have expertise to contribute to any of these or the new ones highlighted

below, then you can apply for membership by sending in the CIE TC membership form and CIE copyright agreement form to CIE central bureau at ciecb@cie.co.at for the TC chair’s consideration. The following are recently approved TCs. • TC 2-95: Measurement of obtrusive light and skyglow. This is to provide guidelines and examples for metrics, measurement methods and corresponding instrument specifications for the measurement of obtrusive light and skyglow, including the estimation of measurement uncertainty contributions for the measurement, necessary to validate assessment criteria of its effects on the environment. Chair: Constantinos Bouroussis (Greece).

• TC 2-96: Revision of ISO/CIE 19476:2014 Characterization of the performance of illuminance meters and luminance meters. This is to revise the standard ISO/CIE 19476:2014 and CIE S 023/E:2013 respectively, taking into account the feedback received in the systematic review held in 2019.

Chair: Armin Sperling (Germany).

• TC 3-59: The integration of daylight and electric lighting. This is to define requirements for a lighting design approach that considers human comfort and wellbeing, as well as energy efficiency, taking into consideration the light spectrum in addition to the conventional design criteria based around illuminance or luminance. Chair: Peng Xue (China).

• TC 3-60: Spectral daylight characteristics. This is to review geographical, seasonal and time-of-day variations in

Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia at night. Although a virtual event, CIE delegates were given a 360-degree ‘tour’ of the city

www.theilp.org.uk

19

20

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

CIE update the spectral power distribution of daylight, when represented by D (daylight) illuminants. To update the CIE015:2018 reconstitution procedure to calculate D illuminants at a nominal correlated colour temperature. To provide spectral information for CIE standard general sky types. Chair: Martine Knoop (Germany).

• TC 8-18: Guidelines for definition and evaluation of high dynamic range images and image sequences. This is to propose a definition of high dynamic range (HDR) images and image sequences (‘images’, hereafter), including luminance level, contrast, and spatial/temporal distribution. To define luminance levels, observing environment, adopted white point, the kinds of images to be used in research experiments and their assessment. To recommend methods of calculating key characteristics of the HDR images. Chair: Mekides Assefa Abebe (Norway)

NEW CIE PUBLICATIONS

As well as the ongoing work of the TCs, two new publications have been published by from CIE. • CIE 244:2021 ‘Characterization of Imaging Luminance Measurement Devices (ILMDs)’ . This document describes the elements, function and characterisation of imaging luminance measuring devices (ILMDs). Furthermore, the calibration of ILMDs is described and some guidelines for their use are provided.

Using ILMDs, the projection of the luminance distribution of a scene can be recorded and made available for further evaluation. In addition to a simple documentation of measurements, the

geometrical assignment of the image points into the object coordinate system often allows more complex calculations by combining luminance, directional and, if necessary, solid angle information (for example, for glare evaluation).

In addition to the flexible evaluation option, it is possible to acquire a large number of measured values quickly and, if necessary, even synchronously. Furthermore, the type of evaluation can also be coupled to the image content, in other words the image areas to be evaluated can be determined in the image either by their position within the image or by their luminance value.

• CIE 245:2021 ‘Optical Safety of Infrared Eye Trackers Applied for Extended Durations’ . Infrared eye trackers are employed to achieve communication through gaze interaction, which is an important application of modern electro-optics and computer technology to the benefit of persons with disabilities who have major motor impairments, as well as for general use as a human-to-computer interaction device.

By tracking eye movements of persons with severe motor disabilities, the individuals can interact with automated equipment through movements of their gaze. In addition to purely passive systems, which may only employ ambient lighting, more typical eye trackers employ active infrared eye-tracking techniques.

However, questions have arisen about the potential optical radiation hazards of using infrared eye trackers for the much-extended durations of ten to 12 hours each day for a lifetime.

Conventional eye trackers employed

in the research setting would rarely be used for more than an hour. Several exposure guidelines exist today, but the question has arisen whether the chronic nature of exposure for such an infrared illuminator for assistive devices falls outside the assumed conditions of daily exposure.

This technical report explores the basis of the current human exposure guidelines, their scientific basis, and underlying assumptions in order to determine the direct applicability of these guidelines to this application. It is found that the most limiting exposure criterion is the infrared exposure limit to protect against delayed changes in the crystalline lens of the eye.

The Technical Committee also examined some representative eye trackers and found that the day-long average exposure in these typical examples of current technology did not exceed that criterion.

ILP DISCOUNT

ILP members resident in the UK are entitled to two-thirds (66.6%) discount on CIE publications through the CIE-UK discount.

If you are resident in another country, please check with your national CIE committee to see if their discount applies to you.

INTERESTED IN JOINING CIE-UK?

If anyone is interested in joining CIE-UK, please feel free to get in touch with Allan Howard (executive secretary of CIE-UK) at WSP, on Allan.Howard@wsp.com John O’Hagan is chair of CIE-UK A paper on changes in light levels and cyclists won ‘Best poster paper’ at the CIE event, while glare (above) was also on the agenda

www.theilp.org.uk

LIGHTING INDUSTRY UK & TURKEY ONLINE B2B MEETINGS

February 21-24, 2022

February 21-24, 2022 Online Meetings via zoom meeting application FREE admission for Industry Professionals Meeting Language is English.

PRODUCT GROUPS Lighting Products and Services (Industrial, Commercial and Domestic), Street Lighting, Emergency Lighting, Lighting Equipment, Fixtures and Fittings, Lighting Consultancy & Contracting Services.

How to attend: 1. Register for free at the event web site (www.b2b-uk.org) 2. Book online meeting with the suppliers of your choice, 3. Attend the meetings on scheduled time.

Event Organizer ISTANBUL CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY Mr. Deniz Kutlu / +90 533 684 64 36 uk@sheduconsulting.com

www.b2b-uk.org

22

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

DIVISIONAL REVIEW Following the CIE’s MidTerm Kuala Lumpur meeting, its Division 4, which deals with exterior lighting and transportation, held its own virtual meeting, where up-andcoming publications and work in progress were all reviewed

By Nigel Parry

A

s John O’Hagan has highlighted in the previous article, the CIE 2021 Mid-Term Meeting in Malaysia succeeding in covering a lot of ground, even though delegates were unable to meet up in person because of the pandemic.

It was very much the same with Division 4, which covers transportation and exterior applications, and which held its own virtual general meeting in October. The following is a review of the discussions..

To recap, Division 4 studies the procedures and prepare guides for the design of exterior lighting and signalling including work, recreation and transportation areas.

As such, its remit is closely aligned to the interest of many ILP members.

The division general meetings are usually held at the main conferences but this year, because of the complexities of the pandemic, the meetingfollowed on a week later. It was held over two mornings and reviewed: • • • • • • • •

Technical committees Reporterships Liaisons Division liaisons and inter-organisational collaboration Other liaison activities Research for reports Research and standardisation R&D and education

During the year, there was a change to the division management team, with Maurice

Donners taking on an assistant director position and Steve Lau becoming the secretary.

Looking, first, at the work of the Division 4 Technical Committees and Joint Technical Committees, the following work is currently underway or in the pipeline: • TC 4-47: Application of LEDs in transport signalling and lighting (Hugh Barton) • TC 4-50: Road surface characterisation for lighting applications (Stephan Völker) • TC 4-51: Optimising of road lighting (Jerome Dehon) • TC 4-53: Tunnel lighting evolution (Jerome Dehon) • TC 4-54: Road lighting for ageing drivers (Maurice Donners) • TC 4-57: Guide for sports lighting (Alan Smith) • TC 4-58: Obtrusive light from colourful and dynamic lighting and its limitation (Steve Lau) • TC 4-59: Guide for lighting urban elements (Diana del Negro) • TC 4-60: Road traffic lights – photometric properties of roundel signals (Ron Gibbons) • TC 4-61: Artificial lighting and its impact on the natural environment (Annika Jägerbrand) • TC 4-62: Adaptive road lighting (Thomas Baenziger) • JTC 01: Implementation of CIE 191:2010 Mesopic Photometry in Outdoor Lighting (Stuart Mucklejohn) • JTC 08: Terminology in light and lighting (all divisions) • JTC 13: Depreciation and maintenance of lighting systems (Dionyz Gasparovsky) • JTC 18: Lighting education (Dionyz Gasparovsky)

RECENT REPORTS AND STANDARDS

The meeting received an update of the technical reports and standards that had been published in previous 12 months.

There was one key report here: • CIE 243. Discomfort glare in road lighting and vehicle lighting. The topic of this report is discomfort glare in the context of road and vehicle lighting. It provides an overview of the research methods, mathematical models and the variables which are considered to influence discomfort glare.

The report describes the difficulties associated with the evaluation and measurement of discomfort glare and the variance in the models. One aim of

the report is to encourage further research on discomfort glare using methods recommended by the proposals raised in this report.

Such research will generate a greater body of credible data, thus enabling the development of a more robust model. It is intended to update this report in due course with these additional data and a revised discomfort glare model.

The publication is written in English and consists of 40 pages with seven figures and two tables and is readily available from the CIE webshop (https:// www.techstreet.com/cie/) or from the CIE National Committee.

There were two reports still in progress and being prepared, the meeting heard.

These are: 1. TC4-47. Application of LEDs in transport lighting and signalling . This report went through several updates after the 2020 version had been completed, in which the editor had provided comments. In 2021, it completed the copyright agreement forms and the ballot, which yielded further comments (some of which were not trivial).

The chair of the TC therefore outlined that the next step is to call a meeting of TC4-47 to review the comments and finalise the report. This is expected to be completed imminently, if not to have already happened by the time this article is published. So, for ILP members, watch this space.

2. TC4-62. Adaptive road lighting. The committee here agreed that the next step is to issue a technical note early in 2022. At the time of the meeting, this was being drafted prior to preparation for publication.

FUTURE MEETINGS

Obviously, with the pandemic, there remains uncertainty about whether CIE meetings will need to remain virtual or will soon be able to resume in person.

Nevertheless, CIE diary dates for 2022 include Lux Europa, which is due to take place on 20 September in (Covid-19 permitting) Prague.

Then, looking further ahead to 2023, the CIE’s 30th Quadrennial Session is due to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia between 18-20 September. We can all just hope that by then it will be an in-person event once more!

Nigel Parry is the UK representative for CIE Division 4 as well as principal at OrangeTek

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

CIE update

Featuring

LAST CHANCE TO JOIN THE INDUSTRY LEADING EVENT FOR ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS TO MEET AND SPECIFY LIGHT @SURFACETHINKING

FREE TICKET REGISTRATION surfacedesignshow.com

www.theilp.org.uk

23

24

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

ALL THE WORLD’S

A STAGE?

Theatrical and architectural lighting are very different beasts and never the twain shall meet, right? A research project has highlighted how lighting designers may occasionally be able to use theatrical lighting techniques to light public spaces, but also where its limitations lie

By Anna Sapounaki, Professor Thanos Balafoutis and Professor Katerina Skalkou

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting design

‘I

f we turn to the theater [sic] to see how effectively light is used to produce mood, it gives us some hope that perhaps before long we can achieve the proper atmosphere in our homes,’ wrote the American architect and stage lighting designer Stanley McCandless at the beginning of the twentieth century.

This article intends to provide an overview of research motivated by McCandless’ phrase. In particular, it intends to address the relationship between stage lighting design and architectural lighting design and the degree to which the former can be an inspiration for the latter.

The research was limited to public space and building façades, as these can be considered canvases that allow more artistic freedom to the lighting designer.

Our research posed a number of important questions. These included: to what extent can architectural lighting design borrow techniques and design principles from stage lighting design? In such a scenario, what features and atmospheres would emerge in the space?

Would spaces lit this way still be liveable and user friendly? Would such spaces be functional in everyday life? What are the differences between architectural and theatrical space, when the same techniques are used in lighting? Is there a difference between architectural and stage lighting and what distinguishes the two?

Our research included a case study of a site-specific performance, which we used to investigate if the two categories of lighting design – theatrical and architectural – can in fact co-exist in public space.

This included a juxtaposition of urban eclectic-neoclassical houses from the end of the nineteenth century with more contemporary expression forms such as graffiti, which represented a ‘harder’ street culture. The presence of a building under construction (hidden behind scaffolding and therefore implying something groundless) enriched the space and granted it high scenic potential.

The performance was based on a simple story that took place in different spots of the square. The story developed in five scenes and narrated the love story of the protagonist couple who live and grow old in the square. The lighting was designed with architectural luminaires, in an attempt to evaluate the practical possibilities of using stage lighting design techniques through architectural lighting equipment.

Spectators were allowed to stand in the

SMALL SQUARE IN ATHENS

A small square in the traditional neighbourhood of Plaka in Athens was selected as the stage of our hypothetical performance, as it combined the intimacy-creating small scale with multiple and at times contradictory elements of the built environment.

This image and above: Scene 1. In this first scene, the main characters (top) are in their childhood, playing everywhere in the little square. Above: an illustration of some of the techniques used to illuminate the scene

www.theilp.org.uk

25

26

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting design square and move together with the performers, as the performance evolved in space. Techniques that are broadly used in both architectural and stage lighting design were used for lighting the performance.

What follows, therefore, is an analysis of the lighting design of the five scenes of the play, together with a discussion of the way in which the light supports the dramaturgy (or the dramatic composition or representation) of each scene.

For the representation of the lighting of each scene, DIALux evo was used to create 3D views of the lit space. The key question we asked throughout was: would it be possible for the lighting design of the scene to be used as architectural lighting for the public space of this little square.

ANALYSIS OF FIVE SCENES

In the first scene, the main characters are in their childhood, playing everywhere in the little square. The lighting design of this scene is therefore aiming to express the joy and lightness of childhood and playing.

The main lighting technique applied was inspired by the way Impressionist painters used colour in their paintings.

Instead of mixing the paints on the palette, they used them in colour strokes, placed on the canvas.

This technique creates an interplay of light and shadow, what acclaimed lighting designer Richard Kelly called ‘the play of brilliants’ [1]. This effect was enhanced by projecting the shadow of the foliage on to the ground of the square in an attempt to echo the atmosphere of ephemeral joy you often get from Impressionist paintings.

The lighting effect was realised using projectors of high intensity and wide beam angle, with a colour temperature of 4000K, so reminiscent of morning natural light. The projectors were supported by a 3m-high pole placed behind the trees of the square. The main lighting effect of the scene is widely used in stage lighting design and creates an intense atmosphere in space.

Although attractive, it would hardly be justified for public space lighting, however. Owing to the small scale of the square, the lighting effect occupies almost the whole space and, given its intensity, it would not be user-friendly in everyday life. Having said that, we concluded that, potentially, this technique could be applied in a smaller area of a space as part of a different architectural lighting design solution.

In the second scene, the same characters are shown to have a romantic relationship, during their adolescence. To reflect this, the lighting design is intended to www.theilp.org.uk

express that feeling of first love and its intensity in adolescence.

The actors are standing in front of the wall with the graffiti, which implies their youth. In this scene, lighting design is basically using colour as a means to provoke direct and intense feelings to the spectators.

USE OF COLOUR

A magenta hue was chosen, which according to Keller, can express feelings of love [2]. The colourful light was used uniformly to illuminate the wall with the graffiti, creating a reference to pop art paintings.

The lighting design was implemented using an RGBW luminaire for wall grazing that consisted of LED modules, installed in the base of the wall. The strong use of colour on a large scale in this way is another common feature of stage lighting.

However, using this stage lighting design technique as an architectural solution in the public space of the square seemed, again, to be an unsuitable solution. It creates an emotionally charged atmosphere that is incompatible with a small public place and would not be user friendly in everyday life.

The intense atmosphere and low lighting levels would also not support the functionality of the square as a place for rest, socialising and recreation.

The third scene shows the characters’

breaking up shortly after their relationship. The lighting design for this scene is aiming to express the painful feeling of separation. As the man is standing behind the scaffolding and the construction net, his silhouette/figure fades and this gives the impression that he is moving away.

The woman is standing somewhere in the square, her body turned to him, while watching him go away.

The lighting design of the scene was based on the characters and how they interact with the construction net. The man was lit behind the net to intensify the limited visibility and the effect of going away. On the other hand, the lighting of the woman had expressionistic references.

This use of harsh shadows is a typical expressionistic technique, with clear outlines often deformed and enlarged, so aiming to create a threatening feeling and a tremendous atmosphere.

For this scene, the lighting was low intensity with a colour temperature of 4000K and was implemented using two narrow-beam projectors, one for each protagonist. Given that the design is based on lighting the actors, the technique was clearly theatrical.

When it came to our theatrical versus architectural question, for this scene the lighting effect did not interact with the space. So, if the performance does not evolve in the square, the lighting design

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting design

cannot serve the function of illuminating the public space. At the same time, the lighting levels are excessively low and so it is impossible to ensure security and functionality in the space.

IMITATING NATURAL LIGHT

In the fourth scene, the protagonists are together again, but now in their mid-thirties. The lighting is aiming to express the love and proximity of the couple. At the same time, as the lovers are in older age and intend to grow old together, it implies a happy end of their love story. The actors are standing in front of the entrance of a neoclassical residence, looking towards it, as if they are about to enter their home.

The main lighting effect used in the scene was the imitation of sunset. Archetypes of natural lighting such as this – from different times of the day or in different hues – are widely used both in stage and architectural lighting design with great semiotic impact. What is more, light – especially natural light and sunlight – stands for joy and success in the collective memory of many cultures.

On this basis the protagonists of the scene are heading towards a light with the warm hues of sunset, which seems to be coming out the open door of the neoclassical residence.

The lighting effect for this scene was implemented by two types of lighting

This image and above: Scene 2. In this scene (above), the main characters are adults and in love with each other for the first time.

Top: as before, this image illustrates some of the techniques used to illuminate the scene

www.theilp.org.uk

27

28

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting design fixtures. First, wall-wash luminaires with colour filters in three-phase track were used for the uniform illumination of the interior walls of the house. Second, for the illumination of the couple and the creation of the bright path on the ground, two projectors of high intensity and wide beam, with a colour filter, were installed on the ceiling of the ground floor, behind the entrance of the house and targeting to the public space.

The effect of sunset was the dominant lighting effect used in the fourth scene and, again, constitutes a very powerful archetype that creates a link with stage lighting design.

The lighting fixtures were installed in the interior of the house and, in this sense, they are, obviously, controlled by the owner and so could not be used as public lighting. At the same time, however, the sunset effect is very intense and creates an emotionally charged atmosphere that does not comply with the functionality of the square and the importance of the public space for the city.

In the final scene, the protagonists, now in older age and again standing in the square, are recalling their love story. The lighting design of the scene is aiming to highlight the public space and the building environment of the square, as this is the place where their love story has evolved. At the same time, it is trying to create an allusive or suggestive atmosphere, rendering some spots visible by lighting them while leaving others in the dark.

The actors move in the space and the building façades serve as a background for the action. The main lighting effect here was comprised of narrow light beams framing the façades as a way to highlight them. This technique was implemented by ground-recessed fixtures, installed in the base of the buildings. This technique is very widely used in architectural lighting design and, therefore, on this basis we concluded the lighting design of the fifth scene could be used as the permanent architectural lighting design of the public space of the square. However, in order to comply with the lighting standards, it was clear higher lighting levels would be needed in the space.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our theoretical research and the conclusions that arose from the case study, some initial answers to the questions set out in the beginning of the thesis emerged.

In the view of the square illuminated with stage lighting from the performance, it was clear that stage lighting effects were simply too intense to be used in the public space in everyday life. www.theilp.org.uk

Scene 3 (left) and Scene 4. The images above show the couple breaking up (scene 3) and coming back together (scene 4). The top image then illustrates some of the techniques used to illuminate scene 3 while the bottom image in the same for scene 4

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Architectural lighting design They create a high emotional charge to the users, something that of course does not align with everyday use. At the same time, however, these theatrical techniques do highly accentuate the public space. A lighting designer should therefore always make a correct judgment as to whether the space has the corresponding importance for the city.

Stage lighting can create such an intense atmosphere that dominates the public space, rather than simply highlighting it.

On the stage, the lighting designer can create an intense atmosphere to support the dramaturgy of the play and express intense sentimental states and existential issues.

By contrast, in an architectural space this sort of very intense atmosphere usually does not align with functionality. Furthermore, there is an important difference between stage lighting and architectural lighting concerning lighting levels: in stage lighting there are no restrictions, but in architectural lighting there are certain standards that should be complied with, so that the public space is safe, pleasant and user-friendly.

On the other hand, using certain techniques or atmospheres of stage lighting in public space as part of an architectural lighting study could have a very positive impact and create an interesting result in space.

For example, theatrical references and techniques could be used together with functional lighting and accent lighting for highlighting an architectural space. In

such a context, stage-lighting techniques could be used to create and emphasise the atmosphere of the architectural space, to add new qualities, to enrich the space and the experience of the users, or to refresh and rejuvenate a previously flat, tired ambience.

It would be very interesting to use stage-lighting techniques in such different lighting scenarios; perhaps to enhance occasional events taking place in a public space or in the city, festivals or conferences, anniversaries or celebrations. In such scenarios, the designer should of course, however, be alert to the risks around reduced functionality, over-dominance and over-illumination already mentioned.

Importantly, too, the fact that, as we have shown, stage lighting techniques can be implemented using architectural lighting fixtures potentially sets designers free to experiment.

Dynamic lighting, communication protocols and controls within architectural luminaires all mean an architectural lighting designer can easily use stage lighting techniques in architectural space. Equally, a stage lighting designer can use architectural lighting fixtures to design the lighting for a performance in an open theatrical space.

The priority for architectural lighting design, understandably, is often simply to highlight the architectural space and make it safe and functional. Stage lighting design, on the other hand, is mainly about creating atmosphere or symbols in stage,

providing dramatic meaning and provoking the emotions of the spectators.

Despite their different orientation, the conclusion of our research is that there potentially is a crossover between these two. There is the possibility for the lighting designer to mix and match techniques from the architectural space or the stage, so as to enrich the qualities of each respective space.

In this sense, we believe a common ground between these two important categories of lighting design can finally be achieved.

Anna Sapounaki is an MA student and Thanos Balafoutis and Katerina Skalkou are architects and professors on the lighting design master’s degree programme at the Hellenic Open University in Patras in Greece

Above: Scene 5. Here, finally, the leading characters are reminiscing about their love story in older age. Below: again, an illustration of some of the techniques used

[1] Neumann D (2011). ‘The Structure of Light. Richard Kelly and the Illumination of Modern Architecture’. Yale University Press. [2] Keller M (2010). ‘Light Fantastic, the art and design of stage lighting.’ Prestel Publishing. Isenstadt S, Maile Petty M, Neumann, D (2015). ‘Cities of Light – Two Centuries of Urban Illumination’. Routledge. Meier J, Hasenöhrl U, Krause K, Pottharst M (2015). ‘Urban Lighting, Light Pollution and Society’. Routledge. Neumann D (2002). ‘Architecture of the Night: The Illuminated Building’. Prestel Publishing. Schlor J (2016). ‘Nights in the Big City: Paris, Berlin, London, 1840-1930. Reaktion Books’. Van Santen C (2006). ‘Light Zone City: Light Planning in the Urban Context. Birkhauser’. Laganier I, Van der Pol J (2011). ‘Light and Emotions – Exploring Lighting Cultures. Conversations with Lighting Designers’. Birkhauser Verlag AG. “https:// www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Neil+Fraser&search-alias=books&field-author=Neil+Fraser&sort=relevancerank” Fraser N (1999). ‘Stage Lighting Design: A Practical Guide’. The Crowood Press. Abulafia Y (2016). ‘The art of light on stage’. London: Routledge. Shelley S (2014). ‘A practical guide to stage lighting’. 2004: Focal Press. Russel S (2012). ‘The architecture of light’. Conceptine. Dugar AM (2016). ‘The role of poetics in architectural lighting’. Chennai: The society of Light and Lighting. Schivelbusch W (1983). ‘Disenchanted night’. Munich: University of California Press. Wolf R C and Block D (2005). ‘Scene design and stage lighting’. USA. Wadsworth. “https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/shanti-sumartojo” Sumartojo S, Edensor T, Pink S (2019). ‘Atmospheres in Urban Light’. Monash University, Australia.

Zumthor P (2006). ‘Atmospheres: Architectural Environments – Surrounding Objects’. Basel: Birkhauser. Pallasmaa J (2009). ‘The thinking hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture’. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Kim D H (2018). ‘Light and emotion: exploring human affect in lighting’. The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL, London. Skarlatou, A (2010). ‘Light effects in the design process: a theoretical investigation of designers’ perceptions of light effects and an empirical study of how they use them in architectural lighting design’. Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL, London.

www.theilp.org.uk

29

30

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

AUTHENTICITY

APPLIED Lighting world heritage sites is about achieving a balance between respecting, preserving and enhancing their history and authenticity while at the same ensuring they remain safe, functional, attractive and evocative at night. Within this, however, it is also important for a lighting designer to consider a site’s ‘intangible’ authenticity and story-telling

By Shahabedin Zeini Aslani

C

ities are understood through the design of urban space and the emphasis on design extends to heritage sites and the social activities organised among people within these spaces [1]. Heritage sites play a vital role in social health and community wellbeing so to serve the increasing populations of cities; heritage sites serve as infrastructural sites [2]. The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) emphasises that historic sites can have vast social, economic, environmental, cultural and public value amongst people.

While open spaces in cities can provide a place for social interaction amongst people, the level of social engagement and contributions made by citizens during night-time tends to reduce as a result of darkness [3]. The concept of night-time lighting for urban spaces is therefore considered an essential factor in engaging people such that they can make full use of such spaces at night [4]. Lighting is more than a science in that it is also subject to design principles and can significantly affect the way in which people interact with each other and the spaces around them [5].

Accordingly, historic sites must fulfil having the two critical criteria of authenticity and integrity to be listed as a world heritage site. Through integrity, it is ensured that all the crucial elements of the site are undamaged and intact [6]. What becomes important in lighting the historic site in this regard is that the lighting features be installed such that no damage or harm is caused to the historic sites in any way.

Authenticity, on the other hand, is a more complex concept to define, and then to reach with lighting. According to the definition of ‘authenticity’ by Jokilehto, there is reference to the notion of something being ‘original as opposed to counterfeit’ [7]. Labadi refers to authenticity as ‘having been frozen in time’, as a result of the operational guidelines associated with being, and staying, a world heritage site [8].

Therefore, in this article I will present how lighting designers should balance ensuring their scheme remains ‘authentic’ to respect the world heritage site’s criteria while at the same time making sure the lighting successfully brings the site to life during the night-time period.

AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY

CONSIDERING ‘AUTHENTICITY’

In order to make greater use of heritage sites at night-time, designing a suitable lighting for these heritage sites is vital.

UNESCO has adopted the convention of ‘World Heritage Site’ as a means of protecting heritage sites around the world.

Making sure authenticity is respected through the lighting installation of a world heritage site is not an easy process, however. This is partly because we are adding a modern and new design feature to the historic site through lighting.

So, the question is, how can we make sure authenticity is considered in our lighting scheme? And, even more important, what does considering authenticity through lighting in an historic site actually mean?

To answer these questions, and for my PhD research, I interviewed seven lighting designers who have designed successful lighting projects for heritage sites as well as three experts in the field of heritage sites.

I asked them about how the authenticity of a site should be considered, what is actually meant by respecting authenticity, and what needs to be applied in the lighting of such sites?

TENSION BETWEEN MODERN AND AUTHENTIC

The topic of authenticity in lighting heritage sites raised a certain level of debate amongst the experts consulted.

While some researchers suggest that a site does not require to be considered antique or authentic to attract attention, my interviewees consulted took the view that authenticity should be considered in the lighting of historic places [9].

Considering authenticity as ‘having been frozen in time’, in my study only one of the heritage experts took the view that lighting historic sites should reproduce past lighting to the greatest possible extent in pursuit of authenticity.

Others highlighted that being truly authentic would mean using the same source of light, such as fire torches and candles. This, it was pointed out, was ‘obviously inappropriate’.

Therefore, given the use of electrical lighting features, can you ever really achieve authenticity? My interviewees also stated that using electrical lighting with the aim of recreating the look of an historic site was also not good practice.

Most of the lighting designers explained that, in the past, such sites would have had very little light, and that many would have been completely dark at night-time.

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

New Luminaire MultiMeter

31

One Handed Electrical Measurements Directly at the NEMA Socket Westire Technology are renowned in the street lighting industry for unparalleled quality & reliability. Our past experience allows us to boast long standard product warranties and life expectancies far beyond.

For further details visit westire.com

Critical Power Measurements

True-rms readings

The Luminare MultiMeter (LMM) device measures and visually displays critical power measurements when commissioning, verifying and troubleshooting luminaire operation via NEMA 3, 5 or 7 pin socket.

The LMM utilizes true-rms readings to accurately capture four critical measurements. The LED display continuously scrolls through Volts, Amps, Watts, and Power Factor.

UK & International Sales

North & South America

Irish Sales

HQ & Manufacturing

James Wright E: jwright@westire.com T: +44 7713 958962

Michael J Duffy E: mduffy@westire.com T: +1 847-274-6756

Fiona Gallagher E: fgallagher@westire.com T: +353 97 81209

Westire Technology Ltd, Ind. Estate, Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Ireland.

E: info@westire.com T: +353 97 81200 www.theilp.org.uk F: +353 97 81400

32

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

World heritage sites Heritage site lighting aims to improve that heritage community socially, economically, and culturally and so, in such cases, it may be more appropriate to view the goal as being to breathe fresh life into the site in question rather than simply preserving in aspic.

Too little, too minimal, lighting will simply deter visitors or detract from social gatherings. Therefore, reproducing the look of historic sites slavishly out of blind pursuit of the authentic look is not recommended.

Rather, lighting should be used to move the site, sensitively, into the present. At the same time, however, all my experts were agreed that authenticity nevertheless remains an important aspect of these sites and lighting must reflect this.

How, as a lighting designer, you therefore use lighting to move the site into the future while at the same time still respecting authenticity is therefore one of the most important findings of my study.

TA N G I B L E A N D AUTHENTICITY

I N TA N G I B L E

Up to this now, the arguments being made here have been relatively self-evident.

However, the concept of ‘authenticity’ is more complex than you might assume, which in turn can make how to strike that balance when lighting heritage sites more complex, too.

For example, the academic Dushkina refers to there being tangible and intangible factors within authenticity [10]. She explains that, apart from the tangible factors of a historic site that contribute to its authenticity – the fabric of the site, stones, statues and so on – there are often other intangible factors that inform authenticity. These can include traditions, spirits and feelings. Dushkina adds that authenticity is a valuable category in culture.

What this means in the context of lighting a heritage site is twofold. First, as already highlighted, lighting should not be used simply to reproduce or try to slavishly recreate the past look of an historic site. This, however, mostly relates to a site’s tangible authenticity.

The important second point, as all the experts and lighting designers I interviewed recommended, is that intangible factors also should be considered in the use of lighting in historic sites.

My interviewees argued that ‘lighting should give rise to better places while honouring the UNESCO designation’. They argued that lighting today should be used to develop an authentic feel in historic sites and help transform these spaces into places. www.theilp.org.uk

World heritage sites from around the world. Main image previous page: Mont St-Michel. This page from top: floating lamps and lantern during the Yee Peng festival at Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand. The Drottningholm Palace near Stockholm, Sweden.

Edinburgh Castle. The castle’s bloody history adds challenge to the idea of creating a sense of ‘authenticity’ through lighting.

Overleaf: Cologne Cathedral, Germany

While they emphasised that lighting will, naturally, influence the place and the space, it will not harm the intangible authenticity if it is used insightfully.

It can therefore be used in various creative ways and enhance feelings and activities amongst people visiting these sites.

So, what does this mean in practical terms? In this sense, being authentic means being responsible in using the light in historic sites, rather than copying the past.

Being ‘responsible’ then involves not using the lighting to make the historic site

look completely different to its pre-modification state.

The lighting ideas must not be crafted in a manner that is totally unrelated to the traditions of the site; rather they should be built upon the narratives of the site, telling stories of the past and the history of the site rather than blindly adhering to what was once historically the case.

Through these techniques, lighting can have visual impact on the historic site while respecting authenticity but also being effective, functional and practical.

INTERPRETATION, AND TURNING SPACES TO PLACES

The lighting designers I interviewed all agreed that lighting influences the

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Examplary running head

Global technology through trusted partners

125 years’ experience in lighting

65 million network points

1.1 million nodes deployed

Next generation connectivity axora.co.uk

axora™ is a brand of Holophane www.theilp.org.uk Europe Ltd.

33

34

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

World heritage sites intangible authenticity of heritage sites in that it allows visitors to consider and interpret sites in different ways.

Interpretations conveyed through lighting can assist with transforming how a space is perceived. However, light must be used in a way such that it does not change the story or history of the site.

Therefore, in order to minimise the negative effects of interpretations on intangible authenticity, lighting designs should consider people’s values, the meanings (and they can be multiple) the site has to people, the feelings they have towards the site and how they identity of the historic site.

This, of course, can be complex and fluid. Nevertheless, the literature in relation to sense of place (such as by Shamai) emphasises that, in the higher levels of sense of place, people experience a sense of attachment as they build emotional relationships with the place; the place comes to convey meaning and specific identities to the people [11].

Hummon has argued that one’s feelings towards a place and the meanings it has for individuals relates to them experiencing a sense of place [12]. If these goals are met in the lighting design of historic sites, the intangible authenticity of the heritage site is met, and the site can successfully transform into a place through the placemaking process.

WHEN TO AVOID BEING AUTHENTIC

Finally, one especially interesting finding of my study is the suggestion that, although authenticity is something desirable to cultivate in respect of a historic site, there are occasions when it is better not to pursue such authenticity.

This, I appreciate, sounds counter-intuitive. But there may be cases where the historic site has had a negative role in the past.

Given the fact there is a need to turn the space into a place that people would be

attracted to and choose as a location for social engagement, it is clear in such instances that slavish adherence to authenticity might impede progress toward such a goal.

One of the heritage experts I interviewed, for instance, gave the example of Edinburgh Castle, a world heritage site that has been a site of considerable bloodshed in the past.

Yet today, the castle is very much perceived in a positive light, as a symbol of Edinburgh. In the context of the lighting, therefore, rather than using lighting to craft an authentic narrative of the site, lighting is instead used to engender positive values and feelings, a sense of place, about the site.

The literature in relation to sense of place reveals that the way people feel about places will result in how they value it, which, in turn, will result in whether they feel a sense of place in the setting [13].

If the setting conveys negative feelings

[1] Alliance C (2007). ‘Liveable Cities: The Benefits of Urban Environmental Planning – A Cities Alliance Study on Good Practices and Useful Tools’; https://www.citiesalliance.org/resources/ publications/cities-alliance-knowledge/liveable-cities-benefits-urban-environmental [2] Tweed C and Sutherland M (2007). ‘Built cultural heritage and sustainable urban development’.

Landscape and urban planning, 83(1), pp.62-69; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204607001442 [3] Edwards L and Torcellini P A (2002). ‘A literature review of the effects of natural light on building occupants’ (p. 59). Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory; https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy02osti/30769.pdf [4] Sandoval T and Osterhaus W. ‘Layered light: creative lighting design techniques for urban environments’, School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington; http://anzasca.net/wp-content/ uploads/2014/08/werner.pdf [5] Gardner C (2006). ‘The use and misuse of coloured light in the urban environment’. Optics & Laser Technology, 38(4–6), pp: 366–376. DOI: 10.1016/j. optlastec.2005.06.02; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243310313_The_use_and_misuse_of_coloured_light_in_the_urban_environment [6] ‘Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention’. UNESCO, https://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines/ [7] Jokilehto J (1999). ‘A century of heritage conservation’. In Journal of Architectural conservation, 5(3), pp.14-33; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13556207.1999.10785249 [8] Labadi S (2010). ‘World Heritage, authenticity and post-authenticity: international and national perspectives’. In Heritage and globalisation (pp. 80-98) Routledge; https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203850855-12/world-heritageauthenticity-post-authenticity-international-national-perspectives-sophia-labadi [9] Knudsen B T, Waade A M and Marit A (2010). ‘Re-investing authenticity. Tourism, Place and Emotions’, Channel View Publications, https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/ReInvesting-Authenticity/?k=9781845411275 [10] Dushkina N (1995). ‘The historic cemeteries of Moscow: some aspects of history and urban development’. Cemetery art. Wroc. [11] Shamai S and Ilatov Z (2005). ‘Measuring sense of place: Methodological aspects’. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 96(5), pp.467-476; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/4920776_Measuring_Sense_of_Place_Methodological_Aspects [12] Hummon D M (1992). ‘Community attachment’, pp. 253-278. Springer, Boston, MA; https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_12; [13] Najafi M and Shariff M K B M (2011). ‘The concept of place and sense of place in architectural studies’. International Journal of Human and Social Sciences, 6(3), pp.187-193; https://publications.waset.org/14034/the-concept-of-place-and-sense-of-placein-architectural-studies

www.theilp.org.uk

amongst people, their evaluation of it is more likely to be negative and the space will not become a favoured place in terms of place-making.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that this article is being informed by a PhD study, I have only skimmed the surface of what is a complex and nuanced area. However, for me, there are five key conclusions that, I would argue, ILP members may want to take away and consider in the context of lighting world heritage sites effectively and sympathetically.

1. Authenticity should be a key consideration for the lighting of world heritage sites.

2. However, authenticity does not mean reproducing the past.

3. It is important to understand the difference between tangible and intangible authenticity. Intangible authenticity also needs to be respected within lighting designs, and lighting should be used responsibly.

4. Lighting designs for heritage sites should consider people’s values, the meanings the site has to people, and the feelings they have towards the site.

It should be built upon the narratives of the site as well as the identity of the site.

5. We should avoid the authentic stories of the site when the narrative carries negative values. So yes, sometimes, as lighting designers we do actually have to walk away from authenticity!

Dr Shahabedin Zeini Aslani is a PhD in lighting design from Edinburgh Napier University

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

35

Examplary running head

BRITISH LIGHTING DESIGN & MANUFACTURER BESPOKE, CONTEMPORARY & HERITAGE ARCHITECTURAL AND STREET LIGHTING Incorporating the latest LED Technology • Lanterns • Columns • Brackets LED Retrofit Specialists Request a lighting design consultation

sales@candela.co.uk www.candela.co.uk

+44(0)121 678 6700

Designed and manufactured in Great Britain

319 Long Acre Birmingham, B7 5JT www.theilp.org.uk

36

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

A recent ILP webinar outlined how moving to a more sustainable lighting approach to projects may need to be as much about a cultural and mindset shift – for everyone, including the client – as about coming up with novel product or operational solutions

By Nic Paton

A

s Lighting Journal reported last month, the ILP’s sustainability CPD afternoon in November made it very clear that, if lighting is to ramp up to the next level when it comes to mitigating climate change, it is going to need to embrace materials’ efficiency as well as energy efficiency (‘Climate change’, January 2022, vol 87, no 1). There will need to be a wholesale cultural and mindset shift – as well as an operational shift – towards making and using products that are more upgradeable, more repairable and have more replaceable parts.

A recent webinar held by LDC Birmingham emphasised and expanded on this important point. The event ‘Relighting spaces in the built environment’ was hosted by LDC Birmingham’s Kevin Clark and led by Tim Bowes, lighting t e c h n o l o gy

development manager at Whitecroft Lighting.

As Tim made clear, the choices lighting professionals need to make in delivering low-carbon, environmentally considered solutions must go beyond simply considering the operational efficiency of an installation, even if energy efficiency still needs to be a vitally important part of that conversation.

‘We’ve been trying to reframe and reassess how we think about sustainability; how we deliver sustainable design. And yes, absolutely, energy efficiency, delivering efficient solutions is still part of that,’ Tim said.

‘From a product point of view, this [approach] really challenges the way we design and manufacture our products. So, still considering energy efficiency of course, but thinking more about the materials that we use. Thinking about enabling all of our products going forward to upgradable with replaceable components; that is the future, to prolong the life of products beyond maybe that first iteration of LED performance, and what we can do.

As part of that we have delivered a cradle-to-cradle accreditation to get

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

37

Lighting and sustainability third-party certification for our products,’ he added.

Within this, yes, embracing a circular economy approach is important and needs to become much more mainstream. But it is only part of what needs to change, Tim emphasised. ‘To truly deliver circular solutions it goes beyond the products. You can have the most circular products in the world, but ultimately if somebody throws it away, someone chucks it in the bin. you’ve then lost your value. What we’re trying to support and understand and develop is the through-life utility; making sure that product can be maintained for as long as possible within the situation, within the application.’

WHOLE-SYSTEM APPROACH

This needed to include the regeneration and recovery of products, thinking about how products can be upgraded and/or repurposed rather than just thrown away, how components, equally, can be reused or repurposed and, if disposal is the only option, how they can be disposed of in the best, most sustainable way.

‘When we started thinking about carbon and some of the wider aspects, it goes beyond simply operational efficiency; how efficient we can be. We’ve started thinking about material scarcity; how much material we have, what’s the access to that material, and the volatility that has caused,’ Tim pointed out, adding that this all feeds into wider supply chain conversations, along with needing to mitigate rising raw material and energy costs.

‘We are going to have to start thinking beyond luminaire efficacy as being the mantra. The LED curve that we have seen of the last few years, of massive improvements in efficiency, is starting to plateau.

We’re going to have to think smart about how we deliver low-carbon solutions,’ Tim added.

Part of this change of approach and mindset needed to be about taking a whole-system approach to a space, Tim suggested, highlighting a recent project he had worked on within a school setting.

‘When we looked at it, only two-thirds of the total energy from the lighting was coming from the general lighting scheme.

Nearly a quarter was coming from the emergency lighting system that was in place and nearly 10% from the controls just ticking along in the background,’ he said.

Therefore, nearly a third of the lighting hadn’t even considered in the overall discussion around energy efficiency. ‘So thinking about the whole system can make

a difference in really driving through energy efficiency,’ Tim said.

FIVE KEY STEPS

Effective space regeneration came down to five key steps, Tim argued: • • • • •

Assessment Feasibility Relight proposal Solution delivery Through-life support

Tim then ran through how he’d used this approach in an office refurbishment project in Glasgow, for Wheatley House. ‘It had existing lighting, of course, and they were looking to upgrade the lighting to get an opportunity around energy efficiency savings but also to deliver a better environment and reform the space; to create a better space for the people going forward as they were coming back into office environments,’ he said.

‘The first thing is assessing whether it is possible and assessing the need or the opportunity to do this. We highlighted the opportunity around being circular, thinking differently about how we go into spaces; how can we create the environment, how do we create different ways to tackle the challenges of how we go about spaces? And this idea around the regeneration of components we already had.

‘They [the consultant] looked at the

project, they had a chat with the client, they had a chat with the design team to understand what were their objectives; what were their motivations, what were the opportunities they were considering around the reasons for doing this upgrade?

Were they open to the idea of potentially reusing existing solutions going forward?

Creating that awareness, that discussion, is part of what we’ve got to do, I think, to create that opportunity in the first place; to see whether people are willing to adopt it or consider it.

‘The second part was then to understand the feasibility. What can be done within that space? What needs to be done?’ Tim said. This involved looking at the existing products and fittings and the feasibility of upgrading or reusing rather than replacing. ‘So we then had to look at the product itself. What was that product involved, how was it constructed, how was it built, how could we potentially look at upgrading it, was it viable to do that, was it good-enough quality in the first place to be able to go and remove that product?

‘But then, also, what was the lighting quality like today? Was it the right lighting levels in line with the latest standards? Did we have the right level of glare control?

How do we deliver the right environment for people? Understanding all these different things means you can start to identify: what’s the opportunity?’ Tim added.

The next element was to think about

LIGHT UP, DRIVE OVER www.theilp.org.uk

EMINERE™ INGROUND

anolislighting.com

38

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Lighting and sustainability relighting. ‘Can we now upgrade that product? Can we deliver the right lighting quality? Is it the right thing to go and regenerate that product? Are we going to end up with the right lit environment? So it is thinking about the effectiveness of that space post refurbishment. Will it still be lighting quality? If it can’t, we do perhaps need to think about giving the right quality solution going forward,’ Tim highlighted.

Then it was a question of how to deliver the right solution. ‘Clearly, it is about having the right lighting design but also the right photometry, the right longevity of reports so we can start doing the most appropriate lighting design to demonstrate compliance around the lighting levels, glare, controls, services, illumination, all the things that are important,’ Tim advised.

‘One of the things that was really interesting on this project was that there was a bit of resistance from the contractor to go for an upgraded solution. His thought or perception was, ‘this is going to take twice as long as putting in a brand-new luminaire’. What we did was we provided a sample for site and we designed it in a way to enable quick replacement. He gave us a target time of 15 minutes. If it took longer than 15 minutes it was going to cost him more money to go and upgrade it.

‘We recorded it; he recorded it on his phone. It took 11 minutes to do the upgrade. So thinking smart about how we design our products enable us to get all

parts of the team involved to support that upgrade was really important to enable that on-site collaboration. By doing that, we were able to demonstrate to him that this was a viable solution for him to go forward with and got him on board to go and regenerate those products as well.’

The final element, then, was thinking about end-of-life and through-life support, in other words, as Tim put it: ‘Not just doing it once but doing it again and again.’

As Tim explained: ‘We were creating about 150 light fittings in this space and we needed to be sure the cartridge element was replaceable going forward. We also tried where we could to use products that were circular by design. Where we were replacing new products, we tried to encourage the use of circular products that enabled future upgrade and modularity as well.

‘They weren’t just doing this once with a mixture [of solutions], they could do this again in the future if they so chose. Or, at worst, if it did get removed, someone else could maintain those assets and get more value out of them into the future. About 85% of the products by value had that circular design principle in place,’ Tim added.

EFFECTIVE VERSUS EFFICIENT DESIGN

As the event drew to a close, Tim summed up: ‘Energy, resources and waste, they are all important aspects of what we’ve got to be doing going forward. Energy efficiency, of course it is important. But if we think

Tim Bowes: ‘Efficient design is about doing less bad, effective design is about adding positivity into a space, into the environment.’

about what we’re doing about resources and the waste that we generate, those are some of the key principles of the circular economy.

‘We need to not lose sight of effective design in what we do, but also the need for effective versus efficient design. Efficient design is about doing less bad, effective design is about adding positivity into a space, into the environment.

‘And that is about people but also about the materials that we use going forward.

We need to balance the needs of people with the needs of the environment. We can’t do one without the other if we are going to have sustainable, effective solutions going forward. And it is about future proofing; we can’t just do this once. We have got to make sure we enable this to happen again and again and again to start creating the processes and the platforms to enable that future proofing in what we do,’ Tim concluded.

FIND OUT MORE

The LDC Birmingham webinar can be viewed by scanning the below QR code

www.theilp.org.uk

dwwindsor.com

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Examplary running head

Daytona All-round performance. All-round confidence.

With replaceable light modules, an elegant design and the power to adapt to the needs of its surroundings, Daytona is set to transform the illumination of urban environments.

The need for versatile lighting and sustainability has never been more important for urban living and our environment.

Daytona balances style, efficiency and practicality to deliver

Want to learn more?

Watch our Daytona video now

maximum performance while providing outstanding service life to support the circular economy.

Featuring Tunable White technology, advanced control options and superior light quality, including 0% ULOR, Daytona allows you to specify a high performing, futureproofed product with complete confidence.

Tunable White Technology www.theilp.org.uk

39

40

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Artist Steuart Padwick’s ‘Hope’ sculptures have been designed to highlight the urgency of the climate emergency.

Lighting the permanent sculpture in Glasgow’s Cuningar Loop therefore required a solution that emphasised environmental sustainability and the circular economy, as well as being sympathetic, sensitive and effective

By Alexia Gkika

A

rtist Steuart Padwick’s series of three ‘Hope’ sculptures across and around Glasgow aim to reflect on the scale of the climate emergency and the need to work together to build a better future.

At Buro Happold, we worked with Steuart to provide a sensitive and environmentally conscious lighting scheme for the 23m-high ‘Hope Sculpture’ situated at Cuningar Loop, the beautiful woodland park on the River Clyde.

All three sculptures were created using low-carbon, reclaimed, recycled or sustainable materials, almost all locally sourced. They were installed in time for the COP26 climate summit in November, although the official unveiling of the main Cuningar Loop sculpture took place in December.

Taking its form from the brick chimney stalks that once littered the Clyde Gateway, the Hope Sculpture is made from an innovative low-carbon 100% cement-free

concrete incorporating locally sourced aggregates and recycled crushed glass.

This gives it a slight sparkly finish when daylight or artificial light hits it. Sitting atop six elegant 20m-high angled columns, there is an abstracted age-, gender-, and race-neutral child, embracing the surrounding nature and reaching out to a hopeful future. The entire build was a 75% reduction in CO2 compared to a conventional build.

When it came to the lighting scheme, we were first approached by Steuart back in April last year, initially with the intention to light all three sculptures in the series. However, the first question was did they even need to be lit?

As the project progressed, we assessed the ambient light conditions of the hosting environment for the portable ‘Beacon of Hope’ and ‘Hope

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Lighting and sustainability Triptych’ and decided that additional lighting was not required. Another factor, of course, given the whole context of COP26 and thinking about sustainability within lighting, was that we don’t want to be adding energy or equipment unnecessarily.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOCUS

We therefore focused on the Hope Sculpture in Cuningar Loop, which is aiming to have a long-term impact on the community and the area.

After working with Steuart on the initial design development, we approached Stoane Lighting to supply the luminaires.

From a circular economy perspective and because of the sustainability imperative to be reducing embodied carbon and promoting circularity, they were a perfect choice. They’re based in Scotland (in Loanhead just outside Edinburgh) and are known for pioneering circular economy approaches as a lighting manufacturer.

One might have thought the conventional way to light such a structure would be through ground recessed uplights. But we recognised very quickly that the height of the sculpture meant we really didn’t want to light up from the ground. Because of its striking 23m height, illuminating the pillars and figure from the ground would have required a lot more power and possibly have led to light wastage and light pollution.

We also needed to consider the very natural context. It is a woodland park with very minimal lighting apart from some pedestrian columns for the main path at a distance; we wanted to use as little light as possible. And we knew that, given the dark canvas, we didn’t actually need to apply a lot of light to make the sculpture stand out.

The next question was ‘how do we make sure that we achieve good integration of the equipment with minimal visual impact’. Obviously, Steuart didn’t want something that was going to start interfering with the view of the sculpture from its various different perspectives but at the same time there was limited space at the base of the figure’s feet to enable homogeneous coverage and good rendition of the organic form. We explored a number of ways of introducing outreach brackets that would carry the miniature luminaires.

On top of this, and again very much from a sustainability/circular economy perspective, was the fact that we wanted to explore reusing or re-purposing existing

Clockwise from top: the Hope Sculpture at Cuningar Loop being lowered into position. One of the four outreach brackets once in situ on the sculpture. The small Tadpole luminaires. Main image left: the illuminated sculpture in all its glory. Photograph by Fourfifteen

Stoane Lighting luminaires. A good selection of samples and other bespoke-made luminaires were sent to us to review and see if suitable for the needs of the project with minor modifications.

EMBODIED CARBON CALCULATIONS AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY ASSESSMENT

A further layer of complexity, which we worked on with Stoane Lighting, involved developing embodied carbon calculations and carrying out a circular economy assessment for the lighting equipment being used.

For this, we used the CIBSE/Society of Light and Lighting document TM65 Embodied carbon in building services and the newly released TM66 – Creating a Circular Economy in the Lighting Industry, as highlighted in last month’s Lighting Journal [1].

LIGHTING SCHEME

The child is illuminated via four outreach brackets, each 700mm long. The front brackets have three 2W luminaires attached and the back two have two each, so a total of ten luminaires and 20W, with a mix of medium and linear optic beams.

For the child lighting, we used Stoane Lighting’s Tadpole range, which are very small luminaires. By using smaller luminaires, and more of them, we were able to achieve uniform illumination across what is a very organic form. Linear beams are used to illuminate the hands as they are reaching out and the legs, and then the torso and head are illuminated with the wide-beam luminaires. Stoane Lighting’s optics also minimised light spillage.

The second lighting element is the single downlight located at the apex of the six columns, under the child figure.

T h i s washes

www.theilp.org.uk

41

42

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Lighting and sustainability down the structure to highlight the interior of the pillars and give a soft grazing effect.

For this, we used Stoane Lighting’s Mole Type X luminaire, 30W. Again, we used an existing sample that had already been produced but was in fact a bespoke version of the luminaire. So, in all, power consumption for the whole sculpture is just 50W. All the lighting is dimmable, with the control components located within a nearby feeder overground pillar. We wanted to keep things as natural as possible so the effects are subtle and impactful in their simplicity.

CONDUITS AND CABLING

One practical challenge within all this was how to get connections and the cabling up the sculpture. How were we going to run up the conduits from the columns, how were they going to be integrated?

Steuart’s solution was to integrate the conduits within one column and for all the lighting cables to meet in a bespoke connection box he designed cast within the concrete plinth below the feet of the child.

The luminaires for the figure and the downlight are separately controlled. So it was, actually, only two pairs of cables in the event, but nevertheless required some careful planning.

It was a similar question with the remote drivers. How could we have them integrated? Was it going to be in the manhole or within the paving at the base of the sculpture, for example? Control components are, however of course, susceptible to water ingress; they are the most sensitive component. So, they needed to be both easily accessible and replaceable should it need to be. In the event, we were able to establish a location from 25m radius around the sculpture.

Looking back, probably the biggest challenge was actually going through the process of doing the TM65 and TM66 calculations for the first time, always with the primary help of Stoane Lighting’s Roger Sexton, who enabled us to gain access to the Beta version of the SLL CEAM-Make tool before the document was formally published.

We didn’t know of any other project having implemented these calculations at the time and therefore didn’t have any reference point to work from. So, it was very much a process of looking at the calculations and trying to establish a baseline.

Another important takeaway from our TM65 exercise was the significant

Figure 1. Embodied carbon calculation for Tadpole luminaire + 1/10 LED driver with pie chart diagram indicating breakdown of results (pie chart as extract from TM65 calculation, courtesy of Stoane Lighting/Buro Happold)

Figure 2. CEAM-Make results for Tadpole luminaire. Extract courtesy of Stoane Lighting/Buro Happold

contribution of the electronic components. It may be no surprise, but this was something that triggered further discussions with driver manufacturer EldoLED. A great commitment was required to pull together all the evidence needed to support the self-assessment process generally, but it was definitely worth it. Figures 1 and 2 above show some of the calculations and results.

We’ve had really, really positive feedback so far, which is great [3]. It has been appreciated that it is a subtle lighting scheme; it is not a scheme that is shouting.

We wanted it to be in line not just with the lighting but with every aspect of the project, which is about trying to be as sustainable as possible – for us as designers, for the artist as maker, for all the collaborators as contributors and for the community as a whole to enjoy and be proud of.

[1] TM65 Embodied carbon in building services: a calculation methodology, CIBSE, https://www.cibse.org/knowledge/knowledge-items/detail?id=a0q3Y00000IPZOhQAP; TM66 – Creating a Circular Economy in the Lighting Industry, SLL, CIBSE, November 2021, https://www.cibse.org/news-and-policy/november-2021/tm66-creating-a-circular-economy-in-the-lighting; ‘Climate change’, Lighting Journal, January 2022, vol 87, no 1 [3] The project has been entered into the darc awards 2022 in the ‘Art-Low Budget’ category

www.theilp.org.uk

Finally, as with these extraordinary sculptures, the messaging needed to engage with the bigger picture. It wasn’t just about the lighting but about how lighting can make a bigger impact and contribution as we transition to net zero.

Alexia Gkika is senior lighting designer at Buro Happold

KEY PROJECT COLLABORATORS

Artist/designer: Steuart Padwick Lighting design: Buro Happold Project director: Natalie Alexopoulos Engineering and marketing support: Ramboll Lead contractor: Urban Union Cement-free concrete: Aggregate Industries Primary build: Keltbray

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Charles Endirect Ltd has worked with clients over 43 many years to supply state of art management systems for cities and key parts of the national road network, including sections of the M25 and A1, as well as a number of National Highways Areas.

The CELtek, Central Management System, allows the end user to control

and monitor their street lighting and traffic sign assets, along with the facility to maximise energy efficiency. It offers “Internet of things” (IoT) capabilities, including multi-level platform integration to other manufacturer’s equipment which has broadened the scope of application possibilities. This gives increased system flexibility and allows the end customer greater control of their assets, supported by our industry leading technical expertise and customer service.

Zhaga LCUs and Gateways

We continually develop capability of the system and have recently released our new Zhaga Gateways and Nodes (LCUs) for use with System Ready (SR) LED drivers as the industry moves to this new technology.

This will enable increased inter-operability with all types of third-party sensors and monitoring devices.

Our range of photocells offer solutions to luminaire manufacturers and streetlighting asset controllers with options from NEMA, Conduit and now our Zhaga range.

If you would like more information, please get in touch.

Photocells Zhaga, NEMA and Conduit

www.charlesendirect.com +44 (0)1963 828 400 info@charlesendirect.com

Ingenuity at work Wessex Way Wincanton Business Park Wincanton Somerset BA9 9RR Registration no 1855059 England

www.theilp.org.uk

44

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Last month’s edition of Lighting Journal focused on how lighting can step up and contribute more to mitigating climate change and improving sustainability. Greater use of aluminium, especially secondary, recycled aluminium, could be one key way

By Nicole le Sage

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Lighting and sustainability

T

he European Commission’s ‘Green Deal’ sets out a clear path toward realising the EU’s ambitious target of a 55% reduction in carbon emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2030, and to become a climate-neutral continent by 2050 [1].

Aluminium, we believe at Hydro, will play a role in the achievement of this goal.

How so? The world needs to reduce emissions and, to achieve that, we all know we need to produce and consume in new ways. Important factors include material selection, production methods and the ability to keep products in the loop, the so-called ‘circular economy’.

In a circular economy model, highquality recycling and how products are designed are crucial. But so is how materials are produced and the types of materials used.

Which brings me to aluminium. The demand for aluminium is growing, which is understandable. It is a metal that has unique properties, limitless applications and design possibilities and it is sustainable.

Indeed, it is infinitely recyclable, while retaining its unique properties – a ‘permanent’ material that fits the concept of a circular economy.

Some 70%-75% of the aluminium ever produced is still in use. With its durability, as well as the anti-corrosion properties of the metal, aluminium products have a long lifespan. Moreover, aluminium is easy to maintain. No measures are required to protect against mould or corrosion, and no solvents are needed for the paintwork.

Nor is it a scarce metal. The metallic element aluminium is the third-most plentiful element in the earth’s crust, and global bauxite reserves are projected to last for centuries.

Consequently, aluminium is considered a key building block for a more climate-friendly circular economy. It is ecologically desirable because of its recyclability and low-impact on the environment over its product-use lifespan.

UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGES

That said, there are challenges involved in making aluminium’s ‘value chain’ more sustainable. We need to be aware of these because the continuous reduction of the footprint of aluminium production and aluminium products is an ethical responsibility.

The production of primary aluminium through the Hall-Héroult electrolysis process is energy intensive. As a result, the carbon footprint of primary aluminium is highly dependent on the source of electricity used.

To illustrate, the carbon footprint of primary aluminium varies between less than four metric tons (mt) of CO2-equivalents (CO2e) per mt aluminium in hydropower-based regions to more than 20mt CO2e per mt aluminium in coal power-based regions. The global average is 16.7mt CO2e per mt of aluminium produced. The carbon footprint of aluminium produced with renewable energy and modern technology is 4.5 times lower than the global average. So, it is important to know where the material comes from and how it is produced.

RECYCLING OF ALUMINIUM

Recycling aluminium, however, is a far different story. Secondary production – in other words, recycling – requires substantially less energy than primary aluminium production and thus emits no more than approximately 0.5mt CO2e per mt aluminium. This is because recycling requires

only 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium.

The truth is aluminium recycling was valuable long before climate change was on the agenda. But due to the long lifespan of aluminium, there is not enough of the metal reaching end-of-life to switch completely to recycled materials.

Major contributors are the automotive and construction industries, where more than 90% of used aluminium is recycled.

KEY POINTS OF DIFFERENCE

Another key point is that there are important differences in the aluminium used for recycling, at least with regard to carbon footprint. These differences are between pre-consumer scrap and post-consumer scrap. Let’s look at both.

• Pre-consumer scrap. Pre-consumer scrap is process scrap that arises during the processing of aluminium products.

This can include extruded profiles, rolled foil or end products, such as lighting columns. During processing, typically 20% to 30% of the aluminium ends up as process scrap, as metal that has never been used.

• Post-consumer scrap. Post-consumer scrap is defined as aluminium scrap that comes from products that have fulfilled the purpose for which they were produced. This scrap might range from aluminium cans (with a lifetime of about 60 days) to lighting columns, with a lifetime of more than 50 years. This metal has been used. It has had a life.

Accordingly, the key message here is that, while recycled aluminium looks the same on the outside and its properties are the same, there is a significant difference in the carbon footprint of these two sources. www.theilp.org.uk

45

46

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Lighting and sustainability FOOTPRINT OF RECYCLED ALUMINIUM

The low-carbon footprint linked to the recycling process for aluminium is one thing, a positive thing of course. But the carbon footprint of the recycled aluminium itself is another. How is this calculated?

EN 15804 provides core product category rules (PCR) for Type III environmental declarations for any construction product and construction service [2].

However, while EN 15804 distinguishes between post-consumer scrap and pre-consumer scrap, it leaves interpretation for two different calculation approaches for pre-consumer scrap. Let’s, again, look at both.

• Cut-off approach. In this approach, the footprint follows the product. It regards process scrap as waste and carries only the footprint of the recycling process.

This approach equalises hydropower-based aluminium and coal-based aluminium as soon as the metal is processed. It benefits industrial inefficiencies and could lead to ‘greenwashing’, or giving a misleadingly positive environmental perception.

• Avoided-burden approach. With this approach, the footprint follows the material. This approach assumes that the process scrap has never fulfilled its purpose as a product, and that the material thus carries the carbon footprint of the original primary aluminium from which it is produced in addition to the footprint of the recycling process [3].

On the other hand, when post-consumer scrap is recycled, it starts its second life as a recycled product, with no carbon footprint history attached to it.

As a result, post-consumer scrap has a carbon footprint of about 0.5mt CO2e per mt aluminium. This results from a combination of scrap collection, transport, sorting and remelting.

Bear in mind here, however, that the calculation method for recycled aluminium is an important distinguishing factor. It will have a significant impact on the CO2 footprint of certain recycled materials. It matters where aluminium comes from and how it is produced.

INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY

Let’s look briefly at product design. For a long time, environmental performance value was focused on production. No longer.

Today, the lifespan of a product and its required maintenance are increasingly important. Design and material selection are now factors considered in the second and third life of a product.

This is certainly the case among architects, for example, who already consider more and more the environmental effects of materials.

Bringing products at the end of their lifespan back into the cycle requires several things from the start. In addition to material selection, the initial design phase takes the end-of-life scenario into account.

Products need to be designed for disassembly, so they can be easily recycled. This is where the circular economy starts.

RESPONSIBLE ALUMINIUM

Finally, the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) works to promote responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium in the entire value chain [4].

The initiative brings together producers, users and stakeholders with a commitment to contribute to sustainable aluminium.

The ASI’s ‘Performance and Chain of Custody Standards’ have been developed and designed to enable the aluminium industry to demonstrate responsibility and provide independent and credible assurance of performance [4].

It is currently the only multi-stakeholder initiative in the base metals industry, and is something that lighting professionals should certainly be aware of in the context of aluminium, sustainability and the circular economy.

Ultimately, greener aluminium with a lower carbon footprint is seen as an important enabler for the green transition.

Many sectors, such as automotive, packaging, transport, building and construction and public space are setting ambitious decarbonisation targets and low-carbon and circular aluminium is a key lever to reduce emissions for these industries. For ourselves at Hydro, as an industrial company, we remain fully integrated in the aluminium supply chain as well as committed to a sustainable future, one that delivers on these targets.

[1] ‘A European Green Deal’, European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en [2] ‘CSN EN 15804+A2 Sustainability of construction works – Environmental product declarations – Core rules for the product category of construction products’, European Standards, https://www.en-standard.eu/csn-en-15804-a2-sustainabilityof-construction-works-environmental-product-declarations-core-rules-for-the-product-category-of-construction-products/ [3] The average carbon footprint aluminium produced in Europe is 6.7mt CO2e per mt of produced aluminium. The average carbon footprint aluminium consumed in Europe is 8.6mt CO2e per mt of produced aluminium. [4] The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, https://aluminium-stewardship.org/; ASI Performance Standard, https://aluminium-stewardship.org/asi-standards/asi-performance-standard/; ASI Chain of Custody Standard, https:// aluminium-stewardship.org/asi-standards/chain-of-custody-standard/

Nicole le Sage is sustainability and communications officer at Hydro Extrusions Benelux

HIGHLIGHTING OUR HERITAGE www.theilp.org.uk

LIGHTING SOLUTIONS FOR HERITAGE BUILDINGS

anolislighting.com

DIVINE™

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

SMART SOLUTIONS Examplary running head INTELLIGENT LED ASSET MANAGEMENT

FM Conway is delivering a range of IoT technology solutions, allowing for improved data acquisition, actionable insight and digital asset management, through enhanced dashboard reporting.

1

Air Quality Sensors

2

CMS Lighting Solutions

3

Video Analytics

4

Vehicle Charging

5

Smart Parking Sensors

6

Gully Sensors

1

2

3

4

5

6

To find out more about our services

Please call 01732 600 700 Visit: www.fmconway.co.uk Email: enquiries@fmconway.co.uk

www.theilp.org.uk

47

48

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

More and more employers are now recognising the value that neurodiverse people, with conditions such as Autism and ADHD, can bring to the workplace, and lighting design is no exception. But neurodiversity is still often misunderstood, as one neurodiverse lighting designer explains from her own experience

By Aviva Gunzburg

A

sk an experienced lighting designer how they ensure their design will provide the desired result and they will probably tell you they learned over time and now have a good ‘feel’ for what works. Ask a talented up-and-coming designer the same question and they may have much the same answer: they have a ‘feeling’ for what works.

However, find a person who tells you that they experience that ‘feel’ when reviewing the results in a light modelling

programme. They may share with you that a space ‘feels’ comfortable but may not be able to explain why, yet also be able to immediately and clearly explain the issues when the space feels uncomfortable and how to rectify it.

The lighting designer may be able to tell you the quality of a light source because of minor colour rendering losses between two shades of the same colour and have a passion for glare control. Find those things and you have probably found a neurodiverse lighting designer.

UNDERSTANDING NEURODIVERSITY

Neurodiverse (ND) simply means that someone’s brain doesn’t operate in the same way as most of the population (often also called ‘neurotypical’ or NT for short).

Neurodiversity covers a range of people who are diagnosed with conditions such as Autism, Asperger’s, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), even bipolar and borderline personality disorder to name but a few.

Neurodiverse people often face discrimination because they don’t communicate or behave like neurotypical (NT) people.

They are often misunderstood and labelled as being ‘lazy’ or ‘stupid’. Neurodiverse people are expected to behave like neurotypical people to be included in society, which can take a significant toll on their physical and mental health.

But on a more positive note, increasingly employers are recognising that people who are neurodiverse can bring

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Diversity and inclusion within lighting uncommon, and often valuable skills, talents and perspectives to the workplace, and that includes the fields of lighting and lighting design.

The challenges neurodiverse people face tend to be of greater magnitude than neurotypical people, so adjustments or accommodations may need to be made to allow them to reach their full potential.

Whether this is because of their being ND or because of societal structures and expectations is a hotly debated topic – however a professional CPD journal for lighting is not the best place for that sort of conversation.

This article, instead, is based on my personal experience as an Autistic-ADHD lighting designer who has found advantage (and overcome challenges) as a designer in the way I experience the world.

SENSORY PROCESSING

Let’s begin by looking at the world of sensory processing. This, after all, is how we all experience the world. If we are lucky enough to have all our senses, we process the world around us through visual, aural, touch, taste, smell and ‘proprioception’ (or body awareness in space).

Now, consider a person whose senses interact. You may have heard of synaesthesia, where sounds can have colour association. There are many different types of synaesthesia but, for example, you might ‘see’ letters of the alphabet as different colours. Or different sounds, perhaps a car horn as being green or red, for instance.

For neurodiverse people sensory input and processing can be very complex and very detailed. For example, my visual acuity is heightened, and I can often see colour variation and difference in brightness where others cannot.

At a practical level as a lighting designer that can mean when I am in a space where the lighting has poor colour rendering

(and for me Ra80 is poor colour rendering) I feel uncomfortable, as though I am somewhat blinded.

It increases anxiety and makes it difficult to focus. I have found it valuable and supportive that the WELL standard, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Greenstar have all picked up on an electric light source’s effect on health, as well as providing access to daylight. It validates and confirms something felt, but not possible to communicate, for me.

COGNITIVE PROCESSING

It has always baffled me the number of times people have called me ‘innovative’.

Creative I understand, but innovative definitely not! Give me a blank page and I cannot pull out inventive original ideas.

Give me a design problem, however, and I can create solutions that other people have not considered. This is considered innovative thinking but, for me, it is just another day in the office.

From information I have gathered reading Autistic and other neurodiverse voices, this trait is not unique to me. Before I continue, however, I would like to emphasise this is not intended in any way to suggest that neurotypical people are somehow not innovative in terms of their thinking. Nor, of course, am I suggesting that every neurodiverse person can be considered a creative or innovative thinker.

How does this alternative approach to considering things help in the world of lighting design?

For a client, when they understand that they have an innovative thinker on the team, there is a level of comfort that problems which arise will be resolved.

For example, on occasion, architectural renders are produced where spaces are beautifully illuminated with overhead light, but there are no luminaires shown

located in the ceiling. The architect will know how they want the end result to be but require an innovative designer to create a clean ceiling whilst providing the desired lighting effect.

When people have a different cognitive way of processing the world, it is easier to see them as being innovative, which (and I appreciate this is cynical part of me thinking aloud) makes for a fabulous marketing tool for any lighting design practice.

The more grounded part of me, however, knows that the best companies thrive with innovative thinking as part of their make-up and having diversity of cognitive approach is as valuable as diversity of culture, ethnicity, gender, age and so on within a team.

NEURODIVERSITY AND LIGHTING CONSULTANCY

Consultancy, relationships, are the iceberg that threatens to sink a talented ND lighting designer’s ship. Whether the communications are between people in the same office or with clients, there are significant challenges due to the difference in communication styles and a very large serving of goodwill, and sincere intent from all parties, is necessary to achieve success in this area. Have I been a stellar performer in this area? Not at all, but equally, I have not failed either.

My repeat clients appreciate my candour, humour and lighting design skill.

They have learned to communicate using explicit language and we make certain we both remain on the same page and following the same course to deliver the project.

There are neurodiverse traits which neurotypical people value, which are like gold within a consultancy setting. Consultancy is a service-oriented business and being caring and honest go a long way. Clients, architects, interior designers and so on all value having someone on board who

‘Hope of diagnosis’, an image created by Aviva Gunzburg (right) to to illustrate her perceptions of neurodiversity

www.theilp.org.uk

49

50

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Diversity and inclusion within lighting cares about their vision, their project, and their goals. They also respect honesty.

They may dislike your inability to sugar-coat it or be tactful in the way they need you to be, but at the end of the day it is valued.

With, new client relationships, I use techniques employed by both ND and NT people. They are built through polite, caring language and humour. I suggest however that there is lots of extra checking on my part to make certain that I have understood their communication and they mine.

One of the biggest issues I face is in maintaining relationships. Ongoing relationships mostly occur when people contact me.

This is not because I wish to be unsociable or have no desire to retain contact with people I have worked with. It is also not because I have low self-esteem or believe I am somehow incapable of holding a mutually enjoyable conversation. Mostly post-project communication fails to happen simply because I do not notice the passage of time. For example, it may be over a year before I realise that I haven’t spoken with someone recently.

To that end, I am always truly appreciative of those who do reach out to me, even when I have inadvertently found that I have not reciprocated the gesture. I do not know if this is something I can ever change, but it doesn’t prevent me from trying.

www.theilp.org.uk

Church Alley in Liverpool, part of the city’s ‘Umbrella Project’ designed to raise awareness of neurodiversity

LIGHTING SPACES FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NEURODIVERSE

Now that we have covered the major points of my experience as a ‘twice exceptional’ lighting designer (in other words someone who, without wanting to blow my own trumpet too much, has gifted intellect with an Autistic-ADHD profile), let’s turn to the question I am often asked when people learn that I am Autistic. How can we light spaces to help autistic people feel more comfortable?

This is a simple question to answer but may be quite challenging to implement.

Essentially the answer, I would argue, is: illuminate a space the way the sun would interact with it.

This isn’t about fluorescent flicker or LED fan noise, though they are problematic for many Autistic people. It is about illuminating a space using best design principles of luminance-based design, principles where you are considering illumination in the manner of daylight, moonlight and starlight.

These celestial bodies do not create a static 400 lux on the work plane. They create surface brightness; that is their main role.

Illuminance is essentially a by-product.

Whether it is a darkened forest where rays of light find their way to create brightness or a large cavern with daylight reaching every corner, our man-made spaces need to reflect the natural world, even if the ambience and atmosphere is far removed from the natural world, such as in a dentist’s room.

This recommendation is of course simply my opinion. There are no studies (at least none that I am aware of ) which confirm this.

But, given that leading figures in the lighting world have long advocated for

luminance-based design and glare control to light spaces for people, it makes sense.

Neurodiverse people tend to be more sensitive to their surroundings; poor lighting within a space will affect them adversely at a potentially greater magnitude to neurotypical people.

PROBLEM OF DYNAMIC LIGHTING

There is one differentiator, however, where the lighting may be considered fantastic to neurotypical people but problematic for neurodiverse people.

This is coloured lighting and, in particular, dynamic, colour-changing lighting. It is with increasing frequency that we are seeing large, dynamic lighting displays on the façades of buildings, within commercial foyers and retail spaces.

These super-sized immersive experiences, whilst stunning, can be completely overwhelming and unbearable for neurodiverse people. Even if the colour is static, if the space is illuminated with a single saturated colour without any supplementary full spectrum white light, neurodiverse people are more likely to have a negative response than a neurotypical person.

So, my plea as a neurodiverse lighting designer to my neurotypical colleagues: please use colour with care and limit the visual noise you add to a space.

If you have made it this far within this article, you may have picked up on the fact that I am a bit of a logophile (or lover of words). You may note that I have avoided puns this entire article, but I cannot end without hoping you found this read illuminating (sorry).

May it ignite (again sorry) your curiosity and help you rewire (again, truly sorry) any preconceived ideas regarding neurodiverse people – lighting designers or otherwise – that you may have.

Aviva Gunzburg is a senior lighting designer – associate with NDYLIGHT in Australia

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

51

Examplary running head

STREET LIGHTING WEEE With Recolight your customers get a completely FREE recycling service for lamps and lanterns.

£10.00

£ INDUSTRY LEADING LOWER FEES

COLLECTIONS TO SUIT YOU SKIPS FOR A TIDY YARD We have a range of skips for lanterns and containers for lamps to suit any size of yard, so no need for flimsy bags.

Collections can be requested whenever they are needed though our simple online booking process.

Not-for-profit; minimising costs to our Members and maximising revenue for recycling.

www.recolight.co.uk

REDUCED ADMIN FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS We do not ask for proof of purchase for new lantern installations generating waste.

WEEE PROJECT MANAGE We deal directly with contractors and installers, taking the administrative burden away from the Producer.

www.theilp.org.uk

52

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Offering CMS or lighting control as a managed service could be one way for local authorities to reconnect with their tenant businesses and smaller villages, as well as potentially providing valuable revenue in a challenging economic climate

By Dr Jon Lewis

W

ith all the discussion about smart cities and new technology, the fundamentals of what we are trying to achieve with streetlighting can sometimes

be lost.

Central management systems (CMS) now control roughly 50% of the UK’s streetlights. The citizens in these areas can feel assured their taxes are being wellspent on green technologies that reduce energy consumption and cut council energy bills.

A CMS reduces the impact of streetlights on the environment and makes councils less susceptible to the energy pricing shocks that we have seen over the last few months.

With CMS, outdoor lighting is fully customisable. Lighting policies precisely reflect the needs of a particular area and can be easily modified as needs change – brighter lighting in high crime areas, dimming where residents want to have dark skies.

I n c r e a s i n g l y, f o r w a r d - l o o k i n g

authorities are adopting adaptive lighting schemes that adapt automatically to the environment. Light levels can react to sensors measuring the amount of traffic on the road or change based on inputs from road sensors picking up adverse weather conditions. So, job done?

Not exactly. Let’s consider the remaining UK outdoor lighting stock that isn’t under CMS control and consider some of the barriers to adopting adaptive control.

1. Lack of staff and skills. Austerity has left local authorities increasingly stretched. with many staff undertaking multiple roles. Adopting a CMS may seem daunting to already overloaded managers.

2. Smaller deployments. Although county councils and metropolitan boroughs control the vast majority of the UK’s streetlights, many villages or local communities have preferred to retain control of their lighting stock often for

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Examplary running head Connected

Living

Connected

Highways

Connected

Transport

Urban Control

Connecting Spaces Urban Control makes infrastructure assets intelligent. That means streetlights that sense their environment and adapt to citizens’ needs, rail stations that guide people safely to their destination, and sensors that monitor the safety and condition of highway assets.

We do all this with a portfolio of IoT solutions built on proven future-proofed technologies. Our major deployments include Westminster, City of London, Glasgow and Surrey. We’re part of DW Windsor Group, a leading British lighting manufacturer and innovator.

Get in touch today at urban-control.com www.theilp.org.uk

53

54

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Connected technologies overheads of managing it. As such it is provided as a ‘managed service’ or ‘lighting control as a service’.

How much direct management and daily fine-tuning of the CMS the customer takes on is flexible within a tiered managed service offer.

BENEFITS OF MANAGED CMS

Managed CMS or lighting control as a service has many benefits, in fact I’d argue three key advantages.

historical political reasons. Yet these smaller councils rarely have the expertise to run a smart lighting procurement exercise and may feel worried about how they will manage a system.

3. Local business tenants. In some locations up to 40% of outdoor lighting is operated by private companies or entities. Next time you fly into an airport at night, take a look at the amount of light from shopping centres, business parks, logistics centres, universities and sports venues.

The building management system (BMS) industry that services these sites provides sophisticated facilities management tools but often these are not integrated with the outdoor lights on these estates, especially on older sites.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Given the environmental benefits of smart outdoor lighting, how can we in the industry therefore help get to 100% smart coverage?

What can be done to make adoption of a CMS even easier in recognition of beleaguered highways departments unable to add to their workload?

There are new delivery models that will help, ones where the CMS provider takes the burden of managing the CMS off the shoulders of the customer.

Rather than requiring customers to manage the CMS, an optional service might be for the CMS provider to manage the control system whilst ensuing all policy and oversight remains with the customer.

In essence, customers get all the benefits of the system without any of the www.theilp.org.uk

1. Lower cost. The developers behind any software system should be able to manage the software more efficiently than most users and with the associated economies of scale do so at a lower cost.

So, whilst an authority may in the past have had a dedicated lighting controls expert, this can now be outsourced freeing up local authority staff to focus on public facing issues and policy.

2. Best practice. By bringing multiple users under the same operations mechanism, it is possible to share best practice. Many customers take quite innovative approaches which can be made available to others.

3. Aligning interests. By making the developers of the system the primary daily users, the pressure increases to make those feature changes that really improve the service as quickly as possible.

GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT

Even though these benefits lead to lower cost and more efficient lighting management, a balanced approach is still needed, including the need for a number of key checks and balances with, again, three in particular.

1. A retention of local authority control.

The lighting manager in the local authority must retain control over policy and own the overall lighting configuration. Mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that policy is well defined and acted upon through clear key performance indicators.

2. Transparency around results and reporting. The lighting manager must be able to see the results of the service, including how much energy is being saved, how many faults are being reported and how accurately inventories are being managed.

3. Transparency around costs. The approach must be cost efficient and transparent. It is important this new approach is entered into as a partnership with clear metrics shared between all parties.

SOLUTION FOR SMALLER PLAYERS

All the above illustrates how the managed-service approach can help larger authorities operate their lighting smarter, as well as smart, connected lighting.

However, this still leaves the needs of smaller communities and even private sector outdoor lighting deployments; these needs still need to be addressed.

This where lighting control as a service, specifically, can provide a solution, albeit with a caveat. Lighting control as a service requires CMS vendors to engage with these users and put in place channels to support them.

An interesting alternative, therefore, is for those authorities that do retain complete control over their CMS to, themselves, offer a managed service to their tenant businesses and smaller villages.

There is already a trusted relationship between each authority and its tenants so this may be a faster route to adoption. In this case the managed service is a new revenue stream for local authorities.

Rather than having to manage a system themselves, these smaller communities get to piggy-back on their local authority’s fully featured CMS, which is then managed for them.

As well as moving us all to a more sustainable future, this new managed service/lighting control as a service approach to CMS could open up a valuable new revenue stream for larger local authorities at the same time as reinforcing the partnership between the authority and its local businesses.

I’d argue this approach could help to remove the ‘smart divide’ that currently can exist within public lighting as well as keep the UK at the forefront of smart lighting around the world.

Dr Jon Lewis is vice president, products, at Telensa

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Are you involved in CMS? How do you think it will evolve?

We’d love to hear your views. Either email editor Nic Paton at nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk or go direct to the ILP through your LDC or by emailing info@theilp.org.uk

The smart choice for street lighting PLANet® CMS is the world leader in smart street lighting with over two million control nodes deployed Contact: David Orchard UK Sales dorchard@telensa.com 07500 608 205 telensa.com/contact

ADVANCED MAPPING INTERFACE provides unique ability to view large deployments on one screen.

Includes geo-fencing, colourcoding, filtering & tagging functions. Google Maps enterprise mapping system with satellite & streetview SOPHISTICATED DIMMING & SWITCHING programs for any combination of lights or groups of lights: • Timed – at x-minute intervals • Sensor – algorithm-moderated sensor dimming e.g. from traffic sensors • System – algorithm-moderated dimming using data from other systems

FLEXIBLE HOSTING OPTIONS Customer, Telensa or third party INTEGRATION with leading Asset Management Systems (AMS) for automation of fault reporting and work orders ENERGY MANAGEMENT Revenue- grade energy consumption analysis and energy billing system integration SOPHISTICATED FAULT DIAGNOSIS using advanced modelling techniques.

Saves money by improving first-time-fix rates MULTI-DISTRICT OPERATION A single area system can be shared and operated by different district municipalities WEB INTERFACE for remote access with multiple devices

56

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

Continuing our profiles of inspirational women working within lighting, lighting engineer Elizabeth Thomas, the first female and Asian President of the ILP back in 2015, outlines how lighting continues to inspire, enthuse and amaze her

By Elizabeth Thomas

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

I am the public lighting PFI manager for Walsall Council. I am a BSc engineering graduate and my first job was as a planning and scheduling officer at Foster Wheeler Energy Corp in Kuwait on one of their refinery expansion projects.

Later, I joined a local electrical trading company in sales. It is here that I gained interest in lighting as the company promoted lighting manufacturers from around the world.

I started to develop an interest in lighting as I learned about the products and their use in different in projects. From switch-start, quick-start and vivatronic start through to explosion-proof, flameproof, then from decorative lighting to exterior floodlights, I quickly caught up with the standards, ratings and acronyms.

I came to the UK in 1992, got my first break in 1996 at Siemens Lighting, from where I moved to WRTL Lighting as lighting designer.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

Walsall’s public lighting PFI (public/private finance initiative) project was signed in 2002. It is a 26-year contract that ends in 2028. I was appointed as the public lighting PFI manager in October 2002. I’m in charge of the £18.5m lighting project

with an annual budget of £5.8m.

As the PFI project was the first of its kind, I defined and created processes and procedures. I was audited regularly for discrepancies and best practice. My project has been nominated twice for awards.

Life is very hectic and there aren’t enough hours in the day! I take each day as a challenge and have just persevered. It is all about conquering, achieving and contributing in my own way.

I have managed the project for almost 20 years and I am proud of its success. The journey was not smooth sailing but, hey, I have made it here so far! Will I see this to its end!? Let’s wait and see.

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION TO GET INTO LIGHTING?

It was, perhaps, chance combined with my enthusiasm to learn and determination to be recognised in a career that prompted me to continue with lighting, especially after I got my first taste of lighting design.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THAT YOU HAVE OVERCOME IN YOUR CAREER?

My biggest challenge was and is simply to remain confident and positive. For example, I graduated from the University of Kerala, India. This, however, is not a

recognised qualification in the UK. So I got involved in professional lighting groups, including the ILP and Engineering Council working towards upgrading my membership and obtaining my CEng (chartered engineer) status through the individual assessment route. I was determined to get the recognition I deserved.

Equally, when I moved to WRTL Lighting, I worked hard to gain the exterior lighting diploma (ELD) as well as a City and Guilds certificate for AutoCad. Getting the relevant qualifications and being competent was important to me.

While in my current job I did a diploma in management and leadership which led to obtaining membership to the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI). My motto has always been ‘nothing is impossible; where there is a will there is a way’.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER IS STILL A BARRIER, IF ANYTHING, FOR WOMEN IN LIGHTING/ENGINEERING?

In this present era, I feel that, actually, the barriers, if any, can be overcome for women in lighting or engineering through positive thinking and commitment – as long as you have spirit and love for what you do. It is not just a job; it is about bringing out your creativity through inspiration and being bold. It is also about striving to being recognised and appreciated.

FEBRUARY 2022 LIGHTING JOURNAL

57

Women in lighting Light is magical; it is an art that is functional and also decorative. It is also about constantly being inquisitive. Recently, for instance, when I was out on the motorway, I found myself amazed at all the different kinds of car rear lights!

HOW HAS THE ILP HELPED YOU IN YOUR LIGHTING ‘JOURNEY’?

I would not have achieved what I have if it weren’t for the encouragement and support of the ILP Executive Board, the staff in Rugby and all the officers, including the members. I was chair of the Midlands region back from 2010, became Vice President – Highways and Infrastructure and then Senior Vice President in 2014.

I was immensely proud in 2015 to be elected the first female and first Asian President of the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP). It was a milestone in the history of the Institution. Being recognised for my work and being made a Fellow (FILP) was also an amazing honour. I am also the first female FILP.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MESSAGE TO OTHER WOMEN IN, OR WANTING TO GET INTO, LIGHTING?

What are you waiting for? Give it a go! You will either love it or hate it! Inspiration comes from within; you are unique. As technology progresses, our industry will need to continue to change and evolve – you could be instrumental to that change.

Where there’s a will, everything’s possible.

Elizabeth Thomas CEng MCMI FILP is the public lighting PFI manager for Walsall Council

WANT TO BE INCLUDED?

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS A production mix-up in last month’s edition of Lighting Journal in Mark Hopkins’ article on solar lighting (on page eight) meant that what was intended to be an illustration of three sun path diagrams, showing the angle of the sun at the summer and winter equinox at Land’s End, York and Glasgow, ended up repeating the Land’s End diagram three times. Below is what the illustration should have looked like. Our apologies for any confusion.

Don’t forget, if you are a woman working within lighting and would like to have your story told, please do get in touch, either via Jess Gallacher on jess@theilp.org.uk or to Nic Paton on nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk. We’ll send you a Q&A form to fill in and return, with a photograph. Simple!

Top: Elizabeth’s old university, the University of Kerala and (above) Walsall, where she now manages the lighting PFI

THE HOME OF ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING EXCELLENCE

anolislighting.com www.theilp.org.uk

LIGHTING CONSULTANTS

This directory gives details of suitably qualified, individual members of the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP) who offer consultancy services

HERBIE BARNIEH

JASON MCNULTY

PROJECT CENTRE

4WAY CONSULTING LTD

BEng IEng MILP

1 AMERICA SQUARE, LONDON, EC3N 2LS T: 0330 135 8950, 077954 75570 HERBIE.BARNIEH@PROJECTCENTRE.CO.UK

WWW.MARSTONHOLDINGS.CO.UK/PROJECTCENTRE Efficient, innovative, and bespoke lighting design services from an award winning consultancy.

Experienced in delivering exterior lighting projects from feasibility studies to post construction.

Whether it’s highway, street, or public realm lighting, let us assist you to realise your project goals.

ANDREW LONGMAN

BEng (Hons), CEng, MILP, MIET, MHEA -Managing Director

BEng (Hons) MIET

DESIGNS FOR LIGHTING LTD

LEAMINGTON SPA, CV31 3RG T: 01926 832799 E: JASON.MCNULTY@4WAYCONSULTING.COM

WINCHESTER SO23 7TA T: +44 (0)1962 855080 M: +44 (0)7779 327413 E: ANDREW@DFL-UK.COM

WWW.4WAYCONSULTING.COM

WWW.DFL-UK.COM

Providing exterior lighting and ITS consultancy and design services and specialising in the urban and inter-urban environment.

Our services span the complete project life cycle for both the public and private sector.

Professional lighting design consultancy offering technical advice, design and management services for exterior/interior applications for highway, architectural, area, tunnel and commercial lighting.

Advisors on lighting and energy saving strategies, asset management, visual impact assessments and planning.

STEVEN BIGGS

STEPHEN HALLIDAY

ANTHONY SMITH

MILESTONE INFRASTRUCTURE

WSP

STAINTON LIGHTING DESIGN SERVICES LTD

IEng MILP

PETERBOROUGH PE1 5XG T: 07834 506705 STEVEN.BIGGS@MILESTONEINFRA.CO.UK

MILESTONEINFRA.CO.UK

Award winning lighting design specialists, delivering innovative design, installation and maintenance solutions in highways, public realm, commercial and architectural environments.

Our HERS registered team provide design strategies, impact assessment, technical & certifier support.

BONNIE BROOKS

BA(Hons) BEng (Hons) MSc CEng MSLL MCIBSE MILP

ILLUME DESIGN LTD

IEng FILP

EngTech AMILP

MANCHESTER M50 3SP T: 0161 886 2532 E: STEPHEN.HALLIDAY@WSPGROUP.COM

STOCKTON ON TEES TS23 1PX T: 01642 565533, E: ENQUIRIES@STAINTONLDS.CO.UK

WWW.WSPGROUP.COM

Public and private sector professional services providing design, technical support, contract and policy development for all applications of exterior lighting and power from architectural to sports, area and highways applications.

PFI technical advisor and certifier support, HERS registered personnel.

WWW.STAINTONLDS.CO.UK

Specialist in: motorway, highway schemes, illumination of buildings, major structures, public artworks, amenity area lighting, public spaces, car parks, sports lighting, asset management, reports, plans, assistance, maintenance management, electrical design and communication network design. Registered personnel.

STEPHEN HIGHAM

NICK SMITH

SHD LIGHTING CONSULTANCY LTD

NICK SMITH ASSOCIATES LIMITED

IEng FILP MIES

IEng MILP

CHESTERFIELD, S40 3JR T: 01246 229444 E: MAIL@NICKSMITHASSOCIATES.COM

EXETER EX4 1NF T: 07840 054601, E: INFO@ILLUME-DESIGN.CO.UK

BOLTON BL2 6SE M: 07834 490 192 E: STEVE@SHDLIGHTING.CO.UK

WWW.ILLUME-DESIGN.CO.UK

WWW.SHDLIGHTING.CO.UK

WWW.NICKSMITHASSOCIATES.CO.UK

SIMON BUSHELL

ALLAN HOWARD

ALAN TULLA

ENERVEO

WSP

ALAN TULLA LIGHTING

Professional independent lighting design consultancy providing designs for all exterior applications, including street lighting. Specialists in assisting at the planning application stage with designs, strategies, lighting impact assessments, and expert witness, with a focus on mitigating ecological and environmental impacts.

MBA DMS IEng MILP PORTSMOUTH PO6 1UJ M: +44 (0)7584 313990 T: +44 (0)121 387 9892 E: SIMON.BUSHELL@ENERVEO.COM

WWW.ENERVEO.COM

Outdoor lighting consultancy specialising in adoptable highway and private lighting designs.

Our services include Section 38, Section 278, Car Park lighting designs, Commercial floodlighting schemes and environmental impact lighting assessment reporting. Qualified design team with 24 years’ experience in exterior lighting.

BEng(Hons) CEng FILP FSLL

Specialist exterior lighting consultant.

Private and adopted lighting and electrical design for highways, car parks, area and sports lighting.

Lighting Impact assessments, expert witness and CPD accredited Lighting design AutoCAD and Lighting Reality training courses.

IEng FILP FSLL

LONDON WC2A 1AF T: 07827 306483 E: ALLAN.HOWARD@WSPGROUP.COM

WINCHESTER, SO22 4DS T: 01962 855720 M:0771 364 8786 E: ALAN@ALANTULLALIGHTING.COM

WWW.WSPGROUP.COM

Professional artificial and daylight lighting services covering design, technical support, contract and policy development including expert advice and analysis to develop and implement energy and carbon reduction strategies. Expert witness regarding obtrusive lighting, light nuisance and environmental impact investigations. registered personnel.

WWW.ALANTULLALIGHTING.COM

LORRAINE CALCOTT

ALAN JAQUES

MICHAEL WALKER

IT DOES LIGHTING LTD

ATKINS

MCCANN LTD

Professional consultancy from the UK’s and Irelands largest external lighting contractor.

From highways and tunnels, to architectural and public spaces our electrical and lighting designers also provide impact assessments, lighting and carbon reduction strategies along with whole installation packages.

IEng MILP IALD MSLL ILA BSS THE CUBE, 13 STONE HILL, TWO MILE ASH, MILTON KEYNES, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, MK8 8DN T: 01908 560110 E: INFORMATION@ITDOES.CO.UK

IEng FILP

Site surveys of sports pitches, road lighting and offices.

Architectural lighting for both interior and exterior.

Visual Impact Assessments for planning applications.

Specialises in problem solving and out-of-the-ordinary projects.

IEng MILP CMS

NOTTINGHAM, NG9 2HF T: +44 (0)115 9574900 M: 07834 507070 E: ALAN.JAQUES@ATKINSGLOBAL.COM

NOTTINGHAM NG9 6DQ M: 07939 896887 E: M.WALKER@JMCCANN.CO.UK

WWW.ITDOES.CO.UK

WWW.ATKINSGLOBAL.COM

WWW.MCCANN-LTD.CO.UK

MARK CHANDLER

PATRICK REDMOND

PETER WILLIAMS

Award winning lighting design practice specialising in interior, exterior, flood and architectural lighting.

Emphasis on section 278/38, public realm, ecology receptor mitigation and supporting Councils with planning approvals, CDM2015 and SBD accredited.

Specialists in circadian spectrally specific lighting design.

EngTech AMILP

MMA LIGHTING CONSULTANCY LTD

READING RG10 9QN T: 0118 3215636 E: MARK@MMA-CONSULTANCY.CO.UK

WWW.MMA-CONSULTANCY.CO.UK

Exterior lighting consultant’s who specialise in all aspects of street lighting design, section 38’s, section 278’s, project management and maintenance assistance.

We also undertake lighting appraisals and environmental lighting studies

Professional consultancy providing technical advice, design and management services for exterior and interior applications including highway, architectural, area, tunnel and commercial lighting.

Advisors on energy saving strategies, asset management, visual impact assessments and planning.

HDip Bus, EngTech AMILP, AMSLL, Tech IEI

Design for all types of exterior lighting including street lighting, car parks, floodlighting, decorative lighting, and private lighting. Independent advice regarding light trespass, carbon reduction and invest to save strategies.

Asset management, data capture, inspection and testing services available.

EngTech AMILP

WILLIAMS LIGHTING CONSULTANTS LTD.

REDMOND ANALYTICAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES LTD. M: + 353 (0)86 2356356 E: PATRICK@REDMONDAMS.IE

BEDFORD, MK41 6AG T: 0 16 0 8 6 4 2 5 3 0 E: PETER.WILLIAMS@WLCLIGHTING.CO.UK

WWW.REDMONDAMS.IE

WWW.WLCLIGHTING.CO.UK

Independent expert lighting design services for all exterior and interior lighting applications. We provide sustainable lighting solutions and associated electrical designs. Our services include PSDP for lighting projects, network contractor auditing, and GPS site surveys for existing installations.

Specialists in the preparation of quality and effective street lighting design solutions for Section 38, Section 278 and other highway projects. We also prepare lighting designs for other exterior applications. Our focus is on delivering solutions that provide best value.

Neither Lighting Journal nor the ILP is responsible for any services supplied or agreements entered into as a result of this listing

OUR NEW LINE UP

EMINERE™

anolislighting.com

PROUDLY MADE IN THE UK

SINCE 1923

E950 Next Generation LED Luminaire

- Low Power (LP) and High Power (HP) Options - SR Driver Ready - Post Top or Side Entry - 2200K | 2700K | 3000K | 4000K - Dark Sky Friendly - No upward Light - Contractor Friendly

+44 1920 860600 | www.cuphosco.co.uk | enquiries@cuphosco.co.uk