Case Study: Forum Groningen

March 21, 2024 Deborah Perkins

Forum Groningen | Groningen (Netherlands)

The creation of the The Forum Groningen was to serve as a vast renewal project targeting the city’s east side central square. Notable features of The Forum include its library, cinema, comic book museum, restaurant and spaces for debate and study.

Construction for The Forum halted to ensure the building was fully earthquake-proof. During the pause, NL Architects and TDE-lighttech re-evaluated their lighting concept and decided to incorporate LED luminaires instead of fluorescents. Their lighting goals also shifted to improve sustainability—which was not possible with the fluorescent lighting solution designed eight years prior.

Leverage DALI-2 Device Type 8 (DT8)

The DALI protocol for controlling LED lighting was selected at an early stage of the first re-evaluation . This plan incorporated to enable full digital control of more than 1000 new tunable white LED fixtures.

Control of these fixtures via DALI-2 DT6 would’ve required double the DALI addresses and 20 extra DALI lines. So The Forum, in consultation with TDE, agreed to pursue a DALI-2 DT8 implementation—making The Forum one of the first large-scale DALI-2 DT8 solutions. 

Integrating DALI into the lighting plan provides the building owner the flexibility to easily change the light levels based on the building’s usage and frequented spaces.

Maximize Intra-Luminaire Communication

The Forum and TDE incorporated our DALI-2 DT8 drivers in conjunction with our signature LightShape smart lighting technology. This only used a single DALI bus address that maximized and achieved the specified light output, color temperature and color control—all while ensuring the highest Quality of Light.

Incorporating DALI and LightShape Technology into The Forum Groningen resulted in color consistency and optimal light output between luminaires. Additionally, DALI and LightShape easily communicated with Zumtobel’s Litecom Light Control Platform. This integration also provided the building owner the flexibility to adjust the lighting during the day or to the type of weather.

Maintain Consistency while Yielding Energy Savings

The combination of DALI-2 DT8 and LightShape provided dimming and color control (2500K-4000K) for optimal lighting schemes, energy efficiency, deep dimming (0.1%) and product longevity with up to 10 years performance. The programmability's ease also prevents unintended glare.

The combination of warm and cool LEDs resulted in different wattage outputs being kept to a minimum. In addition, TDE-lighttech and eldoLED optimized power consumption—which resulted in a reduction of heat output and an increase in their lifespan and consistency.

With our DALI-2 DT8 and LightShape solution, TDE-lighttech surpassed the requirements for light output and energy consumption. DALI DT8 combined with LightShape managed precise color and intensity from luminaire to luminaire. This ensured no observable difference across color and intensity range in 1,000+ luminaires.

Photography: Peter Baas & courtesy of Forum Groningen

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