According to the use of the building, the consumption energy in their lighting installations is usually a considerable percentage on which we can act to reduce the electric bill and CO2 emissions. In the Section HE3 ( updated in September 2013 ) of the Technical Code of the Building, the Energy Efficiency is regulated in the Lighting installations, and the minimum requirements to consider.
In this post, we will talk about it, and We will describe the solutions to be adopted to obtain the better results from the point of view of savings and comfort.
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As you can see, we must implement improvements in the lighting, in a wide range of situations.
To monitor compliance with the regulations, we must justify the following:
As you can see, measures that aim to take advantage of the natural light, achieve efficient values, and have a correct maintenance of the installation, in order to obtain considerable savings in electrical energy.
It is a value that measures the efficiency energy of a lighting installation of a referenced activity zone. The unit of measure is W/m2 for every 100 lux.
Definitions:
P = Total power installed, including equipment auxiliaries (W) (*)
S = Illuminated area (m2)
Em = Maintained horizontal average illuminance (lux) (**)
(*) It is important to include the consumption of lamps and equipment (reactors)
(**) Value obtained from the lighting study (recommended to be done by the manufacturer of luminaires)
This value is very important, since it gives us the reference of whether a lit place is efficient luminously, according to the tables below reflection:
It should be noted that equipment with the greatest possible efficiency, such as energy-saving lamps, leds, electronic ballasts, etc, and thus obtain VEEI lower than required.
Taking into account the power of lamps and equipment auxiliaries, according to section HE3, the installed power in illumination will not exceed the values specified in the following table, according to the different uses of the building.
To obtain optimal results, it is necessary to have of elements that control and regulate the lighting that we have in our building. The times when the lights were left on, in those that did not have timed on and off systems, in which everything was centralized in the protection box, have or they should disappear.
Before indicating which systems are currently used to carry out the control and automatic regulation of the lighting of a Building, I show you a brief analysis of the requirements of the Basic Document of the CTE:
Therefore, we already know that we need have control and regulation elements in the lighting installations , mandatory by regulation, and efficiently as professionals.
Currently in the market we can find numerous equipment, which serve to regulate and/or control lighting of a room or building. There are from the simplest, up to inmotic or home automation equipment capable of performing a automatic control of a large tertiary building:
Use infrared optical technology to motion detection . For the Therefore, they will detect the heat generated by people or bodies in motion, moving within its radius of action.
The uses, as you may have thought, are very varied, from the residential sector, up to the large tertiary building, in toilets, corridors, stairs, archives, warehouses...
They are elements that are integrated into the luminaire , regulating the lighting level in function of the daylight existing in each moment. They are ideal for locating in luminaires close to the windows (as we have seen to comply with the CTE).
They are time switches that incorporate a special program that follows the sunrise and sunset times of the geographical area where it is installed. They own as great advantage, that its manual and periodic programming is not necessary of the on and off times. There are devices that allow to incorporate special days, in which the maneuvers they are different due to holidays, weekends.
Can be used to control decorative lighting of buildings, outdoor parking lots, etc.
The communication between luminaires and the control system is simple; is done by two wires without polarity. There are many elements compatible with this system, and that cover multiple applications.
As we know, there are also numerous models of timed mechanisms, in order to comply with the requirements for places of sporadic use, in the case of Do not install presence detectors.
Conclusions:
Different studies have determined that lighting represents 14% of all energy consumption in Europe, and the 19% of all electricity in the world (source: IEA-International Energy Agency). With control of the lighting in new Buildings and the modification in Buildings Existing, we will achieve savings between 20% -40%, depending of the solutions and activity of the Building, with which We will reduce energy costs and contribute to the reduction and CO2 emissions.
Solutions can range from simple elements and very local, without large economic investments, even highly sophisticated and customized solutions, which are part of of the automatic control systems of the building . For this, as I always tell you, there will be to carry out a technical and economic feasibility study, according to the activity and use of the building, investment, amortizations, expected savings etc. In any case, the lighting control is essential as a method of Efficiency and Energy Saving.
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Article prepared by Paulino Rivas García (Industrial Technical Engineer – Facilities Engineer / Energy Efficiency) Owner of &/ en collaboration with Home Repair Care.
