The RAF Museum in north London has carried out an extensive retrofit lighting project, which is seeing it enjoy energy savings of 70 per cent, with a return on investment in just one to two years.
Over the last three years, the site has been undergoing a renovation project to help it cut back energy consumption, while at the same time improve how its exhibits were showcased, Lux Magazine reported.
The museum employed the help of Elite Renewables to play with different solutions, investigating various lumens, angles of light and colour rendering, before eventually settling on a final decision.
Not only did the brief for this lighting project need to tailor to the ecological and aesthetic criteria, but it also had to complement the historic nature of the building. This RAF collection is housed in the 1917 Grahame-White factory, Britain's first aircraft production plant, meaning that any old lighting solution simply wouldn't do. It had to respect the historical importance of the site.
Furthermore, by the very nature of the fact that it is a museum, the colour rendering and how the lighting would showcase the collection was of paramount importance as well. The fact that newer lighting emits less heat energy and UV is beneficial as these qualities can damage artefacts and objects in a museum or gallery environment.
As a result of the retrofit project, power consumption on lighting for the museum has been slashed from 100W per fitting to just 17W, with no reduction in the quality of light.
Given that the upfront capital required for the installation will be paid back within such a short space of time, this project serves as a perfect example to owners of businesses - and even domestic properties - that it pays to rethink wall and ceiling light fittings, as well as outdoor lighting solutions, if the current solution is somewhat outdated.
Adrian Corthine from Elite said of the project: "We worked closely with the RAF Museum to achieve the desired outcomes and help them improve light levels, yet reducing energy at the same time. We’re all delighted with the results."
