Sustainable sports infrastructure: the city of Leuven invests in energy-efficient lighting for the football fields of Wijgmaal and Kessel-lo
16 December 2021Sustainable sports infrastructure: the city of Leuven invests in energy-efficient lighting for the football fields of Wijgmaal and Kessel-lo
16 December 2021
The city of Leuven has entrusted EQUANS with the relighting projects of three of the football fields of the Boudewijnstadion in Kessel-Lo and the main field of the Ymeria stadium in Wijgmaal.
The replacement of the old floodlighting system with state-of-the-art LED technology is a perfect match for the city’s ambition to become climate neutral by 2030. “Our teams worked on replacing the old luminaires with state-of-the-art LED technology. With this energy-efficient field lighting, electricity consumption has been reduced by less than half. Good for a CO₂ reduction of more than 42 tonnes a year!” Joline CULUS, Project Manager Relighting.
In Leuven, Energy transition are not just words. In order to reduce the net emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane, or nitrous oxide to zero, the city of Leuven is taking numerous initiatives to make its patrimony more energy-efficient and greener. Maarten Andries (Operation Manager): “As the city’s technical maintenance partner since 2012, our teams are doing everything they can to support the board in achieving this ambition. The renovation of the outdoor lighting on the football fields of the Boudewijnstadion in Kessel-Lo and Ymeria Wijgmaal is a good example of this.”
Energieverbruikers uitschakelen
The -Boudewijnstadion has three identical football fields that each have four masts with three floodlights each. The former bulbs in the floodlighting system had an effective consumption of 2,178 W each. As a result, the total power consumption of the old installation was 78,408 W. These bulbs also contained mercury and had an average lifespan of just 12,000 hours. During that time, the light output in lumens decreases rapidly. This loss is approximately 20% after approximately 4,500 hours of operation. The same thing could be seen on the main field of the Ymeria stadium in Wijgmaal, where the old floodlights of the same type on the four masts consumed 34,848 W.
Consumption is now 2.3 times lower
“We chose to replace the old lighting on both fields with the OptiVision LED gen3 floodlighting system from Philips,” says project manager Arne Vandermeulen. “They are currently the reference standard for sports field lighting.”
“We installed two floodlights per mast in Kessel-lo, each consisting of three LED modules. One fixture is aimed at the field and one at the goal. Each fixture has a power consumption of 1,415 W, bringing the total for the entire complex to 33,960 W; 2.3 times less than the old installation. There are three floodlights per mast in Wijgmaal. Two are facing the field and one facing the goal in each corner. The total power consumption is 16,980 W. This again equates to an energy bill that is 2.3 times lower.”
Lifespan increased to 55 years instead of 6.5 years
“In addition, the city was very pleased to hear that the lamps no longer have to be replaced every 6.5 years. The OptiVision LED gen3 floodlights have a service life of 55 years. This makes a huge difference. Moreover, the most sensitive part of the LED solution is not the light itself, but the driver, which converts the 230 volts to direct current. We have installed them in an easily accessible place. This means electricians no longer have to climb the 18-metre-high masts to resolve malfunctions.”
The result ? Cost- and energy-efficient football pitches that fully meet the quality requirements of the Royal Belgian Football Association. “Competitions on the main field in Wijgmaal require a light intensity of 200 lux, while 80 lux is sufficient for the three fields in Kessel-lo. We have an accessory from our supplier with which we can direct the light beams to ensure the entire field complies with the standards.”
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