For more than 60 years, the Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik in Dresden (ILK for short) has been known throughout Germany for leading research in air, refrigeration and energy technology. Around 160 experts work in interdisciplinary teams every day on forward-looking research projects of high industrial relevance. The multifunctional INDUSAIL LUMINOUS plus lighting sail system from Kiefer Klimatechnik supports the working environment and sense of wellbeing.

Since its foundation in 1964, ILK Dresden has combined top-level research with industrial practice. Today, the Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik is one of Germany's leading non-university research institutions in the fields of cryogenics, refrigeration, air-conditioning and energy technology, as well as air pollution control, covering everything from basic research to market-ready prototypes. With more than 70 publicly funded research projects and around 400 industrial contracts per year, the non-profit institute is an important innovation partner for industry and the public sector.

With Kiefer Klimatechnik, the ILK researchers have quite literally brought another air and air-conditioning expert in-house. The Stuttgart-based company has been developing air diffusers, chilled ceilings, cooling systems, lighting and acoustic sails, and concrete core cooling systems in its own room airflow laboratory for almost 150 years, alongside its plant engineering business. Christian Friebe, Head of Air-Conditioning Technology at the ILK, explains: "We work every day on innovative, future-proof solutions. Accordingly, we set high standards for the workplace quality of our own employees. Alongside technical equipment, this naturally includes a comfortable working environment in terms of high indoor air quality, pleasant room temperatures, and good interior acoustics and lighting." The high-performance INDUSAIL lighting sail system from Kiefer Klimatechnik was therefore chosen for the ILK's frequently used meeting room.

With INDUSAIL LUMINOUS plus, Kiefer Klimatechnik offers an illuminated ceiling sail with fresh air supply, ideally suited for use in offices. Christian Friebe explains: "The asymmetric placement of the windows in the meeting room created two challenges at once: fresh air can only be introduced into the room from one side, while at the same time the natural daylight is far from ideal. With INDUSAIL LUMINOUS from Kiefer, we were able to combine air diffuser and large-area lighting in a single element."

The lighting sail provides uniform illumination via large lighting panels on its underside. The energy-efficient LED area lighting has a colour temperature that can be adjusted continuously between cool white (6,500 K) and warm white (2,700 K). This allows the lighting to be controlled according to the time of day and weather conditions, following natural daylight and night-time patterns. In turn, this ensures ideal illumination of the room and enables fatigue-free, focused work.

Just as important for optimum indoor comfort and employee wellbeing is a constant, hygienic exchange of air. For this purpose, preconditioned fresh air is fed into the sail via an air connection and introduced into the room around its perimeter through the integrated, highly inductive linear diffusers. Thanks to the specially developed discharge geometry, this takes place in very fine individual jets and without any perceptible draught, even at high air exchange rates. In addition, the underside of the sail is made of an open-cell absorber material with a glass fleece facing, which controls the propagation of sound in the room. This results in shorter reverberation times and therefore better speech intelligibility, which is essential for fully occupied meeting rooms.