Brief
Halesowen College, one of the West Midlands’ premier further education colleges serving thousands of students across its Whittingham Road and Shenstone House campuses, wanted to modernise its estate lighting infrastructure, reduce commercial electricity consumption, and accelerate its sustainability and carbon-reduction commitments without diverting capital away from front-line teaching.
What we did
Following initial engagement through the West Midlands FE College innovation network, Your Digital Hub (YDH) worked closely with the college’s Finance and Estates leadership alongside specialist smart building partner Uni-Smart. Together, we conducted a comprehensive technical survey of legacy lighting fixtures, burn hours, occupancy patterns, and ambient daylight levels across teaching blocks, corridors, and communal student spaces.
We structured a turnkey commercial smart lighting upgrade integrating high-efficiency LED luminaires, automated occupancy sensors, and intelligent daylight harvesting controls—eliminating wasted electricity in unoccupied rooms while improving classroom visual comfort.
Outcome
Halesowen College became one of the first Further Education colleges in the region to deploy this next-generation smart lighting architecture across its estate. The project unlocked over £36,000+ in verified annual energy savings (£180,000+ over 5 years), substantially reducing the campus carbon footprint and freeing up recurring operational budget to reinvest directly into student facilities and educational resources.
Key Metrics
- £36,000+ Saved Annually: Verified reduction in annual campus lighting electricity expenditure.
- £180,000+ Over 5 Years: Cumulative five-year operational savings returned to the college budget.
- 65%–80% Lighting Power Reduction: Achieved via high-lumen commercial LEDs, PIR occupancy sensing, and daylight harvesting.
- Zero Teaching Disruption: Phased installation coordinated around the academic calendar.