30 Nov Switching off the year – December 2022 Newsletter

The Principal´s Pen

My goodness!  It’s hard to believe that it is December and an entire year has flashed by.

Time for reflection on the year that was!

BHA Lighting Design & Consulting

The year 2022 was different to all previous years.  We commenced the year with an exciting project for a client at his factory.  It was a great opportunity to use some of the latest technology with LED luminaires incorporating daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing and energy consumption and savings reporting.  The project was a resounding success and was fully compliant with the applicable standards.  Compliance was the client’s specific requirement.  Subsequently through the year we have completed  projects in the same factory.

We were also asked to be a lighting design service provider to a leading multinational lighting company to complete the lighting re-design in a number of stores for a major chain store.

Several new clients contacted us to do ongoing lighting designs for their own clients.  These included outdoor lighting for the surrounds of a huge artificial lagoon.  Daniel completed his first outdoor engineering project lighting design to illuminate an arched bridge over a river.

We did lighting designs for different chain stores and factory premises for another client in Johannesburg.

I had my first opportunity to work as a consultant for a major R & D project at the factory where we have completed several projects.  For this project I was required to either find or develop a lighting solution for a specialized camera to determine if the quality of an item was acceptable for use.  This was my first exposure to the complexities of a robotics system.  The total cost of the prototype unit was R10 million.

We were also commissioned to not only produce the lighting designs for a number of projects, but also to project manage those projects until the final sign-off by me and acceptance by the client.

Another significant difference in the year 2022, is that I have been asked to consult for more instances than ever before.  These have been from investigating, measuring and reporting on obtrusive outdoor lighting in a number of cases varying from obtrusive or nuisance light as the CIE refer to it caused by sport field lighting to obtrusive/nuisance light from neighbours causing annoyance to other neighbours.  In each of the cases after visiting each site, measuring and calculating the degree of nuisance, a detailed technical report was compiled which were, in some instances, used in legal and out of court settlements.

I was also commissioned to consult in a number instances involving insurance claims where lighting was claimed to be the cause of injury or other incidents.  Once again, these tasks can only be completed at night time to ensure that all measurements are accurate.  In all instances, the light levels are measured at least twice and sometimes three or four times to make sure that there was no error in the measurement values.  Detailed technical reports are always provided.

BHA School of Lighting 

Our webinars are in demand.  Registrations to attend usually exceed the number who can be accommodated at the online event.  The majority of attendees are from overseas.  Whilst that is extremely pleasing, it is equally disturbing that South African attendee numbers have declined.  Loadshedding has played it’s unfortunate role in the local attendance numbers as well.

Similarly, the foreign students generally make much better and steady progress that our South African students except for a group of dedicated first and second year South African students. Foreign students place a higher value on the value of our course than South Africans do.  In my opinion it is because South African formal tertiary institutions do not offer full and detailed illumination engineering courses and few even appreciate that Students should always place a high value of further education, particularly in times of uncertainty.  Even major companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and many others around the world are downsizing their staff compliment.  It is at times like this that an additional lighting qualification can give one the advantage over other applicants who do not have a recognized international lighting qualification.

The school has continued to enjoy steady enrolments throughout the year with an unbelievable nine enrolments on a single day!

Over the December/early January period, several modules will be updated and upgraded to include the latest changes to lighting and control technologies.  Module 14 which deals with the important subject of Standards and Compliance will be updated with the latest international lighting standards.

Be sure to lookout for more information about our first webinar on 26 January 2023 – “Standards and Compliance: The consequences of non-compliance.

I wish you all great business and good health.  I wish you calm as you race to complete projects before the rapidly approaching end of year..

All that now remains is to wish each of the readers, students and other professionals, a very happy holiday.

With best wishes
Philip

Happy Birthday to the following past & present students celebrating their Birthdays this month of December! We hope you all have a memorable day!

Imraan Moosa, Durban – 1 December

George (Freddie) Piek, Johannesburg – 2 December

Buntu Kelembe, Cape Town – 3 December

Acir Daniel Urban Guimaraes, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil – 4 December

Justine Williams, Paarl – 9 December

Katherine Stead, Pietermaritzburg – 9 December

Mohammad AlMuhanna, Khobar, Saudi Arabia – 13 Decembe

Tim Tathiah, Durban

Priyanka Praful, Bangalore, India – 19 December

Gregory Olivier, Somerset West – 23 December

A warm welcome to the following new BHA School of Lighting student!

John Tau. Mekan Engineering Services, Taung – BHASL003C19: Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering Course

The following students are preparing to write examinations, we wish you great success!

Oliver Hauser, Johannesburg – as you prepare for the first year examinations

Martina Mantaras, Montevideo, Uruguay – as you fast approach the time to prepare for the first year examinations

Congratulations to BHA School of Lighting Students

Mark Storm, Cape Town,  on your graduation and qualification as an Illumination engineer after the successful completion of the Advanced Diploma in Illumination Engineering Course

Mia Koster, Windhoek, Namibia, on your successful completion of your First Year examinations and your advance to Second Year

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