Good visual conditions facilitate working, a pleasant ambiance increases employees’ motivation. Various studies have shown that light can have a positive influence on productivity and people’s well-being at their workplace.
These results have been put into practice by
the Austrian utility company BEWAG during renovation
of an office building in Eisenstadt. In cooperation with Zumtobel and Lumitech, a solution has been worked out, in which the approx.
85 workplaces are illuminated dynamically,
depending on the time of day, by one Light
Fields free-standing luminaire each. For the pilot
project subsidized by the Austrian Climate
and Energy Fund, the Zumtobel free-standing
luminaires were equipped with LED technology.
Different light colours with excellent colour rendition
values ranging between 2700 and 6500
K can be called up individually via an integrated
control device. The advantages are obvious: the dynamic control of light, modelled after the
natural course of daylight, increases the wellbeing
and performance of the employees. Modern
LED technology boasts very good efficiency,
saving valuable money.
In order to offer BEWAG employees in Eisenstadt
an attractive working environment, the
company had the core of an obsolete ancillary
building completely removed and renovated the
same from the ground up. The building’s friendly,
modern character is obtained through the
large number of glazed surfaces, enabling an
extensive use of daylight.
BEWAG project
manager, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Christoph Pinterits comments: “As
an energy company, we offer our customers as
much information as possible on renewable
forms of energy and other ways of saving energy.
By implementing an innovative and efficient
lighting installation in the administrative building
of BEWAG Netz GmbH, we would therefore like
to set an example and serve as a model ourselves.”
The joint development and demonstration project
is aimed at providing for more efficiency
and a pleasant ambiance at the workplace by
using LED office luminaires. In the network control
unit, in particular, – the heart of Burgenland’s
electricity supply – which is manned around the
clock, the biologic effect of light is of great importance.
Accordingly, LED modules were integrated
in the Light Fields free-standing luminaires
by Zumtobel, both at the network control
unit and in all single and double offices. The PILED® technology used is characterised by particularly
good colour rendition. While the indirect
light emanating from conventional fluorescent
lamps floods the room in a pleasantly diffuse
manner, the direct light from the LEDs is directed
to the desk without any glare or scattering
effects.
The user can adjust the desired
colour temperature individually between 2700 K
and 6500 K – in eight steps – via a simple momentary-
action switch directly attached to the
luminaire. Alternatively, timer-controlled daylight
changes can be implemented in automatic
operation. A computer-controlled software
communicates predefined lighting scenes to
the respective free-standing luminaire, with varying
lighting intensities and light colours adjusted
to the course of natural daylight. Thus, the
biological and emotional effects of light can influence
work processes in a positive way. At the
same time, lighting in the offices is only active
where it is actually required. The unlit, less bright
office areas offer pleasant contrasts to the eye.
For the conference rooms, Zumtobel has provided
53 Light Fields pendant luminaires maintaining
a consistent appearance in line with the
offices. Suspended from the ceiling, the Light
Fields luminaires impress through the perfect
balance of indirect and direct light. Sufficient
vertical illuminances and excellent shadow details
guarantee perfect illumination of the room
for round table discussions, presentations or
lectures.
All offices and corridors are equipped with presence
detectors, contributing to energy-efficient
lighting in addition to LED technology. Accordingly,
the corridor and stairway lighting
often remains switched off on sunny days, as
there is sufficient incident daylight. Only when it
gets dark, Slotlight light lines and Cardan Spirit
spotlights take over to emphasize the outlines
of the building’s architecture, creating a pleasant
room impression.
BEWAG Netz GmbH is also perfectly equipped
for emergencies: in case of an emergency, the
corridors are efficiently and safely supplied with
light based on the Onlite central battery system,
the Puresign LED escape sign luminaires and
the highly efficient Resclite emergency luminaires.