A Sydney cinema has saved a staggering 80 per cent on its electricity bill thanks to a new Dynalite automated lighting system.
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This massive savings saw Totalec awarded the Environment and Energy Efficiency Award at the recent National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) NSW Excellence Awards.
The new lighting installation was a key element of a total building upgrade that saw the Beverly Hills cinema complex expanded from a twin theatre to a six-theatre multiplex.
According to Totalec site supervisor, Nick Sais, the Beverly Hills six-cinema complex is one of the world’s first commercial buildings to be entirely illuminated using LED and optic fibre lighting technology. “The combination of LED lighting and Dynalite’s automated lighting system makes this lighting installation extremely energy efficient,” he said. “LEDs are inherently more energy efficient than conventional incandescent and gaseous-discharge luminaires. Furthermore, automating the lighting system means lights are only activated when and where they are required, and only at the required levels of illumination.”
Dynalite collaborated with Totalec to design a state-of-the-art automated lighting control system tailored to the cinema’s operational requirements. The system comprises a range of Dynalite ballast and relay controllers, motion detectors, switches and a number of control and monitoring interfaces, all linked via Dynalite’s sophisticated peer-to-peer communications serial bus network, DyNet. A range of luminaires, including high-powered LED fittings, strip lighting, wall washers and aisle lighting was provided by architectural lighting specialist, Optic Fibre and LED Lighting Solutions.
“The cinema operators required a simple, easy-to-use automated lighting system,” said Sais. “This would not have been possible without Dynalite’s expertise. The new lighting system is essentially a ‘single-button’ solution. Once the system is activated, all lighting manipulations across the entire cinema complex are carried out automatically, freeing up cinema staff to focus on their duties.”
Here, integration was the key, according to Dynalite NSW sales engineer, Frank Corrao. “The Dynalite system was integrated with the movie projector control system, and took many of its cues to modify lighting schemes based on on-screen programming,” he explained. “Also, by automating the lighting system, the enormous switch banks usually required in manually operated complexes were avoided. However, operator interface panels located in each projection room and main control office can be used to manually override the system in the case of an emergency or exceptional circumstances. This level of integration and operational flexibility is inherent across the Dynalite solution-set.”
Dynalite also provided ongoing support throughout the project, from design through to installation and commissioning. “The Dynalite team provided valuable troubleshooting assistance,” said Sais. “This was partially evident when we were implementing a solution to dim the LEDs – dimming LEDs can be challenging with fluctuations and loss of lamp light difficult to remedy. Dynalite had the technical knowhow and hardware to achieve consistent and reliable LED dimming.”
