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Emergency Lighting: The Green Running Man Explained.
All commercial and industrial buildings in New Zealand are required by law to have compliant emergency lighting. Tightly bound by standards and regulations, emergency lights indicate the nearest exit and provide sufficient illumination to guide occupants to safety in the event of a mains power failure.
Emergency lights are powered by back-up batteries of different strengths, and when mains power fails they immediately switch to their back-up battery.
STANDARDS GOVERNING EMERGENCY LIGHTING
Building Code Standard ‘F6 – Emergency Lighting in Buildings’ and ‘F8 – Signs’ governs the system design, operation, and installation of emergency lighting across New Zealand. The AS/NZS 2293.3 standard ensures that emergency lighting products are manufactured to meet full compliance.
As well as using compliant fittings, a building’s emergency lighting design must meet the New Zealand building code.
James Oloi, Legrand NZ, National Business Development/Project Manager and Lighting Council New Zealand Representative on LG007 (AS/NZ standards working group) explains, “It is the building owner’s responsibility to ensure their building is compliant to F6 and F8 building code – a producer statement is required to be issued by the emergency lighting designer to confirm this compliance. Producer statements can only be issued by a council registered qualified lighting design engineer.”
There are two categories of producer statements; construction and design. PS1 is the producer statement design and PS2 is the producer statement design review. PS3 and 4 are then required for the construction stage to ensure the construction complies.
GLOBAL EXPERTS IN EMERGENCY LIGHTING PRODUCTS AND DESIGN
Legrand are pioneers in emergency lighting systems, manufacturing emergency lighting since 1967 and developing the first-ever monitored emergency lighting system in 1989. Extensive global investment in Research and Development ensures they’re continually at the forefront of innovation; pushing the boundaries of what is possible across electrical and digital building infrastructures.
James Oloi and his Legrand colleague Tony Tavita are both qualified lighting design engineers, and are registered with Councils across New Zealand to produce Producer Statements for Emergency Lighting.
All Legrand emergency lighting has been designed and manufactured locally in Australia to Australia and New Zealand standard - AS2293.3-2018.
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY PROJECT
From economy exit signs to fully monitored dynamic exits, there is a wide range of emergency lighting and exit signage available in the market. It is vital to ensure that the products you select are compliant, reliable and meet the Australia and New Zealand standard - AS2293.3-2018.
James comments, “Legrand has a dedicated R&D team with over 20 Engineers developing new products, along with an accredited NATA laboratory where we conduct compliance and quality tests. When you work with Legrand, you can be assured of a local presence – before, during and after sale.”
All Legrand emergency lighting comes in economy for budget conscious projects, premium standalone for performance focused projects or connected solutions for larger projects.
LED exit signs activate in in the event of power failure for building evacuations. During an emergency, people immediately search for the nearest exit assuming it’s a safe evacuation point.
Legrand has a full range of exit signs delivering different viewing distances dependent on your requirements. From 24m suitable for a general office installation, to 32m, 40m and 60m for larger Warehouse applications.
Led Exit signs can be bought as economy, premium standalone or computer monitored via Legrand’s award-winning GALAXY® Connected Emergency Lighting System. As a comparison - Economy units have 50,000 hours of life with LIION batteries and a 3-year warranty whereas premium has 100,000 hours LED life, a LIION battery, iSmart temperature sensing technology to ensure battery life longevity and a 5-year warranty.
Legrand also offer ‘Dynamex Exit Signs’, that deliver an instant visual indication on whether the exit is in safe use, allowing for faster evacuations while reducing the risk of hazards. Faster evacuations ensure optimal safety. LED Exit signs operate in three modes:
2. SATELLITES
LED Satellites provide one high LED Brightness for different scenarios. Legrand offer a complete range of non-maintained recessed and surface mounted emergency luminaires for commercial applications. They are energy efficient: less than 1W energy consumption in standby mode, easy to install and suitable for different hole sizes. With Lithium-Ion (LIION) battery technology and electronics designed to lengthen the life of the battery, minimising maintenance costs, as well as an environmentally friendly battery. There is economy, premium and connected solutions available.
3. LUMINAIRES
Luminaires such as LED Battens, Spotlights and bulkheads are reliable, durable and perform in different types of commercial and industrial applications such as car parks, sports facilities, warehouses, exhibition centres, production or retail. They provide safety and security. The WP2 LED Batten is ideal for demanding applications, with high humidity, damp, dust & corrosive locations. For stairways it has an auto-occupancy sensor to reduce power consumption and can be used in conjunction with the LBplus busbar and trunking system.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF EMERGENCY LIGHTING MANAGEMENT
Connected emergency lighting systems are fast becoming the norm for larger commercial applications because of the ability to monitor all emergency lighting quickly making compliance with standards and regulations quicker and easier.
James comments, “Legrand’s connected emergency lighting management system, GALAXY® took 2 years, and a global collaboration over 20 electronic, software and RF engineers in both Australia and France. It’s suitable for installation into smart buildings, and streamlines the entire process from specifying and install through to day-to-day monitoring.”
GALAXY® also operates with less infrastructure and less components - reducing costs by up to 30% and resulting in superior reliability. App-based commissioning technology enables commissioning to be completed with a smart device, leading to a set-up process that’s 50% faster, and the GALAXY® tri-wireless platform ensures the system is future-proofed for Internet of Things (IoT) developments.
Legrand are also set to release further updates on the GALAXY® system this year, adding more features and technology, including the capability for Building Management System (BMS) integration.
ASK THE EXPERTS
Emergency Lighting is a highly specialised area of lighting design and product manufacture. To ensure the success of your commercial and industrial projects, it’s recommended you enlist the help of experts such as Legrand New Zealand and their qualified specialists to take the stress and complexity out of gaining project compliancy.
www.legrand.co.nz
