The growing sophistication of emergency lighting systems implies that in addition to being a significant a half of a building’s life safety infrastructure they will also lower your expenses and reduce CO2 emissions because of the benefits intelligent LED-based options with advanced battery technology have over conventional methods.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of being in an unfamiliar building when a fire alarm is activated or a primary lighting failure has occurred will understand the true worth of an emergency lighting system. Although we often take these acquainted green and white indicators for granted, emergency lighting’s role, as part of an total life security system, should never be underestimated. Recent years have witnessed important developments within the technology deployed in these methods, with the result that they now offer a degree of intelligence that combines energy effectivity with reliability and ease-of-use.
Bad Behaviour
The method during which we use energy is continually in the highlight and if further proof was required of the need for all of us to address our behaviour it got here in a 2013 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It said that scientists are 95 p.c sure that we’re the ‘dominant cause’ of worldwide warming since the 1950s.
This won’t come as much of a surprise. However, via greater awareness of the consequences of CO2, combined with the monetary implications of rising utility bills, organisations are more willing and in a position than ever to use vitality properly. Growing legislation and regulation means that businesses everywhere in the world are implementing energy reduction measures. The focus is usually on adopting renewable energy applied sciences corresponding to solar photovoltaics (PV), wind generators and floor and air supply warmth pumps as methods to generate power, while others are utilizing building management techniques (BMS) to realize a holistic view of their energy use and determine methods to lower their consumption.
However, the pressure is on to do even more, which is why building homeowners and managers are having to drill down and have a glance at particular person components of their building services infrastructures to see whether or not there any extra savings may be made.
Light Years Ahead
Modern emergency lighting systems offer the chance for important vitality and value savings. This is because of two key elements – using light emitting diode (LED) based mostly lighting and superior battery know-how.
Traditional emergency lighting techniques utilise crude nickel cadmium, nickel metallic hydride or lead acid batteries. They drive the centrally operated system by frequently charging, discharging a little after which recharging – a process that makes use of unnecessary amounts of vitality and rapidly decreases the lifecycle of the battery. It implies that battery life is restricted to between one and four years, dependent upon the appliance.
State-of-the-art intelligent know-how, however, utilises only the quantity of energy wanted to totally cost the emergency lighting batteries, and then shuts the battery down till an emergency situation occurs. This avoids degradation, prolongs life and reduces vitality consumption. Some methods are additionally obtainable with luminaires that are geared up with integral batteries permitting continued operation for a minimal of three hours, even in instances the place the control panel or energy cables are damaged. Maintained luminaires could be powered immediately from the line in order to not affect any battery capability subsequently leaving the batteries in an “always ready” state.
So what type of vitality savings could be made as a result? It is estimated that clever battery methods use between five and ten p.c power of that a traditional battery system would use. Consider larger installations of up to 5,000 luminaires – which are not uncommon in hospitals, for example – and the savings quickly turn out to be obvious.
Bright Spark
It is estimated that lighting accounts for greater than 19 percent of the world’s total electricity consumption. According to Green LED Solutions, if only half of worldwide lighting was converted to LED by 2025, power use could be minimize by 120GW, saving £66 billion a yr and reducing CO2 emissions from energy vegetation by 350Mt over the identical period.
LED lighting has seen fast adoption and the global market was price $25.4 billion in 2013, in accordance with a Digitimes Research Special Report. LED know-how is both value efficient and environmentally pleasant, making it a greener alternative to other systems which might be presently obtainable and permitting working costs to be saved to a minimal with out compromising effectivity.
LED know-how is now being utilized in emergency lighting techniques and these new luminaires provide some impressive savings. For occasion, they devour lower than 0.5W, while an analogous 8W fluorescent light exit luminaire will use roughly 12W. These techniques additionally include extra energy saving options, together with signage that is related through low voltage 40V cabling, which is powered and configured on the identical loop through a single panel, giving excessive ranges of management by way of an automated system.
Testing Times
All emergency lighting systems must be tested on a month-to-month foundation in compliance with BS EN 50172. The check itself usually entails flicking a guide change, which interrupts the facility provide to the luminaire, so that it illuminates. A full record sheet needs to be maintained for every emergency luminaire and entered into a logbook, which must be out there for inspection by the authorities at any time. Failure to supply full take a look at information can lead to legal motion and closure of the constructing, and if the emergency lighting is flawed, the insurance coverage policy for the building may be invalid.
On the surface this all seems reasonable and fulfils the necessities of the Standard, however, the testing course of itself is flawed and doesn’t necessarily result in a safe and fully functional system. เกจวัดแรงดันเครื่องกรองน้ำ does is verify that the system works for a few seconds when the manual change is operated – what happens if the system fails five minutes after the test? It is not going to be retested for another month, so could go away a building’s occupants vulnerable in the meantime.
Also, it does not test only for how lengthy the luminaires will stay on and whether or not the battery has sufficient energy to take care of operation for the interval specified in the related requirements. The time required to evacuate the premises is dependent upon its measurement and complexity. The period itself depends not only on evacuation time but in addition on whether or not the premises are evacuated instantly the power and regular lighting fails and/or are reoccupied immediately the supply is restored.
BS EN 50172 states the minimal period of an emergency lighting system as one hour. However, a minimal period of three hours should be used for emergency lighting if the premises aren’t evacuated instantly, as in the case of sleeping lodging, for example, or if the premises might be reoccupied instantly the availability is restored with out ready for the batteries to be recharged. It should also be noted that to comply with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) a hundred and one Life Safety Code, emergency lights are required to stay lit for ninety minutes.
Modern emergency lighting control panels repeatedly monitor and check performance in actual time. They can be pre-programmed to carry out specific month-to-month, six month-to-month and annual exams and it’s also possible to set operational parameters as much as alert when batteries are at eighty five percent capability, offering a excessive stage of reassurance that the system will work correctly under all circumstances.
FACTS OF THE MATTER
Lighting consumes 19 p.c of all electricity on the planet.
The first LED gadget was crafted in 1907 by Captain H J Round, a British radio expertise pioneer and a personal assistant to Guglielmo Marconi.
Nick Holonyak Jr is taken into account ‘the father of the modern LED’. In 1962, while working at General Electric, he developed the first practically practical seen spectrum LED gadget for commercial use.
In 2009, a typical 13W LED lamp emitted 450-650 lumens, which is equivalent to a standard 40W incandescent bulb. LEDs have become extra efficient, so that now a 6W LED can simply achieve the identical outcomes.
LEDs produce a protracted service lifetime of between 50,000 hours and a hundred,000 hours. This compares with 2,000-5,000 hours for a halogen bulb and eight,000 hours to 15,000 hours for a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL).
Unlike CFLs LEDs don’t comprise mercury and may be more safely disposed of.
LEDs emit no ultraviolet radiation (UV) or infrared (IR), which makes them good to light up costly objects similar to pictures, collections, paintings etc.
LEDs produce more gentle than heat, which makes them the most secure form of lighting and reduces the danger of fires.
Right Place, Right Time
Evacuation is usually hindered by an absence of detailed information of the internal connectivity of the constructing house, together with complicated and poorly thought out directions. Studies have additionally shown that in these situations occupants usually make use of familiar routes – typically utilizing the exit through which they entered the building. Even more worryingly, analysis from the University of Greenwich, as a half of its study known as Human Behaviour in Fire Network (HUBFIN), discovered that only 38 p.c of individuals see passive signage in an emergency. This is a daunting statistic and solely serves to highlight the importance of siting an emergency lighting system in a way that may information people to a protected location in the occasion of a mains lighting failure.
BS EN 50172 presents guidance on the positioning of luminaires, supplies a minimal standard that should be applied and offers steerage on specific hazards and factors of emphasis that have to be accounted for. Points of emphasis are mandatory locations the place lighting must spotlight particular hazards, safety tools and signs. These embody areas near stairs, close to modifications of degree, at each change of course, near firefighting gear and handbook name points, exterior and near to every last exit, first help factors, at exit doorways, and near safety indicators.
Signs are either internally of externally illuminated and the maximum viewing distances for internally illuminated indicators is 200 times the panel height, and 100 times the panel height for externally illuminated indicators. Luminaires must supply 1Lux of output in escape routes and zero.5Lux in open areas. Emergency lighting should also be positioned in such a way to guarantee that persons are free from incapacity glare, which may forestall obstructions or indicators from being correctly seen.
It is price remembering that Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting (ICEL) accredited products are independently tested and meet the present product and software standards. Therefore, choosing merchandise with ICEL approval will present reassurance of compliance.
Look to the Future
The problems with passive signage are clear from the University of Greenwich’s HUBFIN analysis, which is why the mixing of fireplace detection and emergency lighting techniques is the next step in adding intelligence and greater effectiveness to a life safety infrastructure.
A traditional emergency lighting system doesn’t enable signs to be ‘shut off’, which might permit individuals to unwittingly journey into the path of hazard. In locations corresponding to hospitals and care homes, where people usually have restricted mobility, time is of the essence and should not be wasted by having to decipher the most appropriate escape route.
By integrating a fire detection system with emergency lighting, and by figuring out the place a fireplace is taking place, the proper route could be configured and communicated. For instance, by responding to data sent from the fire detectors it’s attainable to put a purple ‘X’ on particular emergency luminaires, which alerts to folks not to exit by way of that particular route. This may additionally be synchronised with the existing PA/VA system, adding another degree of safety.
Not only does integration make good sense from a security perspective, it has a selection of cost saving and environmental benefits. It is estimated that it might cut back the entire system’s wiring content material by seventy five %, as there would be only one loop with each functions.
Feature Packed
A accurately specified, installed and maintained emergency lighting system is crucial to find a way to give occupants a method of evacuating a constructing safely in the event of a mains lighting failure, or if required, a fireplace. The laws, standards and steerage on this topic are comprehensive and the advanced LED lighting and battery technology that is now available combines reliability, performance and value with another approach to save power.
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