Fancy an ultra efficient office refurb in the new year?

Following several years of constant growth, ILEC IMEC needed new premises to house its rapidly-expanding workforce, and research and development team. With the old premises no longer fit for purpose due to space constraints, ILEC IMEC wanted to make a statement with its new head office and sought input from CP, the manufacturer of intelligent lighting controls.

A key requirement of the project was that the new building needed to showcase the ILEC IMEC in the best possible light.

Ian Appel, Group Executive Chairman at ILEC IMEC, explained: "We see ourselves as a building services company which champions innovation and so our building design needed to reflect this. We wanted to create a working environment that was conducive to the productivity and wellbeing of our employees, while showcasing best practice in energy efficiency. On the strength of our past work with the CP team, selecting their technology for our new build was an obvious choice for us."

However, with tight timescales on the project, which was scheduled to be carried out by ILEC IMEC over a 12-week period, close collaboration between the two businesses was necessary. The first step was a consultation between ILEC/ IMEC and CP Electronics, which enabled the latter to make a series of informed recommendations to help meet the lighting objectives of the client.

In this case, CP’s Vitesse Plus lighting control system (VITP7-MB-DD) was the suitable solution to make the most of the natural light which entered in through the windows situated around the perimeter of the building. This allowed for lux levels to remain constant due to the presence of daylight dimming, helping to eliminate unnecessary energy usage when natural lighting could be favoured over artificial lighting. For added control, this also came with manual dim up/ down functionality to allow the end-user to override the daylight dimming as required.

Vitesse Plus scene select plates (VITP7-4SC) were recommended to allow for lighting levels to be pre-programmed and quickly configured. The original plan was to include four switches on the wall but following a change in direction on the project, VITP7-4SC was seen as the suitable choice. Moreover, because it fit comfortably within the holes which had already been cut in the wall, this saved time on plastering and other additional activities.

CP’s Vitesse Modular lighting connection system was chosen for the circulation areas and toilets because of its compatibility with the application, ensuring a consistent level of lighting for the safety and comfort of the building occupants. The intuitive design of the system meant that it could be quickly and easily installed, which was particularly important given the time constraints on the project.

Appel added: "Lighting controls from CP Electronics have been a mainstay of our work for a over a decade thanks to their quality, reliability and cost effectiveness. Once again, these have been instrumental in making our new office as efficient and functional as possible in keeping with our company image."

Equally crucial to the energy savings made possible throughout the project was the introduction of solar panels which accounted for a sizeable portion of the building’s overall energy requirements. The inclusion of ILEC IMEC’s own Thermarestor product further added to the electrical fire safety aspect of the building design, ensuring that the overall objective of creating a highly efficient, highly safe flagship building was well and truly met.

Lee Austin, Sales Engineer at CP Electronics, also said: "ILEC IMEC is a growing business and as it continues to expand into other units surrounding its main building, it will continue to partner with CP Electronics. We take that as a real endorsement of our product product range and the relationship between the two businesses."