Emergency Wayfinding Lighting

London Heathrow Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports (second only to Dubai), with a total of 78 million passengers travelling through all the four terminals in 2017.  Naturally, this creates some challenges for installing an effective emergency wayfinding lighting system: there are many safety and logistical aspects to consider.

As part of a major project to overhaul all lighting systems at Heathrow, including wayfinding, advertising panels and emergency lighting, Bright Green Technology was commissioned to develop a retrofit lighting system to illuminate stairways that lead to emergency routes and exits. Emergency wayfinding lighting is critical to passenger safety throughout the airport and requires constant monitoring to ensure all parts of the system are functioning correctly.

The existing stair lighting system used fluorescent tubes which often failed. Technicians were required to replace the fluorescent tubes, resulting in a significant maintenance cost. Heathrow decided to update the entire system to LED to improve reliability and energy efficiency.

To meet the complex technical and safety requirements, Bright Green Technology designed a custom LED lighting and control system. The key component was a light cartridge that could easily be slotted into the cabinet, without needing to modify the existing wiring or light fitting. This allowed technicians to quickly retrofit the existing tubes.

Bright Green Technology built 555 individual retrofit kits for staircases throughout Heathrow T2. Around 10% of the units are connected to a self-contained power supply that ensures they stay on in case of emergency. DALI controls enable remote testing and control from a central system: data from each control identifies any issues or malfunction, further reducing the burden on maintenance operators.

Compared to the previous fluorescent lighting, the LED system provides an energy saving of up to 70% and eliminates ongoing maintenance. The LED retrofit lighting system provides a consistent, reliable and bright light source that delivers better illumination and passenger safety.