Computacenter was formed in 1981 during the early days of personal computing by two entrepreneurs, Philip Hulme and Peter Ogden. Today, it is one of Europe’s leading independent providers of IT infrastructure services, and helps its customers adopt green IT practices. Computacenter has its own rigorous corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda and does all it can to reduce energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions.

Computacenter’s UK headquarters in Hatfield also houses its 350,000ft2 customer fulfilment centre (CFC). Head of facilities, Kevin Graham, was concerned that the lighting system used in the CFC was inefficient and not producing a desired level of light output. He commentsL “I realised that the sodium lamps and fluorescent tubes in-situ were yesterday’s technology and that far more efficient alternatives were available. While the light output was a concern, so too were the costs associated with lighting the CFC, as we had used 738,814kW/h of energy in the previous 12 months.”

Kevin Graham invited FES to the site to discuss the various options available and it soon became apparent that a light emitting diode (LED) lighting solution would offer the best return on investment (ROI).

 

Commenting on the benefits of LED lighting, Marcus Brodin, commercial director at FES, states: “Our experience has indicated that using this technology can reduce lighting bills by up to 65%. What’s more, LED luminaires are environmentally friendly, as they are 100% recyclable and free from mercury and other hazardous chemicals that are harmful to the environment. This is important for any organisation like Computacenter that is committed to CSR.”

 

The lighting in the CFC is on for up to 18 hours a day. FES and Computacenter decided that replacing the 700 luminaires would offer the most immediate benefits.   This 11 week long installation programme was completed on time and on budget, and the result is that the CFC will have a post upgrade energy use of 334,290kW/h per year – a 54.75% improvement. In addition, the maintenance of the previous infrastructure used to cost Computacenter in the region of £4000 per year. This will be negligible for the next five years at least, and at a fraction of the existing maintenance costs thereafter. The new luminaires are also installed with a five year advanced replacement warranty that provides a faster substitution of any defective parts.

As one of the nation’s 2000 largest organisations Computacenter has to comply with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. Therefore, it is required to monitor its energy use, and report its energy consumption on an annual basis. The cost to the company of CRC compliance was £6500 per year, a figure that has now been reduced to £3000.

Creating the correct environment for safe operation was also a key objective, as although the previous lighting levels were meeting CIBSE guidelines regarding Lux levels required in correlation to workplace activities, Kevin Graham felt that more could be done. The LED lighting upgrade has increased Lux levels by 25% which – in addition to helping to enhance the health and safety of employees, is expected to increase productivity and general wellbeing.

Graham is delighted with the results, and concludes: “Not only did FES meet the agreed deadline; its project management and delivery capabilities were second to none. The new lighting infrastructure will not only offer a fast ROI and make a significant contribution to our environmental agenda, it has made the CFC a more pleasant place to work. I’m looking forward, hopefully, to working with FES on future projects.’

A time-lapse video of the entire Computacentre installation can be viewed on the Future Energy Solutions Vimeo channel.