This year’s ICEL Emegency Lighting Conference is taking place at Cavendish Conference Centre, in central London and the LIA has produced a wonderful programme to educate and entertain the audience throughout the day.
At the ICEL conference we expect to hear about the latest news on the way that Emergency Lighting codes and standards develop and evolve and there will surely be something of that during this year’s conference, but I’m excited to read about a different side of what emergency lighting is really all about. After all, while the numbers are essential in making sure that we’re designing installation that are fully functional, there is another aspect of this topic that we often forget altogether . . . its all about us – you and me and everyone else – its about people occupying buildings!
If we boil an ’emergency situation’ down to fundamental need: its this:
- make sure that building occupants are still connected visually with their surroundings
- make sure that a building can be quickly and safely evacuated when necessary
- make sure that people who are expected to ‘stay in place’ can do so with confidence
If you know how a Cavendish-held conference works you’ll know that there’s more happening than just the presentations in the main auditorium. There will be a collection of manufacturers’ exhibition stands in the adjacent Whittington Suite where experts are there all day – and where food and drink are available during the day. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet old friends and find new ones.
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Emergency lighting and lighting designers – try harder; do better
I’ll finish this introductory post with a shout-out to my colleagues in the lighting design community. For too long, emergency lighting design has been ignored/avoided by the very people who should be embracing the practice with energy and enthusiasm. Every design studio really should have members of staff who are competent and are receiving proper and regular training on the topic. After all, if we don’t take responsibility for safe lighting within a building then we’re leaving it in the hands of . . . others . . . who are less experienced in what lighting can, and should, be capable of achieving. We’re the people who should be controlling that space.
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The LIA ICEL Conference is always a popular draw and we expect
to see all of the Auditorium seats occupied.
Check out the Registration form HERE.
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