Falmouth University reduce costs with Bat Friendly LED Bollard Retrofit from Gemma Lighting

“LED Bollard Retrofit” – The most south-westerly university in the UK is benefitting from reductions in carbon emissions and energy savings after Gemma Lighting installed more than 200 of its LED Bollard retro fit lights on campus.

The Cornwall campus, or Tremough as it is known locally, is based in Penryn near Falmouth and is jointly owned and managed by the University of Exeter (UoE) and University College Falmouth (UCF). Operated by the two institutions through a 50:50 joint venture called Falmouth Exeter Plus, the campus is provided with a range of services for staff and students of both institutions including Estate Management.

UK LED Bollard Lighting Manufacturer Gemma Lighting replaced the control gear and traditional lamps in over 250 Thorn Chartor Bollards on site with the latest in LED technology.

Gemma worked with Falmouth Exeter Plus to develop a retrofit LED insert complete with LED driver that would meet the lighting levels set by the university, but with a 70% reduction in energy.

The LED retrofit kit for the Thorn Chartor Bollard consumes less than 20 watts and was designed with a simple click and fit adaptor which made easy installation for the estates team.

Half the funding for the project was put up by the Universities themselves, whilst the other half of the funds were provided by a Salix energy efficiency loan – a scheme designed to enable the public sector to purchase energy efficient products using interest free loans.

Karen Clowes is Carbon and sustainability Manager for Falmouth Exeter Plus, and said the new LED lights had proven to be beneficial for a variety of reasons.

Karen said: “The main driver behind the decision to switch to LED was to reduce our carbon emissions and also our maintenance costs – we were replacing bulbs in the previous bollard lighting on a weekly basis and so far we’ve not had one single problem with the LEDs.

“Changing to the brighter white light of LED has also improved health and safety, as visibility is better so people feel safer.”

The bollards were also fitted with a cover on one side, as this was a special requirement from the University. This was in order to keep the light from one side of the bollards from affecting a nearby bat habitat – the cover meaning that the light did not disrupt their sleeping patterns.

Pleased with the results of the LED bollard inserts, there are future plans for more LED lighting to be used on the university campus.