Overview
Based on the aims for the reorganization of the financial adjustment and the task sharing between federal and cantonal governments, today the federal government is the manager and building-owner of the national highways. In accordance to this situation the need for a standardization of tunnel lighting is given. A coordination of the Maintenance is also necessary.
The project has to achieve the following goals:
- Standardization of lighting technology
- Optimization of lighting systems regarding energy conservation, especially with the focus on new technologies
- Optimization of lighting systems regarding life cycle costs, replacement aspects including installation techniques
- Proposals for the lighting concept and the system selection for all tunnel areas including the tunnel entry
- More efficient system engineering
- Evaluation of lighting systems regarding optical guidance
In the following, the decisive characteristic with regard to the methodology are shown:
- The parent methodological approach is that all the parameters crowdfunding
Tunnel lighting is analyzed and their cost elements are determined. These are the basis for cost optimization.
- The aspects of safety are based on risk analysis
This concerns both the traffic safety and security aspects related to extraordinary events. The necessary bases can be searched and appreciated.
- The optimization of energy use for lighting based on profitability calculations.
Also in this area data are available.
Funding
Results
The study on "Standardization of Tunnel Lighting" has provided numerous insight view in the area of tunnel lighting engineering and consulting. The added value regarding the economic and environmental benefits could clearly be outlined, if appropriate luminaires are evaluated and selected. Many luminaires do not show benefits at first glance, however, if lighting distribution, lighting volume, size and installation properties are considered, big differences are recognized.
The study shows further that the engineering process cannot be simplified, but there are more possibilities to optimize. The new software tools make the optimization easier – the boundary conditions can be defined more precisely. The differences between different products may clearer be recognized and therefore better on-site positioning is available. Further, the energy conservation potential and the life span are known more precisely.
The conclusion is: Lighting systems can be better optimized, if the technology of the luminaires is known and brought into modern calculation tools.
The results of the cost/benefit analysis are interesting: short-term vs. long-term considerations can be compared. Important parameters may be the lighting distribution in one case, or even the length of a seal in of luminaire housing on the other hand. However, the engineering of a tunnel lighting system still requires special skills; too many possibilities, parameters or system variations have to be considered.