The End of Glare Factor

A case study of lighting fixtures for Aga Khan Hospitals across Pakistan

Aga Khan Hospitals is one of Pakistan’s largest and most successful groups of Hospitals that cater to the health and education sector massively. For Aga Khan, the journey to roll out such an exceptional network of health and educational institutions Pakistan-wide was beyond phenomenal. Aga Khan, at the present, stands at the 3rd rank in the top 10 hospitals in Pakistan. With having to treat more than 36,000 patients, on an annual basis. Having a people count of more than 800,000 heads; Aga Khan currently holds the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Pakistan.

Until recently, the lighting fixtures and products installed in Aga Khan were of conventional type, meaning they were majorly halogen-based lights operating through filament technologically. These lights consume more energy and have a proven record of obscuring vision eventually impacting the visual health of consumers and in Aga Khan’s case; patients.

When Coarts Lighting Solutions was contacted to recommend solutions, we sent a team of 10 experts including lighting engineers (top in their field) who observed and diagnosed the lighting requirements of Aga Khan, for both hospitals and institutions. They noticed that the troffer lights were installed mainly in their patient and ward rooms. The fluorescent troffer lights are very expensive, consume a lot of energy and give out brightness that is not good for patients’ visual health. From patient and staff surveys, we found out that these troffers maintain a Glare Factor that has often resulted in irritation in patients’ eyes and many have complained about it to the administration many times.

Patient X: “The brightness of the lights above the bed is too much on the eyes and most of the time, I had to keep my eyes shut while I used to rest on the stretcher.”

After an in-depth analysis of the situation, our team recommended the best lighting solutions that will result in better performance, efficient energy consumption, reduced maintenance costs, and most importantly be safe for optical health. We, at Coarts Lighting, have been designing energy-efficient luminaries since the dawn of time. For us, the most important aspect of any kind of lighting is the efficiency of the lighting fixtures in terms of energy, impact on optical health, and durability of lights. Thus, keeping in mind the standards of eco-friendly lighting, we installed the lighting fixtures and luminaries that include:

1. Hospital Lights

2. Lab LEDs

3. Wall Lights

4. Downlights

5. COBs i.e. Roof Ceiling Lights

6. SMDLs (Surface Mounted Downlights) i.e. Roof LED Lights

7. RMDLs (Recessed Mounted Downlights) i.e. LED Panels, Splinter Gen-2

8. Street Lights

9. Parking Lights

10. LED Flood Lights

11. Garden Lights

The aforementioned lighting solutions were majorly installed at Aga Khan’s

1. University Building

2. Mother and Child care wards

3. Aga Khan Examination board including Aga Khan College

4. Al-Zahra Complex

5. Aga Khan Hospital, Hunza-Gilgit.

This project was up and running for nearly 8 months that included thorough site check-ups, installation capacity evaluation and performance output testing. After the successful completion of the project, the lighting fixtures were tested under power surges for their durability. The lights that we provide to our corporate clients are already tested for their performance however; tending to unique customer needs is Coarts Lighting’s motto as a company that envisions lighting as the core of life.

The smooth execution of this project from the pilot phase to the final showcase has been a learning experience for us. We have ensured to provide the most efficient lighting solutions to Aga Khan and kept up with their warm white (4000K) lighting standards, as well.

After three months of the completion of this project, we received the following results:

1. The life of the lighting products, sustained.

2. The Glare factor was completely removed and the patients no longer complained about the lighting in their rooms.

3. The variety in colour combinations made it easy for the administration team to light up different regions of the hospital, as they deemed suitable.

4. All Aga Khan Sites reported a significant decrease in energy consumption by 12%.

5. Maintenance and refurbishing costs, reduced by 17%.

All in all, the entire project was swiftly executed and we, Coarts Lighting made sure to implement all changes as per the requirements proposed by Aga Khan. The impact of this successful partnership has resounded in the entire Health Industry and has made Coarts Lighting the number 1 choice for all hospital and educational sectors.