How to apply LED lighting for safe and efficient outdoor car parks.
Much like Indoor car parks, safety and security are key considerations for outdoor car park lighting.
A car park’s ability to increase feelings of security and safely will determine whether users will be comfortable using the facility irrespective of location or convenience. Outdoor car park operators must work to satisfy user’s perceived safety expectations, actual safety requirements to facilitate the movement of pedestrians and various vehicles,environmental impact and control of obtrusive light.
Contrary to indoor facilities, outdoor car parks have a high percentage of natural daylight and are susceptible to changing weather effects.
The installation of lighting columns often increases the hazards within the car park and placement must be carefully considered to reduce the risk of accidents or impact from travelling vehicles.
Outdoor Car parks also have varying usage levels and operators often open zones or areas of a car park once other areas have been populated. Outdoor car parks could benefit greatly from implementing Nualight DALIPark controls and sensor options which would help to reduce energy consumption by managing the light output dependent on occupancy and ambient light levels. For further recommendations and guidance for lighting outdoor car parks, please refer to the European standard EN 12464-2; Lighting for outdoor workplaces.
Questions to consider when choosing the right luminaire for outdoor car parks include:
- Is the luminaire robust enough to manage your geographical or climate requirements? What is the ambient operating temperature? Is there a high enough protection rating?
- How efficient is the luminaire? Does it have a high efficacy and lm/w value to help lower energy consumption and costs?
- Can obtrusive light be managed through the use of an asymmetric beam profile?
- What is the lifetime and maintenance requirements of the luminaire? Will it prove easy to maintain or does it require re-lamping andcleaning often?
- How vandal resistant is the luminaire?
- To achieve further energy savings, could dimming or a Nualight DALIPark control system be integrated to ensure lighting is optimised to switch on as light levels decrease or create different lighting zones? Installing a PIR can help to make up to 90% savings.
Case Studies
