One of the first buildings in Germany to be illuminated entirely by LEDs

The LED stands ready for the technological leap into building lighting applications

The new reception building at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors' head office in Regensburg is one of the first buildings in Germany to be lit entirely with LEDs. More than 4,500 white and colored LEDs illuminate workspaces and provide general room lighting as well lighting effects and outdoor lighting. In contrast to conventional lights, LEDs open up opportunities for completely innovative lighting designs while saving energy too – for example, 35 percent in the case of white light illumination alone. For OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, one of the world's largest manufacturers of optoelectronic semiconductors for lighting, sensing and visualization, this step was not just a duty but also a fascinating challenge.

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As Artur Grösbrink, project manager at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors put it: "Illuminating the building with LEDs all-round proves that the LED technology has left its niche. It can be used in any area of professional lighting and is also eminently suited for showcasing rooms and buildings. Decorative effects are just as feasible as stimulating workspace or atmospheric room lighting. This applies to both indoor and outdoor areas and the solution here was achieved purely with sophisticated, but generally available, standard LED luminaires."

The initial priority was to produce basic white lighting that met the workspace requirements of both the receptionist and the security officer. However, an effective lighting solution that can be adapted flexibly to changing demands involves more than that. After all, the building is occupied around-the-clock, 365 days per year. This need for a more flexible solution led to the development of a multifaceted and individually adjustable lighting scenario. The lighting concept also gained a showroom character. A variety of highlights and colored lighting effects explore the full range of potential application elements and exciting solutions. In combination with the buildings’ audio-visual media system, the lighting system can also be used to stage creative customer events.

All visitors to OSRAM Opto Semiconductors in Regensburg, be they customers, suppliers or guests, report here and are collected from this point by their hosts. Consequently, they spend only a relatively short time in the location, generally between approx. five and twenty minutes. The lighting concept used precisely this situation as its starting point and provides an answer to the question of how to give visitors an awareness of the extraordinary and therefore arouse their curiosity. In this case, the goal was achieved using a completely innovative lighting concept that defies conventional thinking – light here no longer comes solely from above nor is there a switch for each light. Instead, the visitor room is illuminated purely by a wall of light with an area of 17 m².

A total of approx. 4,500 LEDs were used – 95% white and 250 color RBG (red, green, blue) LEDs. Just 350 high performance white LEDs from the latest Golden Dragon Plus product generation with a luminous efficiency of 100 lm/W provide the majority of the basic interior lighting and achieve an energy saving of 35%. Nearly 4,000 Power TopLEDs illuminate special enclosed areas, e.g from dimmable monitor lighting in the security officer's workspace to desk lights to presence and daylight controlled lavatory rooms as well as lighting for pathways and stairs. There is also accent lighting for mirrors and door frames. LEDs in red, green and blue do not merely set colored accents in the light wall but also in the atmospheric backlighting of the visitor counter.

Energy efficiency and sustainability are determined by a wide range of parameters, not least through the use of intelligent electronic controls such as dimming the light sources or presence and daylight sensors. The use of typical directional LED lights (LEDs do not emit light in all directions) leads to an application efficiency, i.e. light is not radiated in unwanted directions. Another advantage of light-emitting diodes is that with a life of more than 50,000 hours they are extremely durable and virtually maintenance-free. All these factors combined give LED technology its unique position in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency in the areas of building and street lighting and compensate for the higher start-up investment. It must also be remembered that this technology is still only in the early stages of conquering the general lighting market. Both technologically (e.g. up to 200 lm/W for white light) and in terms of cost (through savings achieved by the ramp up of volume production), LED technology holds the promise of even greater potential in the near future. It is expected to be the dominant force in the lighting market in about 10 years.

The lighting of this building using semiconductor light sources in all areas, taking advantage of the very specific benefits of LEDs wherever possible, employing the latest electronic controls and intelligent luminaire design, means the future of lighting technology has already arrived!

Advantages

• The holistic LED solution results in an energy saving of 35% and generates significant additional utility.
• The greater use of electronic controls leads to much greater flexibility in the application, e.g.
         -  lighting scenarios: adaptation to the desired lighting situation
         -  energy efficiency through LED technology, electronic dimming, presence and daylight sensors
• The use of redundant LED lighting solutions leads to a great variety of possible lighting scenarios:
         -  adaptation to the actual need or the desired lighting mood during the course of the day/night (the security office is permanently occupied)
         -  increased comfort for the security officers especially during the night shifts
         -  the planned use of the security office as a "showroom" for customer presentations in order to present the current state of LED technology in general lighting
• Energy savings despite additional utility

Project Features

• new company reception building / visitor center / approx. 100 m²
• exclusively LED lighting, indoor and outdoor
• novel lighting concept with almost no downlights but light wall
• state of the art white general illumination
• inspiring accent and emotional lighting
• redundant LED solutions for various light scenarios
• centralized light management system
• multiple use of intelligent electronic control units
• showroom character with audio-visual media system
• a 17 m² "light wall" for dynamic white room illumination with integrated colorful effect lighting
• energy saving was not the focus but achieved 35 % versus conventional lighting
• four different luminaire manufacturers involved
• all luminaires available on the market today
• luminaire design from retrofit style to pure, high sophisticated LED solutions

Luminaire partners

LI-EX:   LI-EX - Profil   indoor & outdoor

Siteco:   Lunis R / CL 10   indoor & outdoor

RucoLicht:   UE2 - Pro   indoor

OSRAM:   LinearLight Flex   indoor & outdoor

Traxon:   Touchwheel Buttler XT   Light Management System

LED Light for you Technology Partners

LEDIL   Optics

LI-EX   Consulting & Implementation

Bergquist   Thermal Management

Photo credits:
Matthias Bruckschlögl, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors

See also the related Press Release.