Ramboll HQ
Espoo, FinlandRamboll chooses Helvar’s hybrid-lighting solutions for its smart-building headquarters in Finland
Ramboll is a global engineering, architecture and consultancy company with operations in 35 countries. One of these is Finland, where some 1,100 employees work in a new 18,000-square-metre head office.
The office has been designed around two of the cornerstones of Ramboll’s strategy in Finland: digitalisation and sustainability. In line with these principles, Ramboll wanted to install a smart and adaptable lighting-control solution that would also collect data about how the premises are being used.
The company chose a hybrid solution from Helvar comprising some 2,800 ActiveAhead wireless luminaires, Imagine DALI routers for wired-lighting controls, and remote digital services. This future-proof intelligent lighting-control system has been designed to adapt to changing needs within Ramboll’s head office.
Smart Lighting, Smart Building
“The Helvar system enables us to collect occupancy data for all the spaces in our head office. This helps us understand how our building is used, and it’s also aligned with our smart-building ambition,” says Kari Melander, Support and Development Director at Ramboll Finland.
The ActiveAhead installation covers three buildings of six floors each, as well as an adjoining six-floor parking garage. The lighting installed in open-plan areas and corridors operates on a self-learning principle, with the luminaires adjusting according to occupancy levels and the usage of the space within the building. Daylight harvesting has been enabled too, so that Ramboll saves energy on sunny days. In meeting rooms, luminaires can be adjusted through a wireless control panel.
Easy to Configure
“After the lights are on and people start using the premises, ActiveAhead starts learning and adapting the lighting levels according to human behaviour,” says Erkki Hakanen, Project Director at Ramboll Finland. “One thing I like about this ActiveAhead control is that it is based on Bluetooth mesh, so it’s an open system that could be included with several other systems and controls using the same mesh network.”
The Imagine router installation – with close to 350 luminaires, multifunctional sensors, relays and control panels – has been divided into subnetworks through 16 DALI routers.
Imagine is a networked lighting-management solution based on, open standards (such as DALI, Ethernet and Rest APIs), so it can be easily integrated with building management systems and cloud services. As Ramboll wanted to configure as little as possible, light output levels and timeout settings were pushed through the mesh network to the ActiveAhead luminaires installed throughout.
“We have received good feedback from the people who work here, and it’s also believed that proper lighting has a direct impact on wellbeing, which is very important to us.” – Kari Melander, Support and Development Director, Ramboll Finland.
Photography: Julius Konttinen
