LED lighting advances across a broad application space in Europe

The European region, both on the continent and in the UK, has been among the most aggressive global regions in adopting LED lighting. As this article will demonstrate, recent projects include standard outdoor lighting; elegant indoor architectural projects; compelling entertainment, artistic, and façade lighting; and the highest quality lighting for demanding settings such as retail and museums. 

 

Italy Brenner Highway tunnels

Europe features many more highway tunnels than do other regions of the globe, and safely lighting such tunnels is imperative with drivers moving through open space with sun exposure and tunnels repeatedly on many routes. The Castelrotto and Sant'Osvaldo tunnels, located near the town of Castelrotto, Italy had been lit conventionally back in 1964, but that lighting did not produce the light levels recommended by current regulatory agencies. The Autostrada del Brennero S.p.A. highway management company located in Trento had been working on a plan for relighting the tunnels dating back to 2007, and had originally planned to install a hybrid LED and high-pressure sodium (HPS) system to balance cost and maintenance. But the continuous improvement of LED-based lighting and cost reductions allowed the project to proceed using all LED lighting. reducing annual energy use from 746,000 kWh to 435,000 kWh. Perhaps more important, the lighting is much improved for drivers. HPS lamps have notoriously poor color rendering and the transition by drivers from full sun to the tunnel lighting is much smoother due to the relatively higher CRI of the LED luminaires. Moreover, the new lighting can be operated at 75% of full power and still meet the regulatory requirements. The system is expected to operate for 140,000 hours.
 

Latvia National Museum of Fine Arts

Europe is renowned for its many museums and increasingly such institutions are turning to LEDs to light their treasured works of art. Initially, the motivation of curators considering a move to SSL was energy efficiency and low maintenance requirements. But increasingly with improvements in LED technology, a move to SSL can improve the visitor experience. The National Museum of Fine Arts in Riga, Latvia on the Baltic Sea has recently completed a retrofit providing visitors what it calls a "multi-sensory experience. The project included lighting the baroque-style façade crafted by German architect Wilhelm Neumann along with the indoor space where the art is housed. The majority of the project focused on the art is based on the Sunrise and Vektor projector-style luminaires from Linea. And most of the 1300 luminaires are equipped with DALI (digital addressable lighting interface) network connectivity for remote control. The luminaires are generally installed on ceiling tracks, yet precise beam control ensures that the light is focused on the target artwork.
 

Algiers Centre International Conferences

While Algiers lies on the south side of the Mediterranean Sea as opposed to the European continent, the city has a distinctly European feel to it and indeed was under French rule for many years. The city recently constructed the largest convention center in North Africa - the Centre International Conferences (CIC) - and the congress center presented a variety of lighting challenges. The design was intended to echo local architecture while also featuring what the city called a hypermodern design. The facility has 8045 m² of glass and 12,160 m² of marble. The Theveste Auditorium perhaps best symbolizes the challenge with space for 6000 people in 6300 m² of space. B Light supplied its Inserto Mini Slim CL linear luminaires for the ceiling that creates what the company called light blades. Moreover, color-capable versions of the luminaires provide dynamic highlighting of circular engravings on the ceiling. The designers selected 3000K-CCT LED sources for the project with a very high CRI of 93. A DMX control system underlies the design. Other areas of the CIC have vastly different lighting needs. For example, in the smaller Djmelia conference room that holds 700, Atlas luminaires were inlaid into wooden panels blending into the architecture. Connecting spaces and corridors were lit with Inserto Medium 105 Edge luminaires installed in places such as columns.
 

Fermo Valtenna box factory

Commercial spaces were among the first application sectors to adopt LED-based lighting, led initially by the high electrical cost of lighting. Energy efficiency remains a key driver of SSL adoption in the sector, although the latest designs also reveal the flexibility of LEDs in terms of luminaire form factor and the quality of LED sources. More recently, The company has made sustainability the focus of its planning and manufacturing systems, and sought to carry that theme through the building including the use of natural materials such as wood and glass. Developed custom fixtures for the project that included fluorescent sources for direct light and LED-based indirect lighting that was mounted on the walls and diffused into the high ceilings, also highlighting the dramatic exposed wooden surfaces. The building includes automatic dimming based on available natural light with the system programmed to maintain the 500-lx level required by local regulations.

 

High School in Dusseldorf

Educational institutions are another application sector where the energy savings inherent in LED lighting led to some early adoption, but clearly the quality of light for the students is a pressing concern. A project at High School in Dusseldorf, Germany highlights some of the advantages afforded by a retrofit to SSL. The school has long used T8 fluorescent lighting as have many educational institutions. But such lighting is far from ideal with potential problems including flicker and the German school worried about harmful mercury in lamps that have to be disposed of on a regular basis. The classroom ceilings proved to be a challenge due to exposed beams that ran perpendicular to the way that linear lighting would ideally be installed. Taking advantage of the form factor flexibility inherent in LEDs, manufactured luminaires in custom lengths to precisely fit the length of the open ceiling between the beams. The result is virtually continuous runs of linear lighting that is perpendicular to the classroom desk rows. The design optimizes uniformity on both horizontal and vertical surfaces. That means students can see well on the work surface at a desk and when viewing wall-mounted white boards and video screens. The 4000K-CCT lighting outputs 2200 lm/ft.

Modern residential apartment in Milan

Residential LED lighting applications have largely centered on the traditional lamp form factor, although increasingly lighting manufacturers are truly leveraging small LED sources for all new designs. That project showcases the breadth of LED technology available. Milan is arguably the style capital of Europe, and the design of the apartment certainly screams style. The stark and sleek kitchen is lit with recessed Mini Secret downlights with a white frosted glass diffuser. In the bedroom, lights above nightstands resemble long funnels, and in fact are called Funnel, and are suspended from the ceiling by a relatively long cable. The Funnel products can be dimmed for scene setting. In the bathroom, the company installed its Invisiled LED luminaire recessed in the walls and virtually hidden as a part of the architecture.