Sixteen Norfolk Schools Make the Smart LED Choice
Working closely with Unity Education Trust, Diamond Services has been helping local schools to improve their energy efficiency by replacing outdated lighting systems with some of the latest LED low energy solutions on the market.
The influx of schools, sixth forms and colleges choosing to make these lighting upgrades has been due to a recent grant made available from the government.
The Energy Efficiency Grant
At the beginning of the year, schools, sixth forms and colleges were given access to apply for a share of a new £500 million government funded scheme to help shield them against inflated energy costs. The Department for Education’s (DfE) Energy Efficiency grant made it possible for them to allocate funds to spend on lighting upgrades such as smart LEDs, controllers, and sensors.
The specific aim was to help education providers across England manage their energy consumption, while making a positive impact on the environment – as well as future proofing to reduce the budgetary impact of escalating utility costs. The amount of grant awarded would depend on the type of institution. (Learn more about the Energy Efficiency grant).
Upgrading Schools with LED Lighting Solutions
Since the early summer, the electrical team has completed an impressive sixteen school sites across Norfolk under the guidance of the Unity Education Trust. Each of these schools will be seeing notable savings over the coming months through their newly installed efficient LED lighting.
Starting with an initial in-depth site visit to determine and provide recommendations and advice, each project varied in size, funding, and specific needs. Diamond Services’ Director, Martin Barmby, said: “We found that on some of the larger sites there wasn’t sufficient budget to update the entire school’s lighting system so we recommended prioritising areas where the new lighting would have the most impact such as school halls and corridors.”
Jo Thompson from Unity Education Trust commented on the project: “It’s been a real pleasure working with Martin and the team at Diamond Services. All of the schools are really happy with the work that has been done and the new lighting has made a big difference to the school buildings. With such a large number of schools to survey and coordinate works, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the project has gone.”
The LED Lighting of Choice
As well as considerable savings in energy costs, LED lights also provide benefits such as improved comfort, health and wellbeing. There’s also a considerable reduction in maintenance costs. This is due to the decreas of replacement requirements as lifecycle is exponentially longer than other comparable lighting.
“We opted to use Aurora Lighting as a supplier,” Martin added. “The LED lights supplied have colour tuning settings and wattage control, so the fittings are able to be adapted easily to the school environment. The products we specified included a mix of LED light panels, downlights, suspended strip lights and spotlights. Most schools also had motion control sensors installed for circulation areas such as corridors, bathrooms, and cupboards. All great examples of areas where upgrades can maximise a building’s energy efficiency.”
An Effective & Efficient Work Ethic
Working within the time constraints of the summer holidays, meant that the Diamond Services team of electricians needed to work as efficiently as possible. “Fourteen of the projects were completed before the new term started,” added Martin. “Leaving two to complete by the end of October which we worked on outside of school hours to minimise disruption. With autumn and winter fast approaching, each of the allocated buildings are now ready for the darker days and evenings, helping each school to minimise their utilities costs straight away.”
If your school or commercial building has outdated and inefficient lighting, see how you can future proof your premises with smart LED lighting solutions by requesting a quote.
