Emergency Lighting optic controls for advanced evacuation illumination.
ETAP Lighting Emergencies are all supplied with superior optics. Designed for improved efficiency in Emergency design resulting in excellent evacuation lighting. ETAP Lightings advanced Emergency optics offers designers flexibility in design with over 10m height ratings, elongated beam for long passages resulting in a sleek minimalist installation.
Commonly in Australia, Emergencies are supplied with no optics. They have a bare LED PCB mounted to the to the emergency housing. The beam has no controls and it is defines the light emission from the LED PCB supplier. While this is an affordable option, it is not efficient. LED is inherently glarey and intense. Diffusers and optics are widely used in LED lighting to give the lighting product, comfort and better lighting outcomes within the space. Emergency Lighting should be no different.
Having an important role in Emergency evacuation. To provide a clear visible path to the Exit points within the building. This should be for all occupants, Young, fit, adults, olderly and visually impaired.
Without optics, the LED glare mentioned in Section 4.2.2 ‘Avoidance of Glare’ within ASNZ2293 cannot be controlled. The glare in evacuation can cause confusion and in extreme cases glare blindness. When the lights shut down and the Emergency lighting is activated, our eyes have to adjust to the light changes. Uncontrolled LED Light sources will have poor uniformity and offer intense pin spot light source. The intense beams will create sharp pools of light (C0:C90 D40 or D60) with sharp dissipation around the edges of the beam. The concentration of light sits in the centre where the PCB is located. The Emergency, without optics, will have a sharp cut off, poor uniformity and obvious glare. ETAP’s optics create a clear path of lighting for evacuation.
D63
D63 is considered the superior C0:C90 offered in Australia. As displayed in the image above the Red shows the intense glarey centre that quickly dissipates without a lot of wall reflectance. The round beam allows dark uneven lighting. ETAP Lighting’s Emergency optics offer wide, even illumination for excellent visibility.
Two standard optics in Australia are approved. ‘Escape Route’ and ‘Anti-panic’ lenses.
Anti-Panic Lenses C0:C90 A630:A630.
ETAP Lighting’s ‘Anti-panic’ Emergency lens has a square beam distribution perfect for square rooms; the square optic spreads light offers even illumination including wall reflectances. The square beam offers ease in evacuation lighting design with no need for overlapping. The controlled lighting beam in the ‘Anti-panic’ lens offers clear illumination so that pathway obstructions can be seen, reducing the risk of injury.
K9 Mini C0:C90 differs being B320:B320.
The Anti-Panic lens can be designed side by side with even illumation without overlapping light needed in a round distrubution.
Escape Route lenses C0:C90 D800:A25
ETAP Lightings ‘Escape Route’ lens is an elongated distribution, providing a slim long path of lighting for passages and corridors evacuation. The beam is managed to throw light exactly where it is needed to manage evacuation to the Exit points within a building. The efficient long ‘Escape Route’ beam will reduce the number of Emergency luminaires needed within the installation, reducing power, maintenance and services on the ceiling line. Mounted in a 2.7m ceiling height the ‘Escape Route’ lens will spread compliant lighting across 19.2m.
In Summary
Lets consider a real Emergency within a busy public building. This building is a 6 story hospital, filled with visitors, patients and staff. A fire has broken out in the Ground floor, smoke has begun to fill into the ground floor and floors above. The fire has been detected and the building Emergency systems are activated. An evacuation warning loudly warns occupants to leave the building, the lights turn off and the emergency lighting is activated. The room is murky with smoke. The occupants immediately begin to be scared and in some cases panic. The warning system is loud and urgent, the lighting is uneven with smoke filling the space and people filling common areas, the confusion heightens. Especially when their are sick, disabled and visually impaired within the space to consider. Add needing to find a wheel chair, ventilator or IV to assist a patients to safety. Couple this with a high fail rate common between test cycles for 6 months testing. An accepted 10% fail rate is extremely high when the Emergency lighting is already not uniform nor clear illumination in evacuation.
Consider that this building has even Emergency lighting that clearly lays out a path to Exit points within the space. The Emergency lighting is supposed to be a support for people within a commercial building to move to the closest and safest Exit and out of the building to safety.
ETAP Lighting’s Emergency optics offer efficiency, even illumination during evacuation for improved building safety.