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Features
The current simultaneous environmental pressures from Government and consumers mean retailers are increasingly looking to green and sustainable solutions that not only drive energy efficiency but also cut costs. Here’s what Nualight did for M&S.
Expert in green retailing and particularly refrigeration illumination displays, Nualight is all too aware of the challenges facing retailers in the trading environment. When it comes to energy consumption, retailers are one of the highest users of lighting and 50 to 70% of this is mostly used in product merchandising in refrigerated retail display cases such as freezers, coolers and beverage dispensers.
Using LED illumination technology, Nualight developed its energy efficient product illumination solutions that expend minimal heat and thus reduce the total energy used in refrigerator displays. By replacing traditional fluorescent lighting with illumination, based on LEDs, energy consumption is said to be halved in these applications. Nualight’s Vantium Porto range, for example, heralds a proven reduction in energy consumption in refrigerated glass doors displays of more than 60%.
“Relying on outdated technology that greedily eats up vast amounts of energy is no longer a viable solution for any forward thinking business,” says Vincent Guenebaut, Nualight‘s retail applications expert. “This was the key driver for us to develop LED based luminaires which provide higher levels of illumination, last longer and consume less than half the energy when compared to existing fluorescent and halogen technologies.”
One forward thinking retailer looking to embrace green retailing was Marks & Spencer, who agreed to conduct a pilot with Nualight in its Tamworth, Staffordshire store, to gauge the viability of the digital lighting technology for all its stores. Partnering with refrigerated display cabinet maker SPG, Nualight’s Vantium Porto LED luminaire was embedded in SPG’s combination cases, a unit with half glass doors and freezer below.
M&S piloted the scheme under Plan A, its 100 point eco plan aimed at tackling climate change, reducing waste, safeguarding natural resources, trading ethically and building a healthier nation. As part of the Plan, M&S is out to reduce the amount of energy used in stores by 25% per square foot of floor space. And following on from the success of this initial trial, M&S agreed to roll out the energy efficient lighting and cabinets on new builds within M&S stores across the UK.
“The success of the frozen food half glass door cabinet,” comments Steve Leach, SPG’s Development & Sales Director, “is down to the partnership approach and skill set of the three parties involved: the insight from the retailer; the LED technology from Nualight and SPG’s display case expertise.”
The initial M&S trial resulted in a number of benefits for the store, some even unexpected, says Nualight! One of the most apparent was the reduction in energy consumption which had a knock-on effect for cost savings. The original 384W fluorescent case lighting was replaced with 174W energy efficient LED illumination which consumed less than half the energy. Furthermore, as the LED luminaires produced less heat, this reduced the refrigeration loading by more than half on the lighting load of the case (the energy required to extract this heat from within the refrigerated zone).
The flexibility of the product range allowed M&S to optimise product illumination, illumination levels and luminaire length and this enhanced the appearance of the products on display. These low profile and scalable luminaires can, says Nualight, be installed in areas not possible for fluorescent lighting, thus ensuring the display case is fully illuminated and any dark or shadowed areas are eliminated.
According to Nualight, the M&S door and freezer well luminaires provided such a high level of illumination that the existing fluorescent lighting, positioned in the canopy section, was no longer required. SPG was therefore able to redesign the cabinet to remove the cabinet lighting superstructure, saving the cost of installing and running PLL canopy lighting, and contributing towards the ability to hold cabinet prices in an environment of rising material costs.
“This project shows the impact of all CO2 reductions that can be achieved by focusing on the niche applications that best match emerging technologies,” states Bob Arthur, Marks & Spencer Refrigeration Technologist. “The beauty of this project is that all of these energy and CO2 savings are achieved with an acceptable return on investment, thus helping to meet both the carbon footprint and financial objectives of the company.”
Explaining that further Vincent Guenebaut adds, “Our product development is based on sound research, continuous improvement and customer feedback. Our designs now run to fifth and sixth generation. Each step has provided increased illumination, reduced energy consumption and longer lifetime. We extensively test our products in extreme temperatures, both high and low, to ensure we achieve a maintenance free operation over a minimum of 50,000 hours, at least five years.”
A recent study by Nualight found LED illumination display products are considerably better than fluorescents, making products more visually appealing. Customers are demanding more from their retail experience, making the need for retailers to create leisure destinations, with lighting playing a part in creating ambient surroundings. This is now more important than ever given the intense competition in the food retail market today.
The SPG cabinet, a finalist in its category in the Cooling Industry Awards 2007, signifies the innovative approach that Nualight and SPG have taken to develop the frozen food half glass door cabinet, with the awards recognising the achievements made in pushing forward the boundaries of environmentally focussed refrigeration and air conditioning.
Since the implementation of the cabinets, says Nualight, M&S has experienced a reduction in maintenance costs. The digital lights in the cabinet can be switched off overnight and when switched on, achieve optimum lighting output. This can save many hours of unnecessary energy usage. Cabinets with fluorescent lighting need to remain on due to problems in turning them back on in freezing temperatures as the tubes become too cold to strike. Moreover, the life of fluorescent tubes is historically less than digital lighting and this has saved M&S the task and indeed the expense of replacing potentially large numbers of light tubes.
“As a company with a green vision,” concludes Liam Kelly, Nualight’s CEO, “we are keenly aware of the environmental challenges facing the world. Nualight understands what retailers need and we respond quickly to change, with improved technology. Consumers now consider social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop and trust organisations more if they are socially and environmentally responsible. Retailers are leveraging these new opportunities and putting green solutions on their strategic agendas. We are delighted to contribute to Marks & Spencer’s green vision from the bottom up and look forward to a continued success in the future.”
