Lights, camera, action! Lincoln installs new LED technology thanks to major funding award
The University of Lincoln will become one of the few higher education institutions in the UK to house film and television studios fully-equipped with state-of-the-art digital LED technology after securing a £500,000 grant.
Student filmmakers in universities tend to use traditional methods of changing coloured acetates on lighting rigs suspended from studio ceilings when producing media content. However the studios in Lincoln’s School of Film & Media will soon have digitally-controlled LED lighting installed throughout, enabling students to adjust lighting levels and colours at the touch of a button.
The state-of-the-art equipment, which is also highly energy efficient, will be installed this summer following a successful bid by the University of Lincoln to the Revolving Green Fund.
Created by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and supported by Salix Finance Ltd, the Revolving Green Fund provides recoverable grants to help higher education institutions in England reduce emissions and save money. The initiative is currently in its fourth round of funding, and the money awarded to the University of Lincoln will support its commitment to reducing carbon emissions as well as improving the student experience.
The first batch of coloured LED lighting was installed in the Lincoln School of Film & Media two years ago, and the new grant funding will now ensure all studio lighting will use the advanced technology. The lighting being removed uses 56,000 watts, whereas the new LEDs will only require around 10,000, and will also enable further energy savings as they don’t require the vast amounts of regulatory air conditioning that traditional lights do.
Steve Judge, Learning Advisor in the University’s Lincoln School of Film & Media, said: “Alongside enormous environmental savings, the change will also further enhance the experience of our students. Using LED technology saves a great deal of preparation time, which can instead be dedicated to teaching and learning, and dramatically increases opportunity for using lights in creative and experimental ways.
''Our students use the most advanced High Definition television cameras and vision mixers used in the broadcast industry, but it is rare for a university to have such advanced lighting equipment so readily available. This means that our students will have even more valuable experience when they take their next steps in the film and television industries.”
The LED installation is just one of many initiatives supported by the Revolving Green Fund. The grant will also enable the installation of new fans to enhance air circulation in the main Minerva Building’s atrium and new energy-efficient condensing boilers in on-campus student accommodation, as well as a range of other energy-saving projects.
Alison Wilmshurst, Carbon Reduction Manager at the University of Lincoln, said: “We are delighted that our bid to the Revolving Green Fund has been successful and that this grant will fund so many valuable projects across the University, with the potential for saving around 400 tonnes of carbon emissions. With a growing campus and increasingly high-tech facilities, we have been working hard to reduce our energy consumption, energy costs and carbon emissions. The Revolving Green Fund grant represents a significant step towards us achieving our carbon reduction goal.”
In November 2014, the University of Lincoln was awarded a Green Award – the highest level of accreditation from the nationwide Investors in the Environment (iiE) scheme – in recognition of its commitment to reducing environmental impact.
Further information can be found at: http://www.lincoln.ac.uk