Flex Connectors’ flex7 range installed at Scottish Blood Transfusion Centre

28-09-2017

Flex Connectors were chosen to supply lighting connection and control products for the new headquarters of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service in Edinburgh. The new £33 million centre is based at Heriot-Watt Research Park, and incorporates offices, a cafe and state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities. Blood donations will be received from across Scotland, where they will be processed, tested and manufactured before being distributed across the country.

Flex7 eZeBox Starter Units were used to supply power to lighting circuits within the building. eZeBox Tap-off units were also used. These can be plugged directly into a starter unit to extend the power supply, and provide a new, independent circuit with a separate control philosophy. Luminaires were then simply connected using flex7 prewired luminaire leads. flex7 lighting controls can be plugged straight into any outlet of an eZeBox connection unit. As all units are 7-pole as standard, it is even possible to upgrade your control to a dimming version, if desired, without having to replace the connection unit itself.

One of the special requirements on the project was that light fittings in corridors and laboratories within the building should dim when an area is unoccupied. This was achieved with a specially programmed, project-specific lighting control device from Flex Connectors. If an area is unoccupied for a set period of time (timeout is adjustable) lights will automatically dim down to 15% brightness and return to full power once occupancy is detected again.

Additionally energy saving lighting controls were used throughout the building. Absence sensing controls were installed to ensure that lights automatically turn off once an area has been unoccupied for a set period of time. The advantage of absence sensing over occupancy sensing is that it’s a more energy-efficient solution. Lights do not turn on automatically when a room is entered, which means that the user can decide whether to turn lights on, or keep them off depending on the time of day. With the addition of daylight dimming, energy-efficiency can be optimised, as lights dim down whenever natural daylight is detected at an adequate level..

Flex7 lighting controls all function at protected extra low voltage, which means that cables can be set at any depth within the wall, and do not require any extra protection. They provide a simple, cost-efficient way of complying with 17^th edition wiring regulations.