OR Tambo International · LED backlit panels · 4000 K
Case study · Aviation & transport hubs
OR Tambo International · LED backlit panels · 4000 K
Case study · Aviation & transport hubs
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.
1,174,612kWh
Energy saved per year
(estimated)
39.7%
Reduction in lighting
energy (estimated)
1,210tCO₂e
Carbon avoided per
year (estimated)
134.6kVA
Maximum demand
released (estimated)
All figures shown are estimates. Energy, demand and percentage figures are derived from project close-out data and standard operating assumptions, and will vary with tariff, run hours and site conditions. Carbon is calculated rather than measured: 1,174,612 kWh at 1.03 tCO₂e/MWh, the Eskom grid factor applied at the time. South Africa's official 2023 grid emission factors (DFFE, published July 2025) put the point-of-use figure at about 1.02 tCO₂e/MWh, so the original basis still holds. Figures are indicative of the results achieved on this project and are not a guarantee of results on another site.
The business challenge
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.
Approach
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
01
Fittings were installed in the live ceiling and judged on site by the client's own team. No one had to take a photometric file on trust.
02
Maximum demand is billed separately in South Africa and caps what else a site can run. The conversion handed an estimated 134.6 kVA of supply capacity back with no utility upgrade application.
03
In a building that never closes, every replacement is an access and disruption cost. Fittings were selected on warranty term as much as on wattage.
Tell us the areas, the hours they run, the illuminance you are required to hold and your capex envelope. We will come back inside the week with a design, a fitting schedule, a sampling plan and a payback model built on your own tariff and run hours.
Related: Commercial & public-facility LED