Amey completes £1.35 million LED transformation project at HMP Risley

23 July 2018
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Amey’s Prisons Facilities Management Team has completed work to retrofit 5,500 existing light fittings with a LED solution within the highly secure FM environment of the Category B prison, HMP Risley.

The £1.35m LED upgrade was part of a series of energy and operations efficiency improvements identified by Amey’s Energy Services Team on behalf of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and is anticipated to save HMP Risley an annual total of around £169,251 on their energy bills and reduce CO2 emissions by 583 tonnes per annum.

The 3-month project funded by the MoJ was part of a project to enhance and improve the operations and contribute towards the MoJ's carbon reduction targets of 38% within the custodial estate by 2020.

HMP Risley was selected as the preferred test site, as much of the building fabric within this establishment is similar to a large percentage of the custodial estate throughout the UK and could be easily replicated as best practice.

As the Facilities Management provider, Amey provided and full end-to-end solution that included building and asset surveying, design solutions, project management and supply chain expertise.

Working closely with our client, Governor and supply chain partners PHS, CEF and Tamlite, Amey developed a detailed installation plan and a retrofit solution to minimise disruption to the operation of the prison.

This bespoke solution meant the 5,500 units existing metal halide, fluorescent and sodium SON fixtures of the prisons existing lighting stock could be retrofit with energy efficient LED lighting.

This approach reduced the lead time and overall programme timescale, enabling the project to complete to desired 3-month timescales and limit the capital cost of the project, whilst still complying with the Ministry of Justice technical standards (to ensure anti-ligature and anti-vandal fittings are installed in all prisoner facing areas).

The benefits to HMP Risley and Ministry of Justice include:

  • Lower energy costs: saving around £169,251 a year
  • CO2 emissions reduced by 583 tonnes per annum
  • Maintenance costs associated with lighting are anticipated to be 50% less: with new fittings lasting over 10 times longer than the existing lamps
  • Resolved reliability issues associated with aged electrical infrastructure
  • Improved Safety and Security: through increased light levels and reduction in radiant heat on the prisons wings and external courtyard - minimising staff and prisoner fatigue – under the safe and decency agenda
  • Reduction in vandalism cost as the new LEDs installed within the cells are significantly harder to damage and tamper with than the previous fluorescent luminaires

Amanda Fisher Managing Director, FM, Defence and Justice, Amey said:

“Our clients are looking to us to develop and deliver smart solutions to upgrade their existing assets to modern standards as they face a need to lower operational costs and become more sustainable.  We are able to explore and provide solutions such as this to our clients at a minimal capital cost.

At HMP Risley we were able to take a collaborative approach, utilising all our expertise and supply chain partners, to develop an innovative and cost-effective solution that fit our client’s requirements and existing infrastructure - causing minimum disruption to the operational needs of the custodial environment.”

The response to the completed installation has been extremely positive and provides our client with a cost-effective model that we can use across all our custodial estate.

The new LED lighting will help deliver substantial energy savings and reduce the cost of maintenance and vandalism, as well as creating a safer and secure environment with the increased quality of light.  Our teams are always looking for solutions to continually improve the assets and environment for our clients."

John Cole, Head of Sustainability, MoJ, said:

“Reducing the carbon footprint of our custodial estate is part of our wider strategy to reduce ours and the government's environmental footprint.

The work undertaking at HMP Risley by Amey now provides us with a cost-effective model that we can use across all our custodial estate with minimal disruption to operations. The environmental impact this project will have in helping us reduce CO2 emissions isn’t the only benefit.  The new LED lighting system will also help to reduce the cost of utility bills and maintenance within our prisons portfolio, as well as providing a safer, healthier and brighter environment for both prisoners and prison staff due to the increased the quality of light.”

Nikki Smith, Governor, HMP Risley Prison said:

“The LED Transformation Project at HMP Risley has given the establishment an excellent starting point in the reduction of our carbon footprint alongside the financial benefits in our utility cost - as well as the reduction in maintenance cost due to the new fitting lasting longer.”

Visually the replacement lighting has helped inside and out giving the environment a safer, healthier and brighter feel for staff and prisoner.

We are extremely grateful to the expertise of Amey and the investment by the MOJ. The impact it is having on the look and feel of the prison and supporting the safe and decent agenda is clearly evident.”

Read the full case study

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