In this case study we find out how Bisly’s innovative lighting solution and building management system helped the Tallinn Education Department launch a successful pilot project at Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium and meet the new lighting and BMS requirements set forth by the EU for educational buildings.
Client? Tallinn Education Department & Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium
Where? The city of Tallinn
Impact? 900 people directly affected and 3000 indirectly
Challenges faced by the client
The EU’s regulation EVS-EN 12464-1:2021 brought about a list of new requirements for educational institutions, forcing them to have a critical look at their current situation and make necessary changes.
- Though the sale of fluorescent lights in the EU has been prohibited for a while now, it turned out that more than 80% of educational institutions were still using them. Not only did educational institutions meet the new standard; many of them didn’t even comply with the old one.
- According to the new regulations, the general lighting standard was changed from 300 lux to 500 lux. An exception was put in place for educational organizations, who must be able to provide lighting at both intensities, taking into consideration the age of the students as well as activities at hand.
- From January 1st, 2025 all buildings that consume over 290kW must have a building management system with remote management installed—this includes all schools.
Not only did Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium along with other schools in the EU have a long way to go before meeting these requirements, there were even more issues to tackle. When Bisly was chosen by the Tallinn Education Department to lead the pilot project at the school, the building management system provider first analyzed the current situation at the school. Among other problems, Bisly found out that the luminous intensity in some classrooms did not comply with the previous requirement of 300 lux. Additionally, there was a lack of central management which resulted in overheated classrooms using significantly more energy than required. This on the other hand meant high management costs without any reliable information on how to lower such expenses.
Providing the perfect solution
After the alarming results of the analysis, it was time for Bisly to start tackling the list of problems head on. Each of the classrooms originally had six fluorescent lights along with two blackboard lights. To comply with the new regulations requiring a lighting intensity of 500 lux, Bisly increased the number of lights per classroom by over 30%. The outdated on-off switches were replaced by two Bisly multisensors giving teachers the opportunity to track the sensors in three ways: via the classroom computer, impulse switch near the teacher’s desk, or via Bisly’s mobile app.
Taking into consideration the poor situation of HVAC and a clear overview of costs, phase two is set to include the implementation of Bisly BMS solution, allowing for intelligent HVAC management. Bisly building automation and intelligent lighting solutions already deployed in pilot classrooms include BMS readiness that provides remote management for HVAC. What is more, the software and sensors used to control the lighting solution include readiness to add the control/management of heating, ventilation, etc., to the Bisly system. This will also bring along integrations with district heating and meter reading for a more accurate overview of energy consumption.
How will schools benefit from the new solution?
After Bisly’s pilot project at Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium, it was clear that by upgrading their lighting systems and BMS, schools could face a significant decrease in costs. Upgrading from outdated and prohibited fluorescent lighting to LED lighting with smart control helps to save energy of up to 50%. During the test done over two months after installing Bisly’s lighting solution, the actual output of lights used was ~59%. During months with more daylight, the output required is even lower, which in turn increases the cost-effectiveness of controlled, intelligent lighting. On top of that, schools could dramatically reduce costs related to buying and exchanging luminaires as adaptive lighting prolongs the lifetime of installed luminaires.
When it comes to classroom temperatures, it was noted that during the test period the temperature for 3 classrooms varied between 23.5 – 26.3 °C, whereas the optimal temperature is considered to be 21 °C. Lowering the temperature by 1 degree allows to save 5-10% from the heating costs.
Lastly, during the pilot project at Ehte school, it was concluded that controlling ventilation by actual CO2 levels could potentially save ~40% of energy in comparison to always working at full capacity. That means that actively controlling ventilation systems would in this case save up to 3000€ per year.
To sum up the aforementioned, by implementing active control of heating, ventilation and smart lighting, schools could save around 22000€ annually.
A smart solution for all schools
Following the success of implementing Bisly’s smart lighting and BMS solution at Ehte Humanitarian Gymnasium, Bisly has since helped renovate over six schools with their smart lighting and HVAC control in 2024, with over 10 schools readying to make the upgrades in 2025.
The forward-thinking company has also created a packaged solution and optimized the installation process, allowing buildings to be upgraded within 2 weeks during active use (incl. exchange of lamps), or in a single week in case the building is not in use. Bisly is now considering options for wider deployment across municipality buildings to solve the issue of non-compliance, and to significantly lessen both direct and indirect costs.