May 2021: Telensa announced that its smart lighting control system for external lighting has been selected by the University of Leicester as part of the university’s initiative to reduce energy consumption and light pollution. Telensa’s smart lighting solution will enable the university to manage and control its external lighting estate, remotely, from a secure online portal delivering a range of new operational and energy saving efficiencies. The smart lighting system over time will control all external lighting across the entire university estate.
Thanks to funding from the Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, the University of Leicester is in the process of upgrading existing campus lighting that is nearing the end of its life to more energy efficient LED lighting. The introduction of Telensa’s wireless lighting control system, PLANet®, as part of the LED upgrade, will further help to reduce the university’s energy consumption and associated bills through more sophisticated control of operating hours and illumination levels. PLANet also makes it possible for the university to measure precisely the amount of energy the external lighting is consuming.
Although used by local authorities, including Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, the University of Leicester is believed to be the first university in the UK to adopt such a system.
The feature-rich set of diagnostic tools and graphical interfaces within the PLANet® application will dramatically improve the way the university is able to manage and maintain its lighting assets and help it to create new efficiencies in this area.
All the University’s new external lighting is in line with guidance from the International Dark Sky Association for reducing light pollution through limiting upward emissions of light and avoiding colour temperatures that are not naturally present at night, benefitting wildlife and promoting the correct function of our circadian rhythm. Together, these recommendations form part of the University’s first dedicated external lighting design guide.
Independently audited by analysts, Northeast Group, as the global market leader, Telensa’s smart lighting system comprises a wireless network, control nodes and a Central Management System (CMS) called PLANet®. Scalable and future-proof, the system will easily be able to accommodate additional lights and other smart applications moving forward. With the first phase now complete, the University of Leicester has aspirations to use its revolving green fund, which takes savings from energy efficiency projects and reinvests them in new projects, to upgrade its remaining external lighting.
Brent Hudson, CEO, Telensa said: “We are delighted to be working with the University of Leicester – a ‘Seat of Learning’ which is synonymous with world-class research and innovation”. He went on to say: “PLANet is highly adaptable depending on the scale of the deployment required. That’s why you’ll see Telensa providing dynamic lighting for high-tech campus deployments such as this with around 2000 lights right through to much larger scale deployments, such as our work with Leicester City and County Councils, where we’ve deployed on more than 100,000 streetlights. It’s this versatility, matched with the resilience and simplicity of the system, which sets us apart”.
The University of Leicester’s new lighting system can be integrated with the university’s other building and asset management systems.
Telensa provides smart lighting solutions to other campus and estate-type deployments including airports, retail parks, exhibition hall estates and container ports.
Contact:
Helen Simpson, Telensa