Sparks Electrical News February 2022

LIGHTING

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Always knowing what’s coming next: Predictive Maintenance W hether in the healthcare, elevator and escalator or heating sectors, regular checks promise early detection of defects or impending failures. In the lighting and building sector, new

technologies enable components to connect with each other and data to be collected continuously. This can be achieved through predictive main- tenance – one of the top themes at Light + Building 2022. For instance, regular monitoring helps to estimate when hardware components need to be replaced or energy efficiencies are not being used optimally. The sustainability and climate debates entail higher technological and energy efficiency requirements for the systems in buildings. Zero emis- sion buildings are a proclaimed goal of the EU and already stipulated in the European EPBD (Energy Performance of Building Directives). In addition, the political will for sector coupling of heat, energy supply and e-mobility is shaping the trend towards energy and condition monitor- ing. Increasingly complex technical building equipment (TBE) will make predictive maintenance economical. At the upcoming Light + Building – the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building technology – the topic of energy and condition monitoring as well as predictive maintenance will shape the application innovations and classic EIS products just like building automation com- ponents in many ways. After all, sustainable and climate-neutral build- ings are ultimately plus-energy buildings. These generate more energy than they need themselves, either to store the energy in the building or to share the surplus energy with others in the neighbourhood. This causes a need for an intelligent network using smart meters and flexible tariffs to control energy flows in buildings in line with network demand. The basis is the exchange of data between the various technical do- mains. However, this requires detailed measurement and control tech- nology to be implemented in the building. In the future, a central meter for billing in the building will no longer be sufficient, because modern buildings require sub-metering structures and measured value record- ing for all energy flows and media in the building. These are, among other things, the prerequisites for energy management in accordance with ISO 50001 in functional buildings with diverse savings potentials. A fundamental component of energy management is energy moni- toring with the monitoring of energy resources. The detailed data ac- quisition, combined with self-learning algorithms, creates a real-time analysis for energy flows and consumption. This allows correlations of different measured values to be analysed, visualised and configured. A

SHEDDING LIGHT WITH PHILIP HAMMOND proved competitiveness. This requires that hardware components are equipped with additional measurement technology and radio transmis- sion technology. Process data can then be used for predictive mainte- nance via a data bus (wired or wireless). For example, a circuit breaker protects a circuit from overcurrent loads. At Light + Building 2022, miniature circuit breakers (fuses) with inte- grated measuring transformers will be exhibited to record the electrical power distributed via the circuit. This data, time-stamped, is forwarded to the energy management or condition monitoring system for evalua- tion. This example shows how previously simple hardware components with additional sensors can become data donors for predictive mainte- nance and energy management, ultimately optimising the energy ef- ficiency of entire systems in real time. This trend is only just beginning and will become even more visible at the upcoming trade fairs. The Light + Building event will take place from 13 to 18 March 2022. The Light + Building Digital Extension is accessible from 13 to 25 March 2022. I can remember when LEDs first became available in 2006/7, the first batches did not encourage anyone to rush out and place bulk orders, in fact, most were poor. However, within the short space of about two years, LED lamps and luminaires made enormous strides. We completed light- ing designs for some really large projects in the years 2011 to 2014 where the products supplied are still performing amazingly well and compare with some of the best of the most recently available LED products. During that same period many architects and consulting electrical en- gineers said that they preferred to wait until LED products had matured. Crazy, I agree because the product of that time had fully matured. As I have said above, LED lighting continues to develop at a remarkable pace. I do not think that I will see the limit of that development in my life- time or for many years to come. So … think about it this way, you cannot afford to continue using or specifying old technology products including LEDs. More importantly, if fluorescent or old conventional lighting technology is still be used, it is time to only use or specify LED. The old lighting tech- nologies are steadily reaching their end of life around the world. Similarly, you cannot always rely on lighting manufacturers to complete your lighting designs simply because they are free of charge. The risk of non-compliant or sub-standard lighting designs is too high. You can- not afford to abdicate your responsibility to unqualified lighting designers. Simply being able to use lighting design software without the underpin- ning lighting knowledge and proficient advanced use of lighting design software, by doing so, can be very costly. I make these statements with the personal experience obtained when I have been commissioned to solve problems resulting from sub-standard lighting designs. I have also expe- rienced this when commissioned to do Measurement and Verification (M & V) for international clients and also for consulting electrical engineers. Remember the expressions, “penny wise, pound foolish” or “You get what you pay for (or do not pay for)”. A word of advice is to ask the supplier if the lighting designer will sign- off the design before final commissioning. This is a very onerous task. Sign-off may only be done by a qualified illumination engineer/lighting designer who is a member of a recognised professional institution. I am prepared to assist any of the readers and give basic advice about lighting to minimise their risk of non-compliance and M & V, commission- ing and final sign-off. Enquiries: www.light-building.messefrankfurt.com

dashboard is then used to operate the property in a user-oriented and energy-efficient manner. Condition monitoring also makes traditional maintenance approach- es obsolete. The regular maintenance of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems specified by manufacturers, or even the building automation components with their fixed cycles, rarely reflect the actual condition of the systems. This is due to the fact that the different room and environmental situations and also usage behaviour of systems have a considerable effect on their service life. Thus, maintenance is either too early or too late. While the cost of premature maintenance on the service life of equipment is still acceptable, the failure of compo- nents can have consequences. The advantages of condition monitoring are that plant or equipment problems can be detected and remedied as they arise, as well as an accurate prediction of the remaining service life of monitored compo- nents. In addition, service life is extended through data-based individual maintenance plans and maintenance costs are reduced through pin- point maintenance. This results in high customer satisfaction and im-

Lighting knowledge in South Africa is inadequate. Let me explain ...

T he year 2022 arrived without much fanfare and crazy celebration to welcome it in. By the time you read this edition of Shedding Light, the first month will have faded from our memories. I am extremely positive about the prospects for excellent business this year. At the close of 2021, I spent time reflecting on the year that was and in particular on the effectiveness and quality of lighting knowledge and the lighting designs that are produced in South Africa. I arrived at the following conclusions: • The detailed level of lighting knowledge in South Africa, apart from our own students, is very inadequate. • The standard of lighting designs produced in South Africa generally are also below standard. I have chosen not to give the fine details that led to my conclusions. The webinar content this year will present an entirely different aspect of

light and lighting. They will be presented in a way to be more stimulating and interesting so as to encourage those attending to be more curious, to embark on formal or informal personal studies. To create such interest that they will be eager to attend the many webinars presented by BHA School of Lighting and other professional institutions and organisations. The world is littered with excuses and reasons why it is impossible to make time to attend or to study. Why do so many (perhaps that may in- clude you too) not think of study, reading or attending webinars as invest- ments for their practises or businesses. They will be astounded at how quickly they will achieve a return on their investment whether for the time spent or the cost for following my advice. Lighting technologies, including controls, are advancing at such a pace that, as professionals, we simply cannot afford to be left behind or to be found wanting which would result in us short-changing our clients by not providing them with the best of the latest technologies.

Until next month, stay safe!

Enquiries: www.bhaschooloflighting.co.za

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

FEBRUARY 2022