BRE DG498 PDF

Introduction

Appropriate lighting controls form an essential part of any lighting system. Controls allow the building occupants to take charge of their environment. They can also give significant energy savings, up to 30–40% or more in some types of building^[1], and their reasonable provision is required by Building Regulations whenever lighting work is carried out in buildings that are not dwellings^[2,3]. Modern types of control can help the building manager to rearrange the internal spaces, avoiding costly wiring; and controls can change the lighting at preset times (scene setting) giving changes of mood in, for example, restaurants and public spaces.

There is a wide variety of control types:

● New forms of manual control including wireless control, and switching using the telephone or a computer

● Occupancy sensing, especially valuable for infrequently used spaces

● Photoelectric control, switching or dimming the lamps in response to daylight

● Time switching, for example switching off the main lighting in a supermarket outside opening hours (Figure 1)

● Lighting energy management systems, where the building manager can control the forms of lighting operation throughout a large building, identifying faults and monitoring usage

Lighting controls should match the needs of building users. BRE Information Paper IP6/96[4] gives guidance on this issue. Control systems have to be appropriate to the type of space where they are fitted, and they need to be safe.