Future Designs Carbon Careful™ Initiative Preserves Existing Luminaires Across Multiple Schools

Date Posted:Wed, 7th Oct 2026

Across three secondary schools in a confidential area, a major lighting refurbishment programme by Future Designs was delivered to update old classroom luminaires to latest technology LED through the carbon careful™ initiative. The project covered three middle schools, all of which were operating with original, fluorescent lighting systems supplied before 2008 by Future Designs.

The original fittings were SCT linear continuous suspended luminaires, manufactured with aluminium low-brightness louvres. Rather than replacing the entire system, a more sustainable and carbon saving solution was applied. Under the carbon careful™ initiative Future Designs provided new LED gear trays which were designed to integrate directly into the existing luminaire profiles, enabling the schools to retain the existing luminaire carcass while benefiting from modern LED performance. This reduced carbon usage, shortened installation times, and avoided the disruption associated with a full replacement scheme.

As part of the visual upgrade, the old louvre assemblies were removed and replaced with a satin etched optics housed within mild steel magnetic frames. This created a cleaner, more contemporary appearance while also improving light distribution throughout teaching spaces.

To date, a total of 1,019 retrofit LED units have been supplied across the three schools. This includes 416 units for one, 316 units for the second and 287 units for the third, comprising both mains and emergency versions. Notably, the original installations contained no emergency luminaires. As part of the upgrade, emergency conversion units were introduced within classroom fittings, bringing lighting provision in line with the requirements of BS5266-1.

The energy performance improvements were substantial. Existing fluorescent lamps operated at 33 watts, whereas the retrofit LED solution uses just 14.08 watts per fitting. This delivers an energy saving of 57.33%, significantly reducing running costs and supporting each school’s sustainability goals. With each retained fitting containing approximately 9kg of metal, it meant that through the carbon careful™ initiative there was a massive reduction in the amount of iron ore being extracted from the earth’s crust to create mild steel.

About Future Designs

Future Designs is an international lighting manufacturer delivering world class luminaires across UK, Europe and U.A.E. Future Designs sit amongst the top UK privately owned lighting manufacturers within the fit-out marketplace. Future Designs is an LED specialist constantly investing in development and innovative products and the productive and efficient use of materials. Future Designs design, engineer and produce products to fulfil one desire.

www.futuredesigns.co.uk