Norwegian lighting vendor Glamox has added another notch to its belt of wins in the sustainability sector, as it has relit the operations of a Swedish renewable district heat provider and recycling company with LED luminaires, including ruggedized versions for high heat areas of the plant.
Borås Energi and Miljö AB has replaced all the fluorescent T8 tubes at its facility in Borås with Glamox i40 linear luminaires. The location houses four industrial boilers for converting waste and biowaste. To light those sections, Glamox provided five linear Mil G2 luminaires and five Cyberia Hi-Bay lights. Glamox rates those products to withstand temperatures of -40°C to 50°C, and also specifies them for resistance to dust and to humidity, which is steam-related at the plant.
The utility began the replacements and new lighting installations last summer, and completed the process last month.
Borås controls and manages the passive-infrared (PIR)–equipped luminaires via a tablet using the Glamox Wireless Radio system, which can monitor electricity consumption as well as the status of each luminaire.
The utility practices a sustainability mission, as it generates the district heat that it provides to the city of Borås in the south of Sweden from waste and from biogas recovered from wastewater sludge associated with the wastewater treatment services that it also provides.
The LED lights will now contribute to its eco ethos because it will reduce lighting-related electricity usage by around 90% at the plant, the company said. That reduction relates not only to the energy efficiency of LEDs versus fluorescent, but also to the wireless controls.
“We have gone from having our luminaires on all the time to having light provided only when and where it’s needed,” said Borås Energi energy engineer Ronny Sidenvik. “We are still optimizing our lighting regime. For example, in some areas, we have optimized our lights so that on average they are on for only 5 or 10 minutes a day.”
Sidenvik also anticipates a reduction in maintenance costs, owing to the longer life of LEDs and to the wireless connected controls. “Previously we’d bring in contractors to do maintenance,” he noted.
In addition to energy savings, Borås Energi’s moves to LEDs gave it a leg up on replacing lighting under the E.U.’s health directive that bans the sale of fluorescent lighting out of concern for hazardous mercury that is part of the technology.
The parties declined to reveal how much Borås paid for the Glamox lights and controls.
Glamox sells luminaires across many sectors on land and sea. It has carved out a reputation for illuminating enterprises connected to renewable energy, such as the four offshore wind farms it recently lit in the U.S., Taiwan, and South Korea.
MARK HALPER is a contributing editor for LEDs Magazine, and an energy, technology, and business journalist ([email protected]).
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