OR Tambo International · LED backlit panels · 4000 K
Case study · Commercial & office
OR Tambo International · LED backlit panels · 4000 K
Case study · Commercial & office
Executive summary
Africa's busiest airport runs its lighting 24 hours a day, and it cannot go dark or dim to save money. Airports Company South Africa asked us to cut the energy and maintenance burden at OR Tambo without dropping below the illuminance an international terminal is required to hold. We replaced ageing fluorescent and compact fluorescent fittings with LED panels and downlighters at matched colour temperature. Lighting energy fell by an estimated 1,174,612 kWh a year, approximately 39.7%, and an estimated 134.6 kVA of maximum demand was released back to the site. Measured illuminance improved against the fluorescent installation it replaced, and the fittings remain in service ten years on. All figures on this page are estimates.
1174612kWh
Energy saved per year
(estimated)
39.7%
Reduction in lighting
energy (estimated)
1210tCO₂e
Carbon avoided per
year (estimated)
134.6kVA
Maximum demand
released (estimated)
Figures are estimates derived from project close-out data and standard operating assumptions. They will vary with tariff, run hours and site conditions, and are indicative of this project rather than a guarantee of results on another site.
The project
An international terminal is one of the least forgiving lighting environments in the country. It operates around the clock, so every watt runs 8 760 hours a year rather than the 2 500 or so a typical office draws. It is also held to strict illuminance requirements: check-in, security screening, immigration and circulation all have minimum levels that exist for safety and for the accuracy of the people doing the work. Cutting energy by simply cutting light was never an option.
There was a second cost the brief did not name. Maximum demand, the peak rate of power a site draws, is billed separately on a South African electricity account, and it also caps what else the site can run without applying to the utility for a supply upgrade. Lighting that never switches off sits underneath that peak permanently. It is never the load that steps aside to make room for something else.
The terminal was still running T8 fluorescent troffers and 2 × 26 W compact fluorescent downlighters. Both technologies depreciate noticeably over life, both need lamp and ballast replacement on a rolling cycle, and in a live terminal every one of those replacements costs access and disruption as well as parts. ACSA's brief was explicit: cut power and maintenance, hold the lux.
We worked to a fitting schedule built around the ceiling apertures already in the building rather than proposing a redesign. Samples went in first. Rather than asking the client to accept a specification on paper, we installed candidate fittings in situ so the airport's own team could judge output and glare in the actual ceiling, at the actual mounting height.
On the strength of those samples, 65 W backlit LED panels were selected for the 1200 × 600 apertures and 36 W panels for the 600 × 600 apertures. Existing downlighters were replaced with 16 W OptiValu LED downlighters, chosen on measured light output and on the warranty term behind them. In a 24-hour building, warranty length is a maintenance-budget line item rather than a sales point.
Every fitting was specified at 4000 K so the converted areas would sit correctly against the terminal's untouched fittings. Mixed colour temperature across a concourse reads as a fault to passengers even when every level is compliant. The project was delivered on programme and within the approved budget.
| Area | Legacy installation | Lamphouse specification |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal ceilings, 1200 × 600 apertures | 4 × 36 W T8 fluorescent troffers | LED backlit panel, 1200 × 600, 65 W, 4000 K |
| Terminal ceilings, 600 × 600 apertures | Existing fluorescent troffers | LED backlit panel, 600 × 600, 36 W, 4000 K |
| Downlit ceilings | 2 × 26 W compact fluorescent downlighters | OptiValu LED downlighter, 16 W, 4000 K |
Why it worked
Carried forward
Two things carried into every 24-hour project we have run since. First, sample in the live ceiling. Specification disputes disappear once the client has seen the fitting in place. Second, standardise colour temperature against the untouched areas from the outset; retrofitting a section to a different CCT creates a visible defect that no compliance figure will excuse.
Supporting references
Tell us the areas, the hours they run, the lux you need to hit and your capex envelope. We'll come back inside the week with a design, a fitting schedule and a payback model.
Related: Commercial & office LED