New Children’s Hospital
Helsinki, FinlandHelvar lighting control enhances wellbeing and encourages play and imagination at Helsinki’s New Children’s Hospital
Located in Meilahti, Helsinki, the New Children’s Hospital is designed for children who demand specialized medical care, offering small patients’ world-class treatment. The hospital opened its doors in September 2018 and was built for the children and their families, with parents being welcome around the clock. Patients range from premature babies up to children aged 15 years old.
The hospital was designed with patients in mind, using lighting, art, music, pictures, and literature to create a healing and inspiring environment for children. Tove Jansson’s Moomin books philosophy was used as an inspiration for the hospital design and the lighting chosen was selected to complement this. The atmosphere created by the light and the Moomin theme open children’s minds to explore different experiences. Each of the eight floors has its own colour code and story that takes you to the beach, through the jungle, forest, valley, to the mountains and towards the stars in space. “This was a big project for Helvar, there were many different needs to consider, with special consideration for patient comfort and healing. The end result was definitely a proud moment and it was great that Helvar could assist with the design and implementation” says Jukka Riikkula, Sales Director, Helvar Oy Ab.
Much of the specialty lighting embodies the Moomin world and its storytelling. Above the nursing stations are cloud-like opal luminaires designed to appeal to the young patients, taking their thoughts away from the hospital, and creating a less clinical environment.
The hospital utilizes Human Centric Lighting which supports natural circadian rhythms and improves concentration. Human-oriented lighting controls the intensity of light and shade according to the needs of the end user. 70 Imagine routers and a range of solutions from the Helvar Digidim range (controllers, relays, sensors, multisensors, and panels) were installed within the hospital. A key aim for the hospital was to implement energy-efficient lighting. During the day, the hospital’s corridors are set for 70% light output and in the evening the light output is lowered in a time-controlled manner. There are motion detectors in the hallways that raise the light output to ‘normal’ level if someone is walking down the hall at night. Lighting automation brings big energy savings and is a convenient solution. “Light control saves energy tremendously. The human eye would not notice so much if the light output is full or at 70%. Light sources achieve a longer lifetime when used at 70% instead of at full power”, explains Riikkula.
With iPad-controlled lights, the children can paint their own pattern onto the round-shaped luminaires from a tablet and add their favorite music to it, all of which encourage play, imagination, learning and happiness. The children can adjust the lighting in their room using a tablet to create special light colour shades. “In patient rooms, children have the opportunity to choose the lighting scenes that suit their needs, helping to keep them calm and delivering a pleasant ambience during their stay” says Riikkula.
The New Children’s Hospital really helps take a child’s mind away from the hospital experience- the lighting, sounds, and colourful paintings all help a child feel relaxed and stay in their own world of play and imagination. This is so important for their wellbeing which aids in speeding up recovering time” – Jukka Riikkula, Sales Director, Helvar Oy Ab Helvar-NewChildrensHospital-Helsinki-Finland-2 Helvar-NewChildrensHospital-Helsinki-Finland-11 Helvar-NewChildrensHospital-Helsinki-Finland-56 Helvar-NewChildrensHospital-Helsinki-Finland-45 Helvar-warehouse Case study 7.5.2012 TRUE TRUE FALSE Helvar News, Issue 2/2008 Industrial Helvar Warehouse — warehouse lighting as par of energy savings programme Karkkila Finland Helvar-Warehouse_DATASHEET_EN 910 “At the end of 2007, Helvar committed to the energy conservation agreement of the industrial sector in Finland. Within the programme, Helvar commits to decreasing its energy consumption by 9% from the 2005 level by 2016. In 2007, Helvar carried out an energy consumption analysis at the Karkkila production unit. The analysis showed that the company has great potential for reducing its energy consumption. Lighting is an important part of the energy saving efforts.
TEXT: Juhana Päivärinta, IMAGES: Helvar / Johan Stenberg
Helvar renewed the lighting of its 700 square metre finished goods warehouse. The old lighting installation dated from 15 years ago. A lighting expert, Timo Mattila from Valaistus- ja sähkösuunnittelu Ky, was invited to specify the new lighting. The project aimed at improving energy efficiency and lighting quality in the warehouse. A short investment pay back time was one of the objectives of the project.
The lighting system in the warehouse uses the Helvar DIGIDIM Router system that controls the lights according to the digital DALI protocol. Helvar’s own DALI electronic ballasts “EL2x49si” were chosen for the luminaires. The warehouse area was divided into 14 zones with presence detectors. If no-one is present for ten minutes, the lighting power drops down to 20%.
“The selection of luminaires with high quality optics was a major factor in creating the desired power savings. The system also requires a lighting control system, presence detectors and daylight-sensitive light control,” says Helvar Plant Manager Kimmo Kallio.
The new lighting system has been in use for only a short period of time. According to the first measurements, the energy savings have been nearly 70%, resulting in 45,000 kWh less energy consumed per year. The saving equals the total annual consumption of two Finnish medium-sized detached houses with electric heating.
Most of the savings are achieved through presence detection. Another useful feature is the constant light control helping to utilise the light coming through the skylights. The dark warehouse floor was painted a lighter colour to improve the reflection of light. Many things must be considered in lighting planning to achieve better energy efficiency.
Energy metering was included in Helvar’s new energy efficient warehouse lighting system to monitor the functionality and power consumption. Savings will increase further as experience is gained and the daylight sensitivity and presence detecting functions can be optimised.
Old lighting system: • 69 luminaires • Magnetic ballasts 2×58 W • Energy efficiency
EEI = C • Ave light level 268 lx (100%)
New lighting system: • 69 luminaires • Digital electronic ballasts EL2x49si • Energy efficiency; EEI = A1 • Helvar DIGIDIM system with 910 DIGIDIM router providing automated time controls, constant light and presence detection features (312 Multisensors) and push button panels for manual control Ave light level: • 400 lx occupied • 200 lx unoccupied
