Siemens UK HQ – Sir William Siemens House

Siemens – a global technology powerhouse

About Sir William Siemens House

In 2019, Siemens UK made the Sir William Siemens House in Manchester their new headquarters.

Siemens, running its UK operation from Manchester, is seen as a massive contribution to closing the productivity gap between North and South and improving the economy.

As part of the refurbishment, Siemens wanted to modernise the HQ and bring their office building in line with their ambitions to achieve net zero by 2030.

Client Challenges

Siemens UK HQ challenges were:

Reducing its energy consumption and carbon emissions. The existing lighting was predominantly compact fluorescent and T5 light tubes. The lights were always on – from 7 am – 10 pm, each working day. The outdated lighting system wasted energy and was expensive to maintain.
Improving staff wellbeing and comfort. Low-quality lighting can cause discomfort – eye strain, headaches, etc – impacting staff wellbeing and productivity.

Project Objective

CILS’s objective was to deliver substantial lighting energy and carbon savings.

To achieve this, we designed and implemented a new, efficient LED lighting system for Siemens UK HQ, consisting of three floors in Sir William Siemens House.

Our secondary objective was to improve the office environment for staff.

Up to 89%

energy saved on lighting

Maximised savings

intelligent lighting uses the least amount of energy for optimal light level

Improved wellbeing

with perfect light levels, minimal glare and no flicker increases office staff’s comfort and productivity

Siemens is leading the way towards carbon neutrality. They’ve made a firm commitment to be net zero by 2030.

This includes all Siemens production facilities and buildings worldwide.

We are proud to have supported Siemens in this, by significantly improving their UK headquarter energy efficiency and reducing their lighting carbon emissions by 89%.

Results

The new lights consume up to 89% less energy.

Our re-design optimised the lighting for the most comfortable staff experience in each room.

For example, we

reduced the number of lights in areas where there were more than necessary;
only installed high quality LED replacement lights;
embedded Enlighted smart sensors into new fittings, for additional energy and carbon savings.

With the Enlighted controls system, every light fitting has its own processor, memory and upgradeable software. This means the light output is always adjusted to what is optimal.

The lights use about 70% less energy when controlled. This greatly reduces light fittings wear and therefore ensures longevity.

For Siemens, it was also important that the HQ provides an ideal working environment for their treasured staff. Our installation and fine-tuning, ensured the lighting was perfect – with minimal glare, no flicker and always adjusting for ideal light levels.

Why CILS

CILS is a trustworthy energy-savings and smart building projects delivery partner of Siemens. CILS has continuously proven itself to deliver the promised savings and work in line with strict restrictions and policies enforced by Siemens.

Siemens, who owns Enlighted, contracts CILS as their preferred partner for implementing smart building and Internet of Things (IoT) systems – in the UK and Europe.

How we did it

We planned our design and installation meticulously, around Siemens’ strict policy and site requirements, to ensure the highest level of workmanship with no disruption to their operations.

We carried out the works outside office hours and, at the end of each shift, left no trace of us having been there… other than the obvious, new smart lighting system.

Solution highlights:

CILS designed a low-energy smart LED lighting system across all floors, specified in the scope of works.
The main office areas were designed for 300 lux lights at working desk height – the most comfortable light level for office work.
We embedded Enlighted advanced sensors in each LED fitting. These adjust the light in response to a number of factors, like presence and daylight; they also record the individual fitting’s energy use.
When sensors don’t detect anyone present within its range, the light dims down to 20%. Outside office hours, they turn off completely.
The information from sensors is wirelessly fed back to the Energy Manager via Gateways.
The Energy Manager translates data into useful graphs and CSV files for data analysis.
Chosen staff can adjust the lighting settings via the Energy Manager. Where necessary, they can set it to meet individual staff needs.

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