DALI Lighting Awards 2021

>> DALI Lighting Awards 2021 - Winners

Company: Zencontrol
Project: University of Warwick Faculty of Arts
Location: Warwick, UK
Category: Healthcare and Education

Judges' comments

The WINNER of the DALI Lighting Award in the Healthcare & Education category is zencontrol for the Faculty of Arts building at the University of Warwick, UK.

With sustainability in mind, it was essential that the lighting controls were based on an open protocol to ensure longevity and interoperability.

Working closely with the architect, the electrical engineers specified a range of feature lighting alongside functional and way-finding solutions based on DALI-2. Lighting enhances the internal environment and ensures the sculptural forms of the atrium and any feature artworks are well illuminated.

As well as praising the project’s lighting design and aesthetic appearance, the judges recognized the contribution to the university’s ongoing decarbonisation plan. They also commented on the use of dashboards to allow the university to manage its KPIs.

The DALI-2 system, which includes emergency lighting testing and monitoring, provides a level of granularity and flexibility not available from other protocols. DALI data was an essential requirement for energy use monitoring and logging, as well as maintenance and service. The data obtained from the DALI-2 system was seen as a key factor in minimizing the university’s carbon footprint.

Project overview

The University of Warwick Faculty of Arts recently moved to a purpose-built new building. A high degree of flexibility was a key design requirement so spaces could be rapidly re-configured when required. User wellbeing was another key driver, with the university aiming to achieve aspirational EPC A, DEC B ratings and BREEAM Excellent.

Working closely with the architect, the electrical engineers specified a range of feature lighting alongside functional and way finding solutions based on DALI-2, delivered by zencontrol. This enhances the internal environment, and ensures the sculptural forms of the atrium and any feature artworks are well illuminated.

The university chose DALI-2 to enable future upgrade to Smart Campus. This is part of its decarbonisation plan and DALI-2 provides a level of granularity and flexibility not available from other protocols. In addition, the data obtained from DALI-2 helps reduce energy usage and carbon emissions, as well as supporting light testing, monitoring and maintenance.

The project uses zencontrol application controllers linked to the Schneider ecostructure BMS via BACnet, providing a single dashboard for KPI management. The project covers all aspect of lighting control from individual classrooms through to corridors, atrium, and lecture theatres.

As a sustainable building, it was essential the systems were based on an open protocol to ensure longevity and interoperability as well as a solid framework for future upgrades. DALI was the only protocol that provided a platform based around an international standard (IEC 62386) for future flexibility, with the possibility of adding DALI+ and D4i.