Trilux announce partnership with Smart Building Technology specialist
(Germany) – In an effort to simplify the integration of lighting into the hardware and software infrastructure of digitised buildings, Trilux has invested in IT expert wtec.
wtec specialises in building automation and IT infrastructure, its smartengine technology enables the complete lighting network to be implemented via data cabling and seamlessly integrates into the building management system.
With an investment of 25.1% in wtec, a subsidiary of German real estate developer Zech, Trilux aims to expand its competence in IT and building automation, strengthening its position as a holistic room and building solutions provider.
Particularly in the development of newly planned office buildings, digitalisation and automation of services will soon play a central role – by integrated IoT system modules, lighting will increasingly take on tasks in the future that go beyond the classic lighting tasks.
“The lighting network acts as a flexible technology carrier that is responsible for communication and control of the other trades, becoming the backbone of digitalisation,” said Joachim Geiger, CSO at Trilux. “Futureproof lighting provides high-quality and efficient light, and at the same time makes the room and building smart.”
Dr Frank Schmitt, Managing Director at wtec and General Manager Smart Buildings at the Zech Group, added: “The IP conversion of secure internet use of building data is the logical and necessary step towards more customer benefits. We are pleased that with Trilux we have a strong partner at our side for our growth and our path to a technological standard.”
SLL Ready Steady Light to return this Autumn
(UK) – One of the Society of Light and Lighting’s (SLL) flagship events, Ready Steady Light will be returning this Autumn. Taking place in partnership with Rose Bruford College, the competition will take place at the college’s leafy Sidcup campus on 19 October.
As is tradition, the SLL is inviting teams of lighting professionals to compete against each other in a back-to-basics celebration of the art of science and light. Each time will be challenged with creating an exterior light installation, with a limited range of kit in just 180 minutes.
“Whilst the lighting community has worked to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic, day to day work has continued. There have been new starters and the same requirements to support development but without the crucial interaction that comes with working alongside colleagues in a shared space,” the SLL said. “The Society feels it is more important than ever to provide design practices and lighting professionals with an opportunity to have fun and work together, with the added element of some friendly competition.”
As in previous years, there will be three awards up for grabs. A panel of expert judges from the SLL and the IALD will decide the winners of the Technical and Artistic Awards, with the Peer Prize decided by the contestants taking part.
Students enrolled in Rose Bruford College’s Lighting and Design BA courses will support the event, with the opportunity to learn from and assist lighting professionals working in this unique environment.
Previous winners have included dpa lighting consultants, UCL, WSP, Arup, Hoare Lea, Speirs Major and AECOM.
More info on how to register your team for the event can be found online here.
LED Expo brings focus on women in lighting industry through virtual LED Summit
(India) – Supported by the IALD and event partner K-Lite Industries, Messe Frankfurt India held an online webinar, LED Summit, which sought to unite successful women entrepreneurs from the lighting industry to address the challenges that female employees continue to face in the arena of lighting.
With the IALD as the knowledge partner, the LED Summit webinar organised earlier this month, united some of the most influential and successful women entrepreneurs from the lighting industry to discuss the topic of ‘Women & The Lighting Profession – Understanding their role’.
The panellists were forthcoming in highlighting the struggles and prejudices they face as women in the lighting profession: “In academics, there are a vast number of women going in to learn lighting design, but very few of them actually end up becoming a part of the industry,” shared Shailee Trivedi, IALD Member and IIID (Institute of Indian Interior Designers) Chair Elect.
Further elaborating on the issue, Surbhi Jindal, who is also the India Ambassador for Women in Lighting (WIL), added how WIL has been working relentlessly to profile, celebrate and support the women working in lighting. She also shared how women are facing the brunt of the severely affected job market due to the current pandemic.
The event partner for LED Summit, K-LITE actively seeks to create opportunities and support aspiring women. The company employs more than 50% women under its workforce across the spectrum.
An influential lighting professional herself and one of the panellists at the virtual session, Sharmila Kumbhat, Director, K-LITE described the significance of women employees and leaders in the industry: “Lighting being both an art and science, women by their very nature have the insights and temperament for art, architecture and design. Yet it is important to overcome these gender barriers and allow talent to come through regardless of gender.”
Empowerment of women in lighting profession is not only a case of gender equity but more so about celebrating the accomplishments of female professionals to inspire the next generation of women workers and decision makers.
As one of India’s leading lighting trade fairs, LED Expo aims to continue to provide a B2B platform where lighting professionals can gain equal access to sourcing and networking opportunities through its New Delhi edition, scheduled to take place on 18 – 20 November 2021 at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida.
LIA President’s Award winner revealed
(UK) – On 30 July, the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) held its Annual General Meeting, which concluded with the presentation of the LIA President’s Award. This year’s recipient is David Wright, Managing Director of Emergency Lighting Products and Jordan Reflectors.
The LIA President’s Award recognises exceptional service to the lighting industry, and LIA President Terry Dean bestowed the award on Wright, not just for his distinguished career in lighting, but also to acknowledge the support and guidance that he has given to the LIA and Lumicom over the years.
Wright began his career in Research and Development with Thorn Lighting followed by eight years managing the lighting laboratories at BSI (British Standards Institution). He later joined Existalite / Thomas & Betts as Technical Director, and was promoted to Managing Director while also handling the Group roles of European Product Manager and World Standards Manager. Wright joined the Jordan Group in 2003, initially as Managing Director of Emergency Lighting Products, but took control of both Jordan UK companies in 2009.
An active member of the LIA, Wright is also Chairman of the Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting (ICEL). Its mission is to strengthen the industry and promote the benefits of good quality emergency lighting. He also sits on the LIA Council of Management and is a Director of Lumicom – the UK’s leading independent, not-for-profit WEEE Compliance Scheme, which is a part of the LIA.
On receiving the award, he said: “It was an unexpected honour to receive this year’s President’s award. I am particularly delighted to have been recognised at a time when our industry has been enduring obvious difficulties and by a President that, with the Board and Council, has been so instrumental in bringing positive change to the LIA.”
LIA President, Terry Dean, added: “When it came to thinking about this year’s President’s Award, David was a quick and obvious choice. Having known David for more than 25 years, he has always struck me as someone who cares about our industry and has made a significant contribution to the LIA Council and ICEL. I’m sure you all agree he is a very worthy recipient.”
L4H Online Course is Officially Launched
(Online) - On 20th of August 2021 the online course L4H Course of Health Research for Lighting Design was officially launched. It was developed by a consortium of six partner-universities from around the world as a part of the Erasmus + Strategic Partnership grant programme. This includes Thomas Jefferson University (USA), University of Wolverhampton (UK), Aalborg University (Denmark), Hochschule Wismar (Germany), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and ITMO University (Russia).
The course consists of five educational modules. It contains multiple concepts, tools, and results of health-related research to inform lighting design. Students are exposed to knowledge and research related to lighting and health in different fields of physiology and psychology. They are also guided to learn how to conduct their own evaluation and data collection to enable lighting designs that support health and wellbeing. Students will also learn how to interpret the necessary measurements.
Module One introduces the topic and addresses the question of why health should be considered as a factor in lighting. Students will investigate aspects such as the physics of light and the physiology of vision, and the impact of light on the human body. The module also includes a short history of light and health.
Module Two reviews the basics of lighting and aspects of health related to lighting. This involves the role of daylight in architecture, daylight’s impact on health, and, in general, the neuroendocrine, neurobehavioral, and circadian effects of light on the human body. Students will also explore the psychology of light and additional topics such as glare and flicker are covered.
Module Three is dedicated to software, measuring devices, and evaluation tools. Metrics are provided that can be used to evaluate the physiological impact of lighting. The module also covers different software and measurement tools. Some assessment techniques for subjective impressions of a space are presented. At the end of the module there is a virtual tour of the Jefferson Research Lab.
Module Four provides an overview of standards and good practices. Metrics for daylight evaluations are presented, and students will be introduced to “Manchester Recommendations” for healthy daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure. Moreover, design integrations are discussed that employ measurements and design criteria for physiological impact and visual perception.
In Module Five, there are examples of applications and case studies from research and practice. Students will be provided with project examples from workspaces, educational, and healthcare environments, and they will be shown specialty applications (e.g., space travel, users with autism). Concepts of spectral modelling for light and health considerations, double dynamic lighting, biophilia, and information on therapeutic lighting applications will also be supplied.
Prior to the course launch, there was a conference organised by the consortium members. Those who joined the conference were lecturers, students, and professional designers. All experts agreed that the course was the result of a successful collaboration of representatives from different disciplines and different backgrounds.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Karolina Zielinska-Dabkowska from the Hochschule Wismar (Germany): “The topic of light and health is a very complex one, especially with recent medical and biological discoveries. Therefore, it’s essential that different groups collaborate in order to overcome the difficulty of putting research into practice. This collaboration requires the involvement of scientists, academics, lighting professionals, and representatives of the lighting industry. The proposed approach can help identify the gaps and then be used to find solutions to resolve those gaps.”
With lighting design as a profession developing very fast as new approaches and technology are applied, this course makes a contribution to this evolving field. Assoc. Prof. Lyn Godley, from the Thomas Jefferson University (USA) explained: “The field of lighting design has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, and it has become much more diverse in terms of what it entails regarding science, and visual and non-visual effects. For all of us working within the consortium, it’s been remarkable to team with the researchers, so that we have a dialogue together rather than separately”.
When exploring the topic of light and health it is important to understand that the numerous discussed issues extend beyond design and architecture. Asst. Prof. Dr. Georgios Triantafyllidis from the Aalborg University (Denmark) said: “10 years ago, everything was much simpler because it was only about daylight or engineering for artificial lighting, but now everything has been mixed with biology, architecture, engineering, and technology. The students are asked to understand everything, which is very difficult. That’s why I think this project, and this online course can contribute to organising and providing easy-to-understand knowledge to everybody: students, practitioners, and anyone who is a light enthusiast. Thus, we can all better understand how light works in regard to health”.
Prof. Michael F. Rohde from the Hochschule Wismar (Germany) emphasized: “I think this Erasmus + project from the EU is pointing in the right direction, and distributing this information through the website is a really good idea. It is important that we share this knowledge with all those who are interested on an international level. I think in the future, with the help of this course, students, clients, light designers, and manufacturers will comprehend how a modern, intelligent lighting concept should be developed in healthcare units or hospitals”.
The project has been extremely productive, however the field of light and health is very broad so the topic needs to be explored even further. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ute Besenecker from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), (Sweden) explained: “I do think that this project provides a great starting point to bridge knowledge from research and design applications, yet it still needs to be developed to more fully integrate it.”
Head of the international Master’s program “Lighting design” from the ITMO University, Natalya Bystryantseva observed: “The L4H project appeared as a response to a global demand of the lighting industry in the development of knowledge, skills and competence for young specialists. This demonstrates that the profession of lighting designer is becoming more significant and demanding regarding the quality of lighting. Scientific and practical experience of the partners, and work with different types of spaces, have helped to specify the most relevant questions that researchers have nowadays. In the future, this course will also help enhance and systemise the knowledge of young students and graduates when they write their master’s and postgraduate theses”.
The L4H project has highlighted the importance of light and health not only for scientists and practitioners, but also for those who use lighting in their homes, working environments, and in hospitals and healthcare facilities etc. Prof. Paul Hampton from the University of Wolverhampton (UK) added: “I would also suggest that a lot of the work and intelligence we have gathered here should be shared with clients, so that clients can better understand the impacts lighting can have. This might influence them to have lighting designers involved earlier in the design stage. I think we have to move away from the attitude that lighting is something to consider later, only if there’s a little money left, whereas, it needs to be at the forefront of the design”.
The online course is available on the official site of the project (https://www.light4health.net/) under the “L4H Online Course'' tab. All course content is available for open-access use either in part or in its entirety, and free for everybody interested in the field, with proper crediting: Copyright © Light4Health 2021. For educational use only. Not for Commercial Use. Available to third parties under Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives) 4.0 Public License.
For first time login, a user account needs to be created at: https://course.light4health.net. This is the same process for all users of the platform (e.g. students, teachers, professionals).
Nichia H6 LED Series
Nichia will be exhibiting at the first in-person lighting exhibition of the year at [d]arc room pop-up @ Design London on 22-25 September. [d]arc room pop-up is a dedicated lighting area within Design London, featuring a highly curated selection of brands. The exclusive event brings lighting designers, architects, interior designers, developers and retailers together under one roof.
At [d]arc room pop-up, Nichia will present its award-winning H6 LED series. This new family of LEDs delivers the highest multi-level boost in colour rendition and efficacy, while maintaining the outstanding lifetime expected from Nichia. The H6 series delivers a CRI of 90, while maintaining a level of efficacy seen in standard CRI 80 LEDs, meaning that lighting professionals no longer have to choose between high colour rendering and high efficacy.
Nichia’s H6 LED series provides better all-round performance for those luminaires targeting demanding environments, especially in shops, restaurants, hotels and galleries where colour rendering and energy savings are imperative design considerations. The solutions are particularly useful for general illumination fixtures – such as troffers, tracks, downlights and spotlights, among others – to boost the vividness of rich coloured objects as well as to set mood and add accents in retail and hospitality venues.
Nichia’s H6 series takes advantage of a unique red narrow band phosphor technology, among other semiconductor processes and packaging techniques, to develop LEDs that achieve a colour quality better than traditional CRI 90 LEDs with R9 content greater than 50 while maintaining an efficacy better than many CRI 80 LEDs. The 0.2W H6 series delivers a typical luminous efficacy of 200lm/W, a 20% increase in efficacy compared to many CRI 90 LEDs available in the market.
Nichia will be joined by Formula Luci Italia, a luminaire manufacturer specialising in luxury store lighting. Together at stand DR12, they will showcase H6 as an unrivalled lighting solution in luxury retail.
Glamox acquires Wasco
(Germany) – Glamox has acquired 100% of the shares in German lighting company Wasco. Located in Lower Saxony, Germany, Wasco specialises in continuous line luminaires.
“The acquisition of Wasco will strengthen our lighting solutions offering for logistics buildings and warehouses,” said Rune Marthinussen, CEO of Glamox. “Glamox will support Wasco’s product development strategy and we look forward to offer these innovative products to all our customers globally. Wasco will remain an independent, wholly owned subsidiary within the Glamox Group, welcoming customers both inside and outside the Glamox Group.”
The growth in eCommerce has led to an increased demand for warehouses; Wasco has proven lighting solutions that are in particular suitable for such warehouses, and highly valued by its customers. Its solutions significantly reduce product cost and installation cost compared to conventional continuous lighting systems.
Wasco founder Friedrich Habben is enthusiastic about the new opportunity: “Glamox is a very solid international lighting company with a focus on engineering and quality. Together we allow customers worldwide to discover our Wasco products and strengthen our ability to develop new lighting solutions for the future.”
Lights in Alingsås reveals theme for 2021 event
(Sweden) – Returning for its 22nd edition, the Lights in Alingsås organisers have revealed that the theme for this year’s event will be ‘Together’.
In a statement, the organisers said: “The world has changed quite a bit since the last ‘normal’ edition of Lights in Alingsås was held in 2019. The pandemic may not be over yet, but the time has come to slowly start reconvening, albeit at a safe distance.
“Autumn is around the corner, yet even as the days are getting shorter, brighter times await. Lights in Alingsås wants to kindle that sparkle of hope by turning on its lights and creating opportunities for visitors to gather once again.”
For the 2021 event, the same seven lighting designers who were scheduled to participate in last year’s workshop now get the chance to create this year’s installations. They will be joined by roughly 50 lighting design students from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Jönköping University. Partnerships with international schools will remain on hold until the global situation stabilises. New routines have also been established ahead of this year’s workshop to ensure all participants’ safety and to comply with current Covid-19 guidelines.
The trail for this year’s event will be around three kilometres long and will feature six installations spread out through the heart of the Swedish town of Alingsås. Both the trail and guided tours will start in Åmanska Parken. Visitors are also able to explore the installations independently via a digital guided tour in the Lights in Alingsås app. There are several additional installations and surprises for visitors to discover along the way.
Child-friendly installation Barnens Lights, which is sponsored by Sparbanken Alingsås, will be held in Museiparken. Designer and drama teacher Malin Wallin will create this installation.
The event will take place from 1 October to 7 November. Tickets for the guided tours have to be booked in advance and will be available later in September.
Pulsar: LuxEOS
Combining advanced multi-channel LED technology and precision optics, the LuxEOS range from Pulsar has been designed to deliver exceptional quality of light and performance.
Perfectly suited to a wide range of exterior applications - from floodlighting to distance projection - LuxEOS has been engineered to Pulsar's exacting standards and constructed to withstand the toughest environments.
Available in multiple sizes and with a choice of colour-changing LED sources, including RGBW, RGBA and Tunable White, LuxEOS offers a flexible architectural lighting solution like no other.
Nichia and Zumtobel announce collaboration
(Japan) – Nichia has announced a joint-product development collaboration with Zumtobel to provide LED lighting with advanced human-centric lighting benefits.
The partnership has become a key factor for Zumtobel to develop a new offer to its customers; the recently launched Zumtobel Spectrum is a lighting solution developed for its luminaires that harness proprietary technologies developed by Nichia – especially those designed within Optisolis and Vitasolis – to produce a colour spectrum that has daylight properties as reflected by nature, instead of mimicking the conventional sky daylight spectra like other high CRI LED solutions available on the market.
“The demand for high quality, human-centric LED lighting continues to grow,” explained Satoshi Okada, General Lighting Business Planning Manager of Nichia Japan. “Nichia has been a pioneer in LED development for human-centric lighting, having already introduced our Vitasolis technology platform in 2019. With more than 65 years of research into the production and application of phosphor and LED development, Nichia is actively engaged in making scientific breakthroughs in lighting, improving its quality and our relationship with it.”
Zumtobel is also utilising Nichia’s Optisolis technology, which provides a natural light source with a spectrum that achieves the industry’s closest match to that of the standard illuminant, including both the sun and incandescent.
GreenLight Alliance: An Architectural Perspective
Perkins + Will Sustainability Director Dr. Asif Din, alongside Associate Erik Svensson, offer an outsider’s view on how the circular economy fits within the wider design approach.
At Perkins&Will, we have always been looking at the environmental impact of our projects. We are an architectural practice based in London, part of a larger worldwide company, working at a range of differing scales from masterplanning to corporate interiors. The more we quantified the impact of corporate fit outs, we found the impact was larger than first thought. This is due to the fit out of buildings being a continuous cycle of environmental impact, which eclipses the building envelope over its lifespan. We looked closely at a designer’s input and the influence we have in terms of design and specification of our projects.
Our design responsibilities are extending beyond sustainability to a circular economy mechanism to meet 2050 carbon targets. We cannot delay in providing a methodology on how this would be achieved and act immediately.
The impetus is not solely from a designers’ standpoint; there are a range of client requirements that are emerging. The concept of corporate extended responsibility requires all corporations to conduct themselves correctly, looking at their whole supply chain. Much of the funding they receive is increasingly tied to environmental indicators. Corporations are also increasingly declaring their carbon emissions with commitments to use completely renewable energy, roadmaps to zero carbon and the payments of offsets through verified methodologies such as science-based targets.
We believe that offsets should be used as a last resort to meeting carbon commitments and designers have the remit to minimise carbon within the real estate sector. There is a limited resource of offsetting that corporations can access. To reduce carbon at the earliest stage of the design that has the potential for the largest reduction of carbon.
To achieve this vision, we had to set our own roadmap. This included a commitment on transparency and reporting stages to the industry to communicate the successes but also where the gaps and failings are to achieve our milestones. A net zero carbon interior is not possible now and will require effort from the whole supply chain to achieve our 2030 target date to systemically change the way we deliver interior projects.
Our roadmap outlines a series of focus areas. While we cannot currently design a fully circular project, we can make at least one or a few areas on each project circular. The knowledge gained from each project will move us towards designing complete circular projects. This would be achieved through:
1. Sourcing materials with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and/or Health Product Declarations (HPDs) supporting transparency and engaging with smaller manufacturers developing new sustainable materials.
2. Design for disassembly: consider how each component is put together and how it can be taken apart to be reused in the future.
3. Undertake a Life Cycle Analysis during the earlier stages of the design process to evaluate and highlight opportunities to reduce the project impact. This should be considered an iterative process that continues on site in collaboration with the contractor.
The incremental targets set along the timeline include processes, training, and specification changes to achieve goals. This not only effects how we design but what we design as the aesthetics move towards concepts that favour honesty of materials and how things are fitted together.
Using a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is the most transparent methodology to quantify where we are in the journey to achieving a net zero carbon interior. This, like any other construction project, is large in its initial amount and then decreases over the lifespan of the project. However, as the cycles are short with interiors projects, this spike occurs at a more frequent basis. Using Greenhouse Gas Emission impacts (GHG) allows us to show the impact of a range of chemicals and potentially allows the comparison of projects to take place in the future.
However, the scope of GHG quantification is limited to the closed system boundary of the site and its materials. To reduce impacts on a larger systemic level the principles of the Circular Economy (CE) are used. There are no established metrics for circularity, but a LCA impact assessment is a good fit. During the lifetime of a product, GHG reduction can be demonstrated through reuse, manufacturing of goods using different and less raw material, eliminating waste and the need to recycle at the end of the product’s life, and to increase longevity, creating a secondary market for the product.
The reality is that it is often easier and more cost effective to dispose of existing materials on project site and source all new. This is one of the many barriers our industry needs to overcome.
If the long-term goal is fully circular, there must be an invested interest from the manufacturers to receive their products back. In current design process the industry is ill prepared for circularity as purchasing reconditioned materials raises concerns, particularly around warranties. There is also often a perception of the concepts of second hand, reused or reconditioned items that must be overcome.
There are products already in the market that are moving towards a circular ethos. A good example is that of a European carpet manufacturer who offer full transparency on the list of all the ingredients that they use. They have operated a takeback service aligning with extended manufacturer responsibilities for several years but in addition have a Materials as a Service offering where the flooring is leased.
Within their manufacturing their product is fully recyclable, and they are increasing their recycled content as the feedstock from old product allows. They are only able to control this process through the ownership of their own recycling facility disassembling product to provide feedstock to mills to be made into new yarn.
We are currently working on a project in London; with the full project teams’ goals on sustainability aligning, the project is an opportunity to explore and continuously find opportunities to drive change in the industry. The project focused on circularity and going beyond sustainability accreditations from the start, creating a strong framework for the client and project team to work towards.
The project is in a previously occupied building, giving the project team a set of materials and components already installed. Repurposing elements from the previous fit out offers potential cost saving and innovative opportunities. Some are less glamorous, such as reconfiguring existing WCs rather than demolishing and installing new, whilst others can be part of a project storytelling, such as repurposing the timber from existing door frames to create handrails for new staircases.
Sourcing furniture in a more circular way, by focusing on remanufactured and reused furniture, aims to drive a much-needed shift in the furniture industry away from a linear model. According to Eramus+ (2017) approximately 80-90% of discarded furniture goes to landfill, many designed to last far longer than a typical office lease period.
Considering each material that goes into the new project can make a significant impact. For example, reducing the amount of metal used in the project by installing a glulam staircase. Each component change may not be significant in impact, but in combination creates a large difference. When we do the final LCA at the end of the project we will evaluate what we have achieved and take these learnings to the next project.
This is a journey in which we are now gaining the knowledge and clear direction to achieving a net zero carbon interior in the future. From this process we have learnt that we can only assess progress if there is a defined methodology involved. Although an LCA does not fully include CE, it does provide a good fit to the main aims of carbon reduction in interiors projects. We have discovered splitting of technical and biological components as much as possible allows better quantification and end of life processes to be made. This will require a designer mindset shift to viewing the building as a temporary material store rather than the end of the material journey occurring at hand over.
This cannot be achieved by us alone and requires the whole industry to similarly examine and deliver products in a similar light. We need transparency of material ingredients as it is the feedstock of the future building components. We need to eliminate waste through all stages of production and allow dismantling of components to be reused. This will require manufacturers to no longer view new product as a primary source of income but the responsibility of maintenance and repair to elongate life, making refurbished components the equivalent of new. This can only occur if this process is less arduous than the current practice of placing all components into a mixed recycling skip at the end of a lease period in an office fit out.
The most efficient way of reducing embodied carbon is to not install the component to start with. As designers we need to ask ourselves what the purpose of each component is, and if it really needs to be there. Whilst currently this puts restraints on the design, the industry is and will keep changing.
David Morgan Review: DGA Nano Tini
DGA’s Nano Tini was the latest miniature spotlight to take home a [d]arc award earlier this year. Here, David Morgan puts the miniscule spotlight under the microscope.
If this product review reflected the size of the luminaire under discussion it would already be well on the way to reaching its conclusion. The DGA Nano Tini spotlight is a very small luminaire indeed.
DGA was founded by Antonio Di Gangi in Florence in 1989 and the first lighting products produced by the company were based on fibre optics for use in museum and architectural projects. These early ranges included downlights, projectors, and linear systems for interior and exterior applications.
The company introduced its first LED lighting systems in 2000 and has invested heavily to create a full range of interior, exterior and underwater LED luminaires. DGA has always aimed to reduce the size of luminaires to the minimum during the design and manufacturing process.
The company undertakes the full luminaire design and development process in-house, including mechanical, thermal, and optical design, as well as photometric testing. The primary in-house production process used by DGA to produce its range of luminaires is NC machining of brass, aluminium, stainless steel, and magnesium materials. The waste material produced by the NC machining process is carefully collected for recycling to ensure minimum waste within a circular economy model. DGA aims to keep as many production processes in-house as possible and undertakes its own LED light engine assembly and powder coating of metal components.
The company currently employs 60 people in Florence and has a sales network covering all major specification markets. Focusing on the specification sector, DGA works closely both with Italian and international lighting designers.
The latest product introduced by DGA is the Nano Tini miniature spotlight, which recently won the [d]arc award for the best interior product.
The Nano Tini lives up to its name and is a very small luminaire – only 9mm in diameter and 20mm long. The miniaturisation in size is made possible by the 5mm diameter lenses used in the range. The design of this range of lenses was undertaken by the DGA design team using one of the standard optical design software systems.
Most of the small spotlights I have reviewed for arc magazine in recent years were based on a 10mm lens, such as the LEDiL Lisa range, and I was interested to compare the performance of the DGA Nano spotlight with these other products.
The sample I was given to test by DGA was fitted with a 30° medium beam lens; it performed well, producing a pleasant, soft edge spot. There were some visible striations in the output when the luminaire was placed close to the lit surface but in normal use in jewellery cases this should not cause any major problems.
The Nano Tini range includes three beam angles ranging from a 20° spot, 30° medium beam and a wide 50°. The light engine incorporates a chip scale LED mounted onto a tiny aluminium PCB. The moulded nano lens incorporates two legs that push into holes in the LED PCB, so the relationship between the lens and the LED could be somewhat variable and that might lead to changes in the beam quality or shape. The medium beam lens in this sample incorporated a series of simple domed micro lens details on the top surface, which are used to control the distribution.
The Nano Tini has a simple but effective construction. The machined brass body/heat sink hinges on the joint with a spit pin to provide friction. The LED board appears to be bonded to the machined body as there is no space for screw fixing, which might cause a few issues with recycling at the end of life. A satin black threaded snoot ring screws into the body to keep the lens in place and provides some glare control. The rest of the metal work is available in five finishes including gold, brass, polished chrome, grey and satin black powder coat.
The spotlight is mounted via an M4 threaded extension to the joint, which gives the smallest possible fixing to the mounting surface within a display case. There are currently three options for fixing the spotlight: a moulded plastic nut can be used to hold the spotlight to a mounting plate; a magnetic base is offered for use with steel panels; and a 19mm diameter surface mount base is available.
The LED light engine is available in five colour temperatures ranging from 2200K up to 4000K, all with CRI over 90. The lumen output with 350mA drive current is 50lm, which rises to 80lm with a drive current of 500mA.
The machined brass body gets quite warm after a few hours of use when run at 350mA. When run at 500mA, it is understood that the spotlight needs to be mounted onto a metal plate of undefined dimension to help dissipate the heat and keep the LED operating at a safe temperature.
The DGA Nano Tini spotlight is the smallest spotlight I have reviewed so far but it produces a useful light output that will be beneficial for the target applications of museum and jewellery display cases. The miniaturisation of LED luminaires continues as LED efficiency rises and smaller packages are developed. It will be interesting to see if there is a lower size limit beyond which there is no additional benefit.
