Acuity Brands International

Dartmouth College’s Rupert Thompson Arena

jjvazquez — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:50:18 +0000

Dartmouth College’s Rupert Thompson Arena has the reputation as one of the toughest arenas for visiting teams in all of college hockey. Home to Big Green men’s and women’s hockey teams, Thompson Arena overflows with fans on game nights, with seating for 3,500 and standing room for another 1,000—all encircling the Arena’s 85-foot by 200-foot ice sheet.
Dartmouth NCAA hockey games are televised, with the Arena also playing host to collegiate figure skating and youth hockey camps.
“The Dartmouth community loves hockey—it’s what we do during the cold days and long nights in New Hampshire,” said Laura Black, P.E., Electrical Engineer, Facilities Operations & Management, Dartmouth College. “Dartmouth hockey teams are always top notch. Many players have competed in the Olympics and others have gone on to play professional level hockey.”
Lighting replaced to reduce energy
Construction on Thompson Arena began in 1973, with the Dartmouth men’s team playing the Arena’s first game in November, 1975, skating against the United States Olympic Team to a 3-3 tie. Italian architect-engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, who gained international fame for his technical ingenuity and dramatic design of large-span structures, designed the Arena, which was originally lit with Holophane Prismpack® luminaries using 1,000-watt metal halide lamps.
The Prismpack fixtures were replaced as part of Dartmouth’s ongoing quest to reduce its energy footprint—and to decrease the maintenance required for the aging fixtures, wiring and ballasts. The replacement was paid for by the college’s reserve funding for capital improvements, with the lighting replacement performed at the same time the college initiated the larger project of replacing the Arena’s chiller and HVAC unit.
The original Prismpack luminaires were mounted inside can-type chandeliers installed in clusters of four, with 16 clusters spaced 40 to 44 feet apart and mounted at 42 feet. While designing the lighting upgrade, the college hoped to re-use the chandeliers and sought fixtures that would fit within the cans—although there was significant pressure from the fluorescent design community to consider T5HO lighting.
Highly functional illumination
The Prismpack V luminaires provide a minimal amount of uplight (1.1 percent) to illuminate the vaulted concrete ceiling, which includes 1,024 triangular sections, each weighing one ton. Every web within the white painted ceiling includes a pocket containing acoustic pads.
“This slight amount of uplight creates aesthetic appeal—especially since the ceiling is free of conduit and equipment, which are installed along the ribs,” Black said. Initial illumination levels are 161 footcandles with maximum to minimum uniformity of 1.6:1.
The luminaires incorporate an extra low brightness (ELB) reflector to enhance visual comfort for spectators. All fixtures include a wire guard to protect the units from hockey pucks that sometimes pop straight into the air.
Each chandelier cluster includes a supplemental, dimmable incandescent fixture the Arena uses during pre-game festivities. The Prismpack V fixtures are turned off during the 5-minute flag presentation and the Arena relies on the supplemental luminaires as the only ambient light source. The incandescent fixtures switch off when the Prismpack units re-ignite.
Thompson Arena is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week—only closing twice a year to maintain the ice. The Prismpack luminaires are switched on and off via a lighting control system that individually controls each luminaire in the chandelier clusters.

The lighting system provides 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent output, depending on how the Arena is being used. Fixtures operate at 100 percent during NCAA games and 75 percent during hockey practices and figure skating. They typically operate at 25 to 50 percent output while crews maintain the ice.
“The lighting is beautiful and highly functional without creating any shadows,” Black said. “The color rendering is acceptable and the illumination levels both horizontal and vertical are excellent. The new 875w lamps being used are rated for 26,000 hours versus the 15,000 hour rating of the previous 1000W lamps.
“No news is good news in this type of facility. We know the lighting is effective because we have no complaints from the coaches. If there was a problem, we’d be the first to hear.”
Dartmouth facility electricians will maintain the Prismpack fixtures—although no schedule has been established. The college is presently installing Holophane luminaires in other campus facilities.

September 11, 2011

jjvazquez — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:31:44 +0000

September 11, 2011 marked the ten year anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa. For the first time in ten years, the general public has returned to the World Trade Center site, a day after the 9/11 Memorial had a dedicated opening for victims’ families on the anniversary.

The 9/11 Memorial consists of two enormous reflecting pools set within the original footprints of the fallen towers. The names of 2,983 victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 23, 1993 are inscribed in bronze surrounding the two pools.

The illumination of the north and south pools, with their 30-foot cascading waterfalls and surrounding bronze names parapet, was achieved by architectural lighting design firm of Fisher Marantz Stone, New York City.

The scope of the project posed many challenges, and Paul Marantz, founder and design principal, imagined in 2005 that LEDs should be used to illuminate the pools and names parapet, which is lit from within so the light shines through the names.

At that time, a linear submersible luminaire that could be placed beneath the waterfalls and offer low maintenance, proper heat dissipation, and high output did not exist. LEDs were destined to become the preferred choice for illuminating the pools as the project developed. Marantz and Winona Lighting’s Director of New Products, Ron Schimmelpfenning, began their discussions regarding what these luminaires would have to withstand and how they had to perform. Schimmelpfenning’s expertise as a custom engineer provided the solutions this project needed.

Before Winona Lighting became involved, the story began with a mock up consisting of an LED fixture enclosed in a housing to protect against moisture. Dan Euser, the fountain engineer, built a 30-foot deep testing area in his Toronto backyard. Winona Lighting, leader in custom manufacturing, was brought on board to help. The company pursued LED development and committed to providing a damp label linear LED system that would run underneath the bronze names parapet and an LED submersible luminaire with low maintenance for the twin reflecting pools. Winona’s patented CoolCore technology, part of the submersible design, was used to prevent overheating.

As you can see in the photo (right), 1500 feet of Winline Submersible 607 (272 luminaires mounted end to end beneath the waterfall), were required to illuminate both pools. As dusk falls, the pools of the Memorial, which is called “Reflecting Absence,” glow around the perimeter.

As visitors approach the pools, the 2,983 names of the victims are illuminated through the inscribed letters of each name in the surrounding bronze parapet. Mounted beneath the parapet are 314 Winline 203W Surface Linear LED luminaires in varying lengths. These fixtures have a very small profile and offer superior output. Remote mounted transformers were used to avoid high voltage in this area where people will be interacting with the structure.

Winona Lighting has also had the privilege of illuminating the outer facades of the west vent structures as well as the entry pavilion of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, scheduled to open next year.

Winona Lighting is very proud and honored to be a part of this place of remembrance today and for generations to come.

nLIGHT® IS…

jjvazquez — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:35:38 +0000

A FUSION OF LIGHTING CONTROL STRATEGIES

Combining Time-Based, Sensor –Based, Daylight-Based, and Manual Control, nLIGHT^® provides an elegant solution for any control requirements.

FLEXIBLE

Relays and dimming outputs can be singular devices or combined within occupancy sensors, photocells, wall controls, or panels to minimize device count and overcome any design challenge.

SCALABLE

Designed to function standalone within a room or networked together across an entire facility or campus, nLight^® spans applications of all sizes.

TOPOLOGY FREE

nLight devices can be connected in any order and network configuration, making initial installation and future modifications quick and easy.

BUILT ON TECHNOLOGY BY SENSOR SWITCH^®

All nLight^® occupancy sensors incorporate Sensor Switch’s advanced Passive Infrared and patented Microphonics Passive Dual Technology.

BANCANET IP COMPATIBLE

nLIGHT^® seamlessly communicates with BMS Systems via a single network connection to Sensor View; no additional hardware, wiring, or device level configuration is required.

FUTURE PROOF

All nLIGHT^® devices are remotely upgradable, allowing installed networks to adapt to changing technology and incorporate newly developed features.

SOPHISTICATED YET COST-EFFECTIVE

The nLIGHT^® Graphic WallPood^® provides a stylish full color, touch-screen room control at a fraction of the cost of other manufacturers’ solutions

CONTRACTOR FRIENDLY

With convenient CAT-5 connections, reversible line / load wiring, no sensor sensitivity adjustments, and intuitive LED feedback that self-diagnoses common installation errors, nLight^® reduces labor time versus traditional low voltage Systems.

WEB BASED

The nLIGHT^® SensorView software suite uses standard web browsers, facilitating remote access and operation from anywhere in the world.

A PERFORMANCE MONITORING TOOL

SensorView’s GreenScreen software plug-in collects and displays key energy and lighting control performance indicators.

LED FLOODLIGHTS

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:54:03 +0000

Delivering the promise of LED

Industry-leading performance and value.

Unmatched cost-per-lumen solution for outdoor security lighting.

LED Floodlights from Lithonia Lighting® integrate long life LED technology in an affordable, energy-saving lighting solution.

Uses 78% less energy than a standard incandescent lamp solution

50,000-hour maintenance free

Bright, uniform illumination for safety and security

Available in motion or dusk-to-dawn sensor

White or bronze finish

Full five-year warranty

(El link para este producto es http://lithonia.acuitybrands.com/SecurityLED/SecurityLED-Home.aspx )

For more information:

www.abl-internationalsales.com

international.mkt@acuitybrands.com

And The Winner Is RTLED

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:42:45 +0000

Acuity Brands Lighting and Lithonia Lighting received theLEDshow^TMaward for the best interior commercial product for the Lithonia Lighting RTLED^TM luminaire. theLEDshow^TMis a mini-convention and lighting industry consortium focused on marketing and promoting LED and solid-state lighting. The award honors LED lighting that is innovative, provides a high-quality of light output and eliminates cumbersome installation processes. Acuity Brands and Lithonia Lighting accepted the award at theLEDshow^TMin Las Vegas Nevada in August 2010.

The fixture is an intelligent, controllable and adaptable LED lighting solution designed to meet current and future needs, for various commercial applications, including office, retail, education and healthcare facilities.

The RTLED^TM is a high-quality, volumetric recessed luminaire that delivers ambient white light uniformly throughout an entire space while reducing energy and maintenance costs and a building’s environmental footprint.

http://www.lithonia.com/rtled/

Case of success, University of Akron

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:02:41 +0000

University of Akron Multiplex to Feature LED Lighting Throughout Residence Hall to Support Goals for Sustainable Design and Energy Conservation.

The University of Akron with 28,000 students, featuring more than 80 buildings on 218 acres. Since 2000, the university has added 16 buildings, completed 17 major additions, acquisitions and renovations, and created 34 acres of new green space.

Throughout this impressive development process, the university has moved aggressively toward sustainable design and energy conservation across its campus. In fact, it established a “Blue, Gold, and Green” committee to guide the university in these efforts. This committee is chaired by Frank Horn, AJA, Vice-President Capital Planning and Facilities Management at the university, who has been instrumental in its initiatives.

Ronald Radabaugh, P.E., L.C. principal and electrical engineer with scheeser Buckley Mayfield, LLC (SBM) explained, “The Multiplex residence hall project wan no exception; from the outset, the designs for the five-floor residence hall have, incorporated a selection of efficient lighting fixtures that exceeded required energy standards.”

Although LED lighting was not the initial choice, a request was made by the university to determine if LED technologies could be incorporated into the design even this late in construction.

“The request came in and one of my first concerns was how to incorporate the LEDs while minimizing the impact on the work already completed on the project, “explained Radabaugh. “ A lot of the branch circuiting and lighting fixture flex connections were already installed. All that was missing on some of the floors were the lights themselves. As a result, we were tasked with finding the right LED fixtures for the project, which involved the energy efficiency, lighting performance and the look of the fixture, plus the ability to replace the fixtures one-for-one”.

Patrick Duffy (Chief Contractor), said that multiple lighting manufacturers were investigated, “Ultimately, Lithonia Lighting Fixtures were selected due to the architectural look, lighting performance and the reputation of the company” said Duffy.

Though construction of the multiplex is underway, the facility will be available for occupancy during 2010 fall semester. Upon completion, almost 700 LED lighting fixtures will be installed in the new building. still