With environmental awareness at an all time high in the Republic of Ireland, Greenled LED lamps are making waves across the Irish Sea.
The Gloucestershire-based sustainable lighting company is currently working with a number of architects, specifiers and developers in Ireland, including sustainable construction company, Monti – the developer responsible for the innovative Watermint apartment development.
Located close to Cabinteely Park, eight miles from the centre of Dublin, the Watermint development is a collection of 13 apartments, built using a host of energy-efficient features, including over 400 Greenled LED lamps.
Dublin architecture practice, DMOD, was responsible for obtaining planning permission for the development. Project architect, Gemma Dwyer, explains more about how the development is coming together.
“Sustainable design has been at the forefront of design considerations from the outset,” she says. “The building’s fabric, form and orientation were carefully used to work with the environment, and practical sustainable solutions have been employed throughout."
Co. Dublin-based sustainable building services consultancy, Conservation Engineering has been largely responsible for specifying the development’s sustainable features. Operations Director, Niall Coughlan has been working closely with Greenled.
“The Greenled lamps complement the other sustainable products in the development very well indeed,” he explains. “An investment has been made in low energy products that offer future tenants a credible commodity.”
Over 30 Greenled LEDs are being installed throughout each apartment for both task and ambient lighting. The products used include an assortment of LED lamps from Greenled’s Atria, Antares Warm White and Antares daylight ranges.
Compared with tungsten light bulbs, or any other lighting technology, Greenled LEDs offer tremendous energy and cost savings. A tenant in a standard 90 sq ft two-bedroom Watermint apartment using tungsten bulbs can expect an annual lighting energy bill of €130, while the same unit using Greenled LEDs can expect to pay only €40 a year – a 75% saving. Significant carbon footprint savings are also possible. The same two-bed unit using 4 watt Greenled LEDs uses a total of 120 watts, while using tungsten bulbs equates to 500 watts per unit.
Although it was in fact Monti MD, Neil Monahan that originally specified the Greenled lamps, Coughlan has seen definite benefits in LED technology.
“Two or three years ago, using LEDs on this scale would not have been possible,” he says. “Greenled has developed these lamps to a very high standard – products that work well and deliver a brightness that rivals less eco-friendly products. LEDs are definitely the way forward.”
Other energy-efficient features at Watermint include: floor to ceiling south-facing glazing to maximise sunlight, roof-mounted photo-voltaic solar panels and a centralised wood pellet boiler. Renewable materials have also been used throughout where possible, such as accredited timber and Ecocem cement – used to decrease carbon emissions during construction.
Building work at Watermint began in June 2007, and will complete in November 2008.

Email: dbarton@clearcommunications.co.uk