• Inefficient lighting at a Forticrete manufacturing plant was wasting energy and failing to provide adequate illumination.
• An upgrade to T5 fluorescent lighting (with built-in presence detection) from Tamlite has lowered the energy burden, while ensuring the lights only switch on when they’re actually needed.
• Annual savings: £2,080 in energy bills; 14 tonnes of CO2.
• Winner: Sustainability Award (British Precast Awards)
Leading UK manufacturer, Forticrete, has cut the lighting energy consumption at its Ibstock plant by 69% with an installation of HILUX T5 fluorescent lighting with built-in presence detection from Tamlite Lighting – a project that has also netted the company a major award.
Forticrete, a leading manufacturer of concrete construction products, was honoured by this year’s British Precast Awards with a win in the Sustainability category. The project that caught the judges’ attention was the installation of energy-efficient lighting that Forticrete undertook at its manufacturing plant in Ibstock, near Leicester.
Standing out from the crowd
“Energy efficiency is obviously highly topical and the carbon savings we were able to achieve made us stand out,” comments Karl Stevens, Health, Safety and Environmental Advisor at Forticrete. “The judges were impressed with the presence control that’s built into the lighting, which means we avoid needless waste of energy. We also emphasised that we looked closely at the effectiveness of the lighting, not just that it was energy-efficient.”
Looking for best practice
The previous lighting, by contrast, was very inefficient and didn’t light the plant’s work areas adequately at all. When the staff at Forticrete’s Ibstock plant were looking for alternatives, they turned to colleagues at the company’s Leighton Buzzard site for advice.
“The Forticrete Leighton Buzzard site had already had great success in upgrading its lighting,” says Karl Stevens. “In fact, the plant was awarded Runner Up at last year’s British Precast Award for its own exterior lighting project. Using their advice, we then worked with Tamlite to specify which technology would be most effective for us.”
Energy savings
Tamlite HILUX T5 lighting was installed across the Ibstock site’s warehouse, pigment store, fitting shop and production areas. The low-profile fluorescent luminaires, with their white painted steel construction, are fitted with T5 fluorescent lamps and VISION 103 sensors. The integrated VISION sensors mean that each unit automatically detects both occupancy and daylight levels, ensuring the lights are switched on only when they are needed.
As a result of the installation, Forticrete calculates that it is saving £2,080 on its energy bills every year. This is a reduction of 69% over the electricity consumption of the previous lighting, and it means the site is saving approximately 14 tonnes of CO2 each year.
Sustainability credentials
“We have a commitment to good Environmental Management under ISO 14001 and we’re constantly looking for ways to make the plant run more efficiently,” comments Karl Stevens. “In both environmental and financial terms, the Tamlite installation of HILUX T5 lighting has been a huge success for us. To top it off, we couldn’t be happier to have also been recognised by the British Precast Awards for our sustainability credentials. Spurred on by this success, we’ll be looking for more ways to cut carbon in the future.”
Justin Kite – Marketing Manager
Tel: 01527 517777
Email: jkite@tamlite.co.uk
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