Low energy lighting, security and CSR

The Light Fantastic

17 Aug 08

By Shaun Cutler

Security planners can push forward the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda – and make genuine cost savings as a result – simply by adopting new and varied strategies for lighting. Here, Shaun Cutler explains how.

How much power do your security systems use, both in terms of operation and maintenance? Could you perhaps redesign them to be not only more effective, but also more efficient? In a world where energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important from financial and political perspectives alike, these are questions well worth asking.

As the corporate landscape changes, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues steadily ascend the Boardroom agenda, new opportunities are beginning to open up for security managers. More and more, organisations are looking to operate in a socially responsible way, to reduce their energy bills and meet CO2 reduction targets. As they head in this direction, there are good opportunities for security planners, directors and managers to make a positive contribution, if not play the lead role.

Here, the focus is very much on lighting. Lighting for perimeter protection, CCTV systems, for general site security and even non-security applications is an area where the technology now exists to give security planners very easy ‘wins’ when it comes to making – and, importantly, proving – significant savings. Far from ignoring lighting, or leaving it to an electrical contractor to specify, the security manager can now deliver tangible cost savings for the organisation by overseeing an estate-wide review of lamps and illuminators.

A cost-free resource?

A fact that comes as a surprise to most of us used to treating light as a constantly available, almost cost-free resource that can be spilled around without too much discrimination is that it consumes around 19% of all global electricity. According to the International Energy Agency, this is equivalent to the output of all the world’s gas-fired power stations.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED)-based illuminators can drastically reduce the electricity costs in an average-to-medium size organisation due to their low energy consumption. This, however, only takes account of running costs. Factor-in maintenance visits for bulb replacements and the figure rises further.

It can be seen just what client organisations have to gain by switching away from indiscriminate, continuous light-spill towards using targeted, carefully directed light only when and where it’s actually needed. As energy awareness and cost-consciousness grow, decisions about lighting will sit squarely under the CSR banner. We are either using lighting intelligently and responsibly, or we’re not. It’s as simple as that.

How much energy do our lights use? How effective are they? What job are they actually doing? How long do they last before they need replacing? These are serious questions that demand some strategic thinking.

Improvements in technology

In the past, security managers have traditionally left it to others – third party contractors or site electricians – to decide on lighting solutions. If ambient lighting on a site was adequate then the security systems designer saw no value in thinking any further about it, and instead turned their attentions to CCTV, alarm systems and physical security.

However, security lighting technology has evolved dramatically over the past five years or so largely thanks to the energy-efficient, long life light-emitting diode (LED). Starting with specialist infrared CCTV illumination, then moving into white light CCTV and security lighting (and, more recently, general purpose lighting, too), LED-based products have transformed the range of options available.

The great advantage of LED illuminators is that they convert electricity into light very efficiently, such that they are low energy sources. With the correct optical design, they can provide extremely well-defined beam patterns to reduce light wastage and increase efficiencies. Additionally, they start up more quickly (no warm up), and last significantly longer than traditional light sources.

Being solid-state, they’re also more resistant to movement and shock, and their life-expectancy isn’t reduced by switching on and off. This advantage of LED illuminators is perfect for critical installations that demand 100% performance, or where failure is either unacceptable or the cost of individual bulb replacement becomes prohibitively expensive.

Security planners first became aware of these advantages in the field of CCTV lighting. In this discipline, it’s now widely recognised that you need dedicated illumination to achieve consistent, high quality image capture 24/7. CCTV quality at night is hugely dependent on whether the scene is properly lit. While general ambient lighting can deliver reasonable results with good cameras, for really sharp images with no flaring or fade-out the illumination has to be designed for the purpose.

Thinking more strategically

CCTV planners have been encouraged to think more strategically about what they want to do with their lighting, and what effect it might have on the behaviour of criminals. For example, they can choose whether they want covert infrared lighting to improve the performance of their CCTV systems while keeping the scene dark, or visible white light for optimum quality colour images.

White light and infrared could have good deterrent value if used well – the former reducing cover for intruders, the latter capable of sending a more subtle (but still clear) signal that good quality CCTV is in operation.

In either case, LED-based illuminators present an attractive proposition because they are less expensive to run and maintain and more energy efficient.

Now, illuminators are available which combine both infrared and white light output. Illumination ranges have increased up to 1,000 metres. Illuminators are much easier to install and site remotely, with Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) allowing them to be simply plugged in as integral components of an IP CCTV system. Low voltage power supply models may be installed where 240 V cabling is neither practical or affordable, nor safe.

Security managers are now asking for LED white lights to be adapted for non-security applications. As an example of this new thinking in action, one energy company (appropriately enough!) recently began using combined infrared white light illuminators around the perimeter of a protected site on a strategic basis. The covert infrared allows the CCTV system to view the scene and watch potential intruders approach even before they’re aware that they are being monitored.

Once they reach a pre-determined range the white light LEDs snap on, delivering a very effective warning. Should the intruders not be deterred, the same white lights will help the security patrols who are sent out to attend. Note that the white light is responsive. It’s on only when needed.

This same client is now going a stage further, specifying LED-based technology for its globe-style courtesy lighting and, having seen how energy-efficient these products are, is actively looking for other areas where LEDs can replace older-style lighting.

Broader train of thought

We’re in no doubt that this trend will catch on, and we’re fully determined to help security managers succeed in their broader thinking. The first and most obvious applications are failure-critical lighting, where it’s either very expensive, difficult or operationally undesirable for lamps to fail. Long-life lighting products are perfect for these situations.

Next, consider areas where carefully targeted light is needed – architectural or heritage lighting, for example. LED-illuminators are perfect for this job, and the cost of running them continuously is a fraction of that required to operate traditional floodlights. There are similar gains to be made in almost every area of site lighting.

Returning to our central discipline, security planners are also re-thinking the way in which lighting might impact on the behaviour of criminals. Today, planners are justified in regarding lighting as no longer just a supporting measure, but rather a first-tier tool which provides a very effective, active deterrent and a clear, visible signal that an intrusion event has been spotted.

Detector-activated, quick-start LED illuminators allow protected areas to be kept dark until a potential intruder approaches. The intruder is given no help in finding their way through the dark, so they’ll either discover it to be much harder work or have to risk compromising their location by using a torch.

When they’re detected, there’s no time delay before the powerful white light comes on, so an instant warning is delivered to the intruder and an alert provided to onlookers or members of the Security Team. By contrast, when floodlighting is left on all night it’s much more expensive to run and doesn’t have the same ‘alert’ effect. It may even help the intruder.

New corporate landscape

Security lighting is not the only area where gains can be made, but it has evolved to the point where it now provides a very attractive, energy-efficient alternative to general-purpose, courtesy and decorative lighting.

In conclusion, the nature of lighting is changing, and the way in which planners think about lighting is evolving more rapidly than at any time in recent history. Technology is presenting the opportunity for security managers to take the lead. Their time is now.

Postscript :

Shaun Cutler is managing director of Raytec

Credits :

Photographs courtesy of Raytec