CAMBRIDGE City Council has completely refitted its Grand Arcade Annex car park with award-winning LED lighting to help save energy and lower carbon emissions.

As part of their commitment to make Cambridge a more sustainable city, council officers asked lighting specialists MHA Lighting to provide a solution that would reduce energy bills without affecting light quality.

Manchester-based MHA Lighting replaced 220 Halophane light fittings (150 watts without ballast) with 220 of their award-winning LB 36 fittings, which use just 45 watts (including ballast).

This is expected to achieve energy savings of up to 75% and cut carbon emissions by the equivalent amount.

The new LB light fittings run maintenance free for the duration of their 60,000-hour lifetime (which equates to seven years if they are switched on 24 hours a day, seven days a week). This will provide additional savings as no maintenance costs will be incurred.

Parking Services Operations Manager Sean Cleary said: “The Grand Arcade town centre car park is one of the city’s busiest car parks so high levels of light and light uniformity are crucial to ensure customers feel safe and secure, particularly as the car park is underground.

“As a result, the biggest challenge for us was completing the installation with absolute minimum disruption to customers and business users who rely on the car park daily for their city centre parking.

“We worked closely with MHA Lighting’s installers to ensure all the necessary work was completed during quieter periods and were able to complete the project on schedule. “The quality of light provided not only improves safety and security throughout, but also reduces the volume of shadows in the car park.

“The new lighting is more like being in natural daylight which is much more pleasant for our car park users. “We are also intending to use this successful project as a benchmark to improve our energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint across our other car parks.”

MHA Lighting Managing Director Tom Harrison said: “As part of Cambridge City Council’s commitment to improving car park users experience and reducing their carbon footprint, a lighting solution was provided which would match exiting lighting levels but reduce energy costs.

“This particular project was a complicated one due to the different layout of each level of the car park and because of the sprinklers and ducting.

“Despite the challenges we were able to devise a lighting scheme, which would create light uniformity and consistency on each of the four levels.

“We are delighted to have been able to help Cambridge City Council fulfil a small part of their environmental objectives and have really enjoyed working alongside such a proactive and enthusiastic car parking team on this particular project.”