It’s almost finished. The 85,000 square metre logistics installation at Torsvik, one of the E4 artery’s hottest logistics centres. The pace will be hectic; trucks passing through and goods moving in and out of the storage shelves. Naturally all lit by Proton Lighting’s Zodiac industrial light fittings, developed to withstand extremely tough environments and to go easy on energy at the same time. And by using motion sensors, they save electricity as soon as the pace slacken.
The ProLogis property management company has built an 85,000 square metre logistics installation at Torsvik outside Jönköping, Sweden. The location at Torsvik is perfect for a logistics centre. Several major arteries pass through Jönköping, and its proximity to the E4 was naturally a deciding factor. In charge of the overall project is Logistic Contractor. Building will be completed by the spring of 2009, but the first tenant, DHL Exel Supply Chain, has already moved into the half-kilometre long premises.
Lighting with a sense of presence
Emil Lundgren in Jönköping is the main contractor for all electrical installations, and when it came to the choice of illumination, Proton Lighting’s Zodiac industrial light fittings were purchased through the wholesaler Storel.
“Proton Lighting provided us the best total solution. We had help with planning and lighting calculations, and by using Zodiac we were able to deploy a smaller number of fittings and achieve the right light throughout the building,” Emil Lundgren’s project manager Conny Simonsson tells us.
He also says that energy saving was an important issue quite early on in the project, and for this reason all of the fittings in the installation are equipped with motion detectors, which means that they only reach full brilliance when someone is active in the zone the fitting is in. When there is no activity in the zone, light is dimmed to 5 to 10% of output, which cuts energy usage and increases the lifetime of both the light fitting and the light source. And with 3,500 fittings and 7,000 Long Life tubes, it adds up to a lot of saved energy every year. We like to call it intelligent lighting.
Simple installation by special delivery
When it is time to install lighting for 85,000 square metres, it requires skillful electricians and as flexible an installation process as possible. Proton Lighting designed a special solution for the project, one in which the light fittings were delivered assembled with connectors and installation fittings for conductor rails that were then packed in large boxes. This meant that not only did we avoid handling hundreds of small cartons, but it also made it very easy to install the lighting.
“Things went unbelievably quickly when we installed the fittings, and very smoothly too, thanks to not having to install them one by one. This solution allowed us to install all of the lighting in a total of 100 hours, and by using plenty of electricians we were ready in just under four days,” says Conny Simonsson.
The installation was also made easier by the fact that Zodiac, with its aluminium frame, weighs less than other fittings, and as such is just as kind to backs as it is to the environment.