After three years and cost of £26M the new Great North Museum opened its doors in May to great acclaim. It is perceived by many leading commentators as a flag ship museum for the North East. Gone are Victorian style glass cases - now replaced by interactive displays and beautifully arranged exhibits.

As a back drop to the Hadrian’s Wall, Egyptian and Geology galleries are a series of brightly lit LED illuminated graphic displays designed and manufactured by Bright Green Technology - one of the UK’s leading LED backlighting specialists.

Working closely with the lighting designers and electrical contractors Bright Green Technology produced a series of fifty bespoke illuminated displays. The maximum depth had to be 20mm with some of the boxes over 3m in length. Not only had the boxes to meet the visual criteria they had to be maintenance free and low energy.

Backlit display using Bright Green Edge ^TM technology use 80% less energy than an equivalent light box fitted with fluorescent tubes. They also provide a more even illumination without the stripes often associated with tubes.  As most of the energy is transformed into light very little heat is radiated - another important consideration for this type of application.

Head of Product Terry Cattle said, “This was a prestigious project to be involved with and we are delighted with the result, the Bright Green Edge ^TM light boxes really contribute to the ambience of the museum. It’s great to think more than 80,000 people have already been through the doors .”

Coventry has seen the light and installed two six sheet light boxes in one of their City Centre bus shelters illuminated with Bright Green Edge ^TM lighting technology.

LED lighting is increasingly being utilised for illuminating outdoor media as the benefits are hugely compelling.  They use 80% less energy, require zero maintenance (fluorescent tubes are frequently replaced due to failure) and they eliminate the ‘zebra’ striping often associated with poster cases back lit with tubes.

Green Barnes, specialist poster case manufacturers, approached Bright Green Technology to help provide the finished solution.  The clients are delighted with the brightness output and the overall evenness of illumination.

This project represents one of the many applications where Bright Green’s Sustainable Lighting ^TM has been installed.  Other applications include museums, railway platforms, subways, exhibitions, hospitals and offices.

Andy Clark, CEO of Bright Green Technology stated, “We are delighted to be involved with this prestigious project. Many potential customers are now talking to us about replacing fluorescent tubes with our Bright Green Sustainable LED lighting products - the benefits are so compelling when you can save money, carbon and energy!”

Energy saving and environmental benefits rate highly on many clients wish lists.  One way to help satisfy this demand is to use Bright Green Matrix ^TM as an alternative to fluorescent tubes when backlighting large signs and displays.  At Sign & Digital UK - Bright Green Technology will demonstrate their ‘quick to fit lighting system’ ideal for new and retro fit projects. With up to 80% saving on operating costs when compared to ‘tubes’ it’s clear why there has been so much interest in this new product.

Sign & Digital runs from 28-30 April at the NEC, Bright Green Matrix ^TM can be seen on the Robert Horne Group stand.

“Dumping the tubes makes sense however you look at it - installing Bright Green Matrix^TM saves money, saves energy and saves carbon whilst delivering bright, high quality illumination.  Sign & Digital UK is a great chance to see the product and find out how to deliver the financial and green benefits that clients are asking for“  commented Andy Clark, CEO of Bright Green Technology.

When you launch a new product that you really believe in - there is always a small part of you that worries if your potential customers will feel the same way, however much field testing and research has been undertaken.

So as Head of Product for Bright Green Technology I was delighted when we secured our first major distribution deal in the UK with the Bright Green Matrix ^TM only a few months old.

Our distributor, The Robert Horne Group, really believe in LEDs as an alternative to traditional forms of lighting for signs - in fact they have a dedicated Product Manager devoted solely to helping sign companies and the sales team understand and select the right product for the job in hand.

The cost associated with cost effectively backlighting large signs, display and billboards is now less of a challenge and increasingly we are having conversations with multi-site retailers prepared to invest in the benefits of reduced energy and carbon consumption. Return on investment can typically be between 2 and 3 years and with energy savings of between 60-80% when compared to fluorescent tubes it’s making a lot decision makers sit up and take notice. Not only that the headache and cost of replacing failed tubes can be eliminated once and for all.

Robert Horne is delighted to announce a new partnership with LED manufacturer Bright Green Technology who specialise in solid state LED backlighting systems for the signage and outdoor advertising industries.

Bright Green Technology develops and markets proprietary backlighting systems built on their own patent-protected technology. Their mission is to dramatically improve the environmental performance and ROI of all backlit advertising and signage by replacing fluorescent tube displays. The deal takes effect from March and represents a major benefit for the Robert Horne Group and its customers by adding further depth to its existing wide range of LED products which includes the world renowned Philips Affinium LED string system.

This new partnership will see the addition to Robert Horne’s comprehensive LED portfolio of Bright Green Matrix^TM, an LED backlight system designed to illuminate large format signs, light boxes and displays.  Bright Green Matrix^TM is a patented suspended array of LEDs used to increase or decrease the light output, in line with the performance and budget requirements of the project.

With global warming continuing to sit at the top of the public agenda, retailers and corporate organisations have begun to recognise the many benefits associated with LED in comparison to traditional lighting of cost savings, lower energy usage and improved performance. Bright Green Matrix^TM offers a real alternative to fluorescent tubes by reducing energy consumption by up to 80%, eliminating maintenance costs and producing evenly lit graphics without the ‘zebra’ striping associated with tubes.

The economic case is compelling. A typical multiple retailer with 100 large illuminated display sites, each containing 40 fluorescent tubes could save more than £600,000 over the lifetime of the signs and reduce carbon output by 4000T.

The Product

Bright Green Matrix^TM is supplied in standard lengths, each pre-installed with LEDs spaced at 125mm intervals. The LEDs are housed in robust aluminum sections which protect the lighting components, help dissipate heat and provide a rigid profile which can be easily fitted into existing or new light box housings.  Each length is supplied with connection cables and the LEDs are coated for external use.

Applications

Bright Green Matrix^TM is ideally suited to signs, displays and light boxes in corporate and retail environments.  It is equally suited to retro-fitting into existing boxes or incorporating into new designs.

Installation

Bright Green Matrix^TM allows full flexibility when designing and installing.  By adjusting the spacing between the Matrix lengths and hence the density of the LED array, the light output and power requirement can be pre-determined.

Bright Green Matrix^TM is supplied pre-drilled for simple fixing to the base of the light box or to an internal bracket. It can be fitted vertically or horizontally within a light box. There is no limit to the size.

Steve Lister, Business Development Director for Robert Horne Sign & Display commented “There has been a lot of initial interest in the new product from end users and sign makers and Robert Horne is delighted to offer this new Bright Green Matrix^TM LED System from Bright Green Technology. In today’s market place Sign Makers certainly need to be advising and informing their customers about the many benefits of modern LED lighting; by doing so they are ensuring they are adding value to their service offering. Recommending ‘greener’ alternatives and saving clients costs are certainly two of the most important considerations and Robert Horne is proud to be able to offer a comprehensive LED product portfolio plus support and advice to their customers on this important topic. Bright Green Technology is an emerging force in this market and Robert Horne looks forward to introducing more of their products in the future“

For further information, please contact your local Robert Horne Sign & Display branch or visit www.roberthorne.co.uk

• New case study from our work in Grand Central Terminal, New York
• New case study from our recent project at the Imperial War Museum
• Several new press releases
• A new management team page
• A new Bright Green Matrix page and downloadable brochure
• New images of our latest work in the image gallery

Please take a look!

I recently saw a large backlit billboard promoting the environmental efforts of a major oil company.  We all know companies are jumping on the green band wagon in their advertising to customers and we are delighted when their actions confirm their messages; but they do need to be very careful how these messages reach their green aware customers.  There are plenty of people ready to cry foul and worse if a company is not seen to be living its environmental claims.  This poster was backlit with fluorescent lights - unnecessarily burning masses of energy and creating a recycling and disposal issue for its owners. No doubt the bulbs will break on a regular basis and a van will be sent to sort the problem out. More carbon, more wastage. Had the brand insisted on a low energy lighting solution (like ours) then up to 80% of the energy would have been saved, and there would have been no maintenance costs. Their claims would then have been consistent with their actions, and they’d have avoided potential and reasonable criticism. Oh, and the media site owner would have also saved money.  Green aware companies really should dump the fluorescents.