Schools

Lighting management in a school environment

A school building should be an optimal environment where students can stay sharp and concentrate well. The indoor climate is very important for this.

A lighting management system ensures that light can always be adjusted to the activity in the room, that daylight is used optimally and that energy is saved as much as possible.

In addition, a light management system provides a coverage network to which climate sensors can be added. With Helvar Senses it creates a single integrated system for optimising both lighting and indoor climate.

Biodynamic lighting

Light affects human biorhythms. Applying this correctly is called Human Centric Lighting or biodynamic lighting. By adjusting the lighting strength and light colour during the day to suit people's biological rhythms or the activity in the room, productivity and performance can be positively influenced.

More information

Fresh schools

When a school building is newly built or renovated, a lot of attention is paid to the indoor climate and energy efficiency. As early as the design stage, a plan must be drawn up setting out the requirements that designers, builders and installers must meet. Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) has developed the 'Programme of requirements - Fresh schools' developed. This identifies the themes of energy, air, temperature, light and noise, with requirements classified into three levels.

One of the themes is light. Within the theme, there are requirements for luminaires, such as UGR and CRI values, but also for lighting control.

There are 3 components to which our lighting management systems can make a good contribution:

Daylight

A minimum daylight factor (DT) should be achieved in classrooms. The larger the better. But more daylight means less artificial light is needed to achieve the right amount of light. Our light sensors ensure that the lighting automatically dims back when sufficient daylight is present.

Brightness protection

Controlling brightness shading or blinds is a standard functionality of our Helvar Imagine system. This ensures that lighting controls can also be used for brightness or shading. We can also apply a weather station to automate the control.

Individual influence

The minimum requirement is that lighting per room can be switched on or off individually. To score better, lighting should be able to be switched and dimmed in zones. These are also standard features of our system, making it easy to meet the requirements.

Project: Firda College, Leeuwarden

Firda has a new building in a unique location at the Cambuur Stadium in Leeuwarden. The new building is designed for students from economics and external care courses. The classrooms on the south stand have a dual function. You look directly onto the football pitch from the classrooms, making them serve as skyboxes during matches.

The entire building is equipped with a Helvar light management system. In this video, our colleague Steven van Beek takes you through the building and tells you about the functionalities we realised.