LED Prison Lights - Correctional Lighting

Over the last four decades, the incarceration rates in the U.S have hit the 500% growth mark. The strain on correctional institutions' resources is increasing by the day. There's a need for cost cutting by facilities, which puts a spotlight on efficiency.

Currently, the budget allocation for running correctional institutions is at $80 billion. The federal government pays a paltry 10% of these costs. Over 57% of these costs are paid for by state governments, while local governments foot 33% of the bill.

Correctional institutions have a collective utility bill of over $1.7 billion. Let that sink in – $1.7 billion!

The most significant contributor to this high bill is energy. The costs of heating, cooling and lighting up facilities in use 24 hours a day, are massive.

The pressure and costs of operating and maintaining prisons are tremendous. But here lies an opportunity to save on expenditure. The colossal scale of such operations can provide excellent opportunities to find solutions.

Any small step toward sustainability can help state and local governments to save a lot of money. Sustainability practices cushion and protect the environment surrounding these correctional centers.

The Unique Lighting Challenges Posed By Correctional Institutions

The archaic prisons of old known for horrible standards of living are long gone. Today, prisoners’ civil liberties have to be upheld. Correctional institutions today focus not only on protection, but on deterrence and repatriation.

Unlike with buildings where security keep people out, correctional institutions keep people in. The individuals inside these facilities are there against their will. Add this to the fact that these facilities never shut down for holidays, weekends, or winter. Plus, it's a high-maintenance environment.

Incarcerating and protecting them from each other – while preventing them from getting out – is a challenge. The budgetary constraints and overcrowding make it even harder to ensure efficiency. Proper surveillance and well-designed infrastructure can help you to overcome these challenges.

Good Lighting Practices Are Key To Energy Efficiency

High-quality lighting is the foundation on which surveillance runs. Good lighting fixtures go a long way towards ensuring operational efficiency and safety. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, lighting accounts for 33 percent of electricity used in jails and penitentiaries.

This is a huge expenditure for these non-profit making entities. Older correctional facilities are energy-intensive and built with little regard for efficient cooling, heating, and lighting. Most states are passing laws to reduce negative impacts on the environment and cut down expenses.

Correctional institutions must balance efficiency and intelligent design to keep up with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). The act discourages inefficient lighting systems and recommends greener, energy-efficient, and long-lasting light bulbs.

Prison lights operate for over 18 hours a day. In this high-abuse environment, the lights may only be switched off for six hours each day, on average. If you decide to use energy efficient bulbs in a small section, you can reduce the utility bill by more than 10%. If you adopt energy-efficient lighting in the whole facility, the savings can be tremendous.

The maintenance of light fixtures can cause huge logistics hurdles for correctional facilities. HID and fluorescent lights operate for a little while before re-lamping. While fluorescent lights can last up to four years, because of inefficiency, maintenance schedules can be semi-annually.

During the maintenance process, prisoners may have to be moved from one block to the other. Other prisons may lock up the inmates for long periods while the exercise is going on. This creates security issues when dealing with difficult inmates. It also puts an enormous burden on the facilities’ human resource.

Safety protocols after re-lamping are also quite demanding. All tools used have to be inventoried, and the place has to be swept clean when completed. The importance of lighting fixtures that need minimum maintenance cannot be overemphasized. Fewer re-lamping episodes equal fewer opportunities for prisoners to breach security.

Equally important is the fact that prisoners have no incentive to maintain the fixtures in the facility. Poorly designed lighting systems will, therefore, make the facilities unsafe due to vandalism.

Let us look at some of the LED prison lights that are ideal for correctional institutions.

Prison courtyards offer prisoners a space to reconnect with each other and nature. A prison garden, for example, can help reduce violence and improve mental health.

But outdoor spaces pose a unique security challenge to correctional facilities. The perimeter walls have to ensure that prisoners stay inside their designated areas. They also have to stop contraband from the outside world from coming into the facilities.

Prison perimeter walls are often lengthy in size. It can be a task ensuring that packages don't get thrown over and prisoners stay in. This is why the security and safety of these spaces are dependent on high-quality lights.

To ensure detection of movement and 24-hour efficiency of operation, the outdoor spaces must be well lit from dusk till dawn. All the pathways and walkways need not less than 10 lux to keep light spill in control.

This ensures that obtrusive light does not spill into prisoners’ cells. The outdoor lighting also has to be flexible. The recommended lux levels must always be maintained. In case of a security emergency, the lux levels can be increased. The effect of light on prisoners’ behavior is an important lighting design factor.

The lighting fixtures meant for the outdoor spaces of prisons have to be very efficient. They must limit disturbance to surrounding locations by controlling glare and sky glow. Correctional facilities are high-security spaces. The lighting fixtures must be easy to install and maintain.

We can easily replace or retrofit

• High Mast Lighting, up to 2000W HID
• Area Lighting, up to 2000W HID
• Flood Lighting, up to 2000W HID
• Wall Pack Lighting, 400W+ HID
• Parking Fixtures: 1000W+ HID
• Indoor Gym Lighting: 1000W+ HID
• Office Lighting with color adjustable Panels: 2X2 and 2X4