City beautification as well as safety for citizens are aspects of lighting that have been a Philips Lighting preoccupation for a number of years now. The result has seen the introduction of even more street lighting products by the company, aimed at improving Britain's towns and public amenity areas. Moreover, in the light of the fact that surveys have repeatedly shown that the fear of crime is greater than the frequency of crimes themselves, good lighting can make all the difference in terms of making people feel safe at night. A recent application of Philips Lighting's CDM-TT lamps, which give a bright white light with exceptional colour rendition, provides an excellent example of beautification combined with greater safety for pedestrians at night. The application concerns the town centre of Ashton-under-Lyne, the biggest of the nine towns in the borough of Tameside, itself just one of ten autonomous boroughs in Greater Manchester.
Better light needed to fight crime:
Ashton-under-Lyne's town centre had been lit for the past decade by modern 'heritage style' fittings using high-pressure sodium (SON) lamps. Although this installation had given good performance over the years, it had become clear that better light was needed to help fight crime and the fear of crime. This was because the light provided by the existing lamps was not suitable for the surveillance CCTV cameras used in the area. A light source with better colour rendition was required.
Borough lighting engineer for Tameside, Mark Brody explained: "As an authority, we are heavily involved in lighting as an aid to fighting crime, so security is paramount. The lighting system we had been using in the town centre gave good performance for the users but was somewhat deficient for CCTV security coverage - the light quality was simply no longer good enough.
"We sought advice from Philips Lighting and Brian Healy, key account manager, was especially helpful. He visited Tameside on several occasions and came up with several options. He suggested the use of Philips Lighting's Mastercolour City CDM-TT lamps as straightforward replacements for the original SON lamps. This would achieve the desired objective of improving the lighting in the town centre offering better appearance and colour rendition.
'Beyond our wildest expectations':
"This project has been achieved within the time scale because it was simply a lamp replacement operation using the original fittings. The results have been beyond our wildest expectations! The light is brighter, making people feel safer, and there are significant benefits for the CCTV security coverage too. For example, the CCTV operators say that they can provide colour prints from the security cameras for the first time, rather than monochrome, simply because of the better colour rendition. This helps in the identification of criminals and trouble-makers.
"In fact, it is too early to tell whether there has actually been a reduction in crime in Ashton-under-Lyne but it is almost certain that there will be given that it is an established fact - from the Home Office - that good lighting is a proven aid in the fight against crime.
Continued Mark Brody: "The leader of Tameside Council, Councillor Roy Oldham CBE, is a chartered engineer and he has taken a particular interest in lighting as an aid to fighting crime and affording safety in the community. These improvements have been achieved at minimum cost utilising a retro fit lamp within existing luminaires. It is now planned to upgrade the remaining other town centres in Tameside in a similar way.
Upgrades using Mastercolour CDM-TT lamp are now also likely in areas of Tameside other than the town centre. Because of the vastly improved performance gained with this light source, it is felt that they, or indeed other white light sources could be considered in other areas within the borough where there is currently a crime problem or certain social difficulties.
The lighting system:
The lighting design was carried out in-house and installation work was also in-house using Tameside contractors. Tameside also carried out the design, procurement and manufacture of 'heritage-style' ornate bracketery for the fittings.
The Philips Lighting CDM-TT lamps were fitted into the original lanterns in 70, 100 and 150W variants according to the position of each point. In the Market area itself, a few Philips' HPI lamps have also been used because they provide a required higher rating of 250W. These lamps too can be retrofitted to a previously SON installation.
About MasterColour City:
The Mastercolour City CDM-TT ceramic metal halide lamps provide the optimal balance in lighting quality with bright white light and high efficacy. Colour stability is high as a result of the ceramic CDM-arc tube technology. The CDM arc tube provides a colour temperature of Tc = 3000K, 90 lumens/watt and a CRI greater than 80. Mastercolour City CDM-TT lamps provide excellent colour rendering with CDM colour quality in outdoor lighting (white light + high efficacy + high colour quality).These lamps will also - as stated - retrofit on to SON (High Pressure Sodium) systems. With claimed best in class light quality characteristics, best in class energy, efficiency and superior lifetime reliability, the Mastercolour range offers a top-class alternative for all applications. The lamp operates using IEC compliant SON-gear. For new installations, Philips Lighting recommends thermo-switch useage in line with up-and-coming IEC requirements for SON lamps. Mastercolour City lamps are also easy to install as a result.
Philips Lighting UK Ltd.,
The Philips Centre, 420-430 London Road,
Croydon, Surrey CR9 3QR
Tel: 020 8781 8140
Fax: 020 8781 8929
Web: www.eur.lighting.philips.com
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