A high profile Melbourne CBD commercial office tower was recently thrown into a tailspin following an LED lighting upgrade in the fire stair, which failed to meet compliance.

In response to tenant concerns, the building owners had the lighting project company install additional  lights as well as relocate the lights from the wall to the ceiling to meet the Australian Standard (AS1680) lighting level requirements of 80 lux at ground level.

The installed product was a 20W LED luminaire which was significantly underpowered to meet the lighting requirements of the fire stair.  In contrast, enLighten’s  Chamaeleon™ LED light’s flexibility offers a wide range of lumen outputs  to meet the specific area’s lighting needs. This includes having dedicated wall mounted fittings.

According to enLighten Australia Business Development Manager, Andrew Blundell, the problem is  becoming more common as Chamaeleon imitation products are brought onto the market at lower costs.

'You get what you pay for' says Andrew. 'We select high performing Lumileds LED chips with industry leading lumens per watt performance.'

Award winning Australian LED lighting innovator enLighten Australia has designed a comprehensive range of Chamaeleon models to match the specific lighting need for back of house areas such as fire stairs, car park and service corridors, including emergency lighting requirements.

Based on data from over 600 installations Andrew comments on how some customers don’t’ realise what impact the fire stair structure can have on the light output. Factors such as the design of the stairwell and if it is painted or unpainted  all contribute to the selection of the light that is required to meet Australian compliance and safety regulations.

'Meeting these lighting standards is unlikely to be achieved by using off the shelf overseas luminaires offering one size fits all solutions that were not designed in consideration of the Australian Building Code requirements.'

'We have had a strong take-up of sample light installations to demonstrate the light’s capability.  Benefits include the client gaining a full understanding of the lighting solution and can take comfort in the light’s performance prior to the project rollout '  says Andrew.