Indian IT giant HCL Technologies chose Philips to light up the company’s first green building and saved up to 80% on energy consumption
By Mehak Chawla
When HCL Technologies embarked on its mission to build its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified green building in Manesar, there were many aspects it was grappling with, and efficient lighting happened to be a primary concern. LEED has laid out extensive guidelines for lighting on the basis of daylight saving, energy efficiency and interior lighting quality, amongst other parameters.
As a result, HCL Technologies was on the lookout for a lighting partner for its sustainability initiative. Elaborates Pranab Nandy, General Manager, Projects, HCL Technologies, at HCL, saving energy is one of the key areas under the corporate social responsibility activities. With our new campus at Manesar, our primary focus was to achieve the prestigious LEED certification. It was possible only with the help of a lighting partner who could not only provide us products which are energy efficient but also offer lowest possible light power density together with the right implementation process.”
For this, the company decided to go with Philips Lighting India as a partner. The elaborate lighting project was undertaken simultaneously with the building design and construction and was implemented by Philips on a one-time engagement model.
Lights on
To achieve the green building rating, it was necessary for HCL Technologies to install the products with low power density. As a result, Philips provided a combination of intelligent LED lights and T5 lights to achieve the desired power density. All these lights work on the daylight harvesting concept which uses natural daylight that is available to reduce the electrical power consumption.
Commenting on the scope of the project, Jitendra Agarwal, National Sales Manager, Professional Channel, Philips Lighting India, says,that we proposed for HCL was a combination of intelligent LEDs and T5 based lighting solution to achieve low density lighting. HCL’s prime focus was to control the energy consumption of the building, for which we focused on efficient installation of LED lights which are flexible, energy-efficient, and easy to upgrade and maintain.”
According to Nandy, these products offer visual comfort to employees at work and are based on the concept of daylight harvesting that optimizes the daylight to reduce the amount of electrical consumption. Thousands of units of these lights were installed in the workstation areas, common areas, outdoor location and as well as on the roads.
To achieve the required levels of energy efficiency even beyond the interior spaces, the Roadstar streetlights with customizable light controls, were also installed. the Roadstar streetlights were installed at the outdoors. The Roadstar streetlights are durable and have low maintenance and construction cost. They also provide excellent thermal management and weather resistance,explains Agarwal.
Lighting Controls from the Philips Dynalite range were also installed at the campus site to further maximize the energy saving potential of the lighting products. Supplementing the hardware are a range of solutions encompassing automated dimming, density of occupancy and intelligent daylight sensing have been used at the site.
Philips also installed the Sereno lighting fixtures that are available in recessed, surface mounted and suspended types which makes it a popular choice for all kinds of office applications. These lights work with highly efficient optics, which leads to lower power density, and in other words to energy savings- a critical area for LEED certification. the Sereno lighting fixtures that have proven extremely suitable for office applications were installed at the workstations whereas the down-lighters which are low on glare, were installed in the corridors,details Nandy.
Apart from this, Philips installed 8 different types of downlighters in the corridors. The downlighters were placed horizontally to render higher light output and lowest possible glare.
Project challenges and RoI
Whenever a company is undertaking a complex project, and when that complex project is eying an international rating, the stakes are naturally high. That is why, HCL Technologies wanted to get everything right from the word go.
Choosing the right implementation partner was thus a critical area for the company. As Nandy says, this was the first green building of HCL, so the pressure to choose the right partner was very high. The lighting was critical and the installation had to go hand in hand with the construction. We needed a partner who could provide the technical know-how and support us during the designing of the entire building.
“However, Philips provided the right technical knowledge that was required for this project and the project was completed well within its time frame,he adds.Agarwal of Philips says that the new campus facility did them more good than bad. Considering it was a new campus, there was a lot of flexibility for the installation process. However, the challenge was to provide the right amount of energy-efficient light both for indoors and outdoors.”
Despite a few glitches initially, Nandy believes that the project has gone extremely well. Giving some quantitative RoI figures, Nandy concludes, the Philips lighting solutions save up to 80% of energy for us. To become a green building, it was important to install the green solutions throughout the building. Lighting is one of the key factors that contribute to energy consumption. With Philips lighting, we are sure that we would be able to control the energy consumption to a great extent.
“Lighting doesn’t just illuminate and save energy; it can define and enhance a company’s identity and image and we hope HCL Technologies can realize those benefits,sums up Agarwal.
