Case Study: Edinburgh College

Luceco Lights The Edinburgh College Estate

Luceco has recently supplied an energy-saving LED lighting upgrade to several campuses at Edinburgh College including Sighthill, Milton Road, Granton, and Midlothian. As one of Scotland’s largest educational establishments, the College has over 19,000 students across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Ameresco is a leading renewable energy and energy efficiency company offering ESPC-funded energy solutions for public and private organisations. ESPC (Energy Saving Performance Contract) is a third-party financing mechanism that allows building owners to fund energy-saving upgrades through savings made from future utility bills.

Ameresco chose Luceco as their preferred lighting manufacturer for Edinburgh College, and McCann Electrical Contractors based in Motherwell were chosen for the electrical installation throughout the campuses.

Many areas throughout the College benefited from the LED lighting upgrade. The Sighthill campus is located to the West of Edinburgh and hosts state-of-the-art music and learning centres and has excellent sports facilities. The Milton Road Campus is based in the East of Edinburgh providing modern facilities, in particular training restaurants and a purpose-built auditorium, with the Midlothian Campus, based in Dalkeith, providing one of the most advanced technology teaching centres in Scotland. The sports and health facilities at Milton Road is equipped with the latest resistance training machines and cardio equipment.

Based in the North of Edinburgh, the Granton Campus is a modern facility housing the ‘Learning Street’, provide students with study spaces and the most up-to-date technology available. High-efficiency LuxPanels were also used here along with the Academy luminaire. Designed for surface mounting in offices and educational environments and providing 50,000 hours of maintenance-free operation, Academy is as an ideal replacement for linear fluorescent fittings.

Client: Edinburgh College

Location: Edinburgh, UK

Date: October 2018

Featured Products: LuxPanel Edgelit, LuxPanel Backlit, Platinum Downlight, Climate Extra

Platinum LED Downlights were installed in many of these areas including open plan communal spaces such as cafeterias and foyers and specialised learning centres, offering possible running cost savings of up to 80%. Designed to retrofit ceiling cutouts of common compact fluorescent downlights, the Platinum features an easy fit positive locating swing-out tabs and interchangeable bezel options and is ideal for use with sensors and lighting controls.

Edgelit and Backlit LED LuxPanel luminaires were installed into many areas including seminar rooms and lecture theatres, libraries, and classrooms as well as communal areas. Quick and easy to install with no maintenance requirements and no visible frame when installed in the ceiling grid, high-efficiency LuxPanels were supplied with remote ‘plug and play’ drivers for ease of installation. Available in standard fixed output, dimmable and emergency options, high-efficiency Backlit LuxPanels boasts a market-leading efficacy of 152 Lm/cW, providing non-obtrusive but effective lighting in high traffic areas and improved glare control.

Granton also houses one of Scotland’s largest training providers in the performing arts and the Construction Centre for Excellence. A wide range of modern and traditional construction courses – from glazing, carpentry and stone masonry to conservation and heritage construction skills are all on offer. In the Workshops, the IP65-rated Climate LED luminaire was used. With a polycarbonate construction with opal diffuser and stainless-steel anti-tamper clips, Climate is available in 1200mm, 1500mm & 1800mm body sizes, specifically designed to replace fluorescent luminaires. This weatherproof high-performance fitting can be surface or suspended via metal fixing points.

Climate Extra has a market-leading efficacy of 142 Llm/cW with increased performance for improved energy efficiency. Climate luminaires were also used in car parks throughout the campuses. Other luminaries installed included Celeste, an attractive circular LED luminaire from Luceco featuring a ‘corona’ backlight effect with direct/indirect light distribution. The luminaire can be surface, wall mounted or suspended using a 3-point 1.5-meter suspension kit, creating an attractive pendant. Celeste offers up to 50,000 hours of working life with no maintenance or re-lamping requirements which benefit the environment in terms of energy efficiency and lamp disposal.

To date there have been over 6000 energy-saving LED luminaires installed throughout the Campuses at Edinburgh College through the partnership with Ameresco, Luceco and McCann Electrical. McCann’s have an excellent track record in delivering a wide range of electrical solutions across a number of industry sectors with expertise working within educational establishments. The product selection was compiled by Grahame Scott, Project Manager at Luceco who identified the best fit energy-efficient replacement luminaires on a one-for-one basis in each area to be relit. Edinburgh College is committed to ensuring their students are prepared for successful careers and connections to industry. They are also committed to a more energy-efficient and cost-effective future throughout their estate, LED lighting from Luceco being a contributing factor, as well as maintenance on lighting provision being substantially reduced due to the elimination of re-lamping of old luminaries.