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Lighting Design + Application • November 2005 TheLIGHTING

AUTHORITY®

What’s NewWhat’s Next

November 2005, VOL. 35/NO. 11

LD+A (ISSN 0360-6325) is published monthly in the United States of America by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, 120 WallStreet, 17th Floor, New York, NY. 10005, 212-248-5000. © 2005 by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. Periodicals postage paid at NewYork, N.Y. 10005 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LD+A, 120 Wall Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10005.

37Finally BlueDesigners in Los Angeles overcame 17years’ worth of roadblocks and speedbumps before lighting the VincentThomas Bridge

40Seeing Dollar SignsA simple ROI analysis might make themost compelling case for LED signageas an alternative to traditional neon

44Come Sail Away withLEDsIn Canada and the U.S., two waterfrontProjects incorporated LED-based lighting into their Independence DayCelebrations

49Crossing the ChasmColored LEDs are all around us, butare white LEDs also poised to makethe leap from niche to mainstream?

52Spreading Its WingsStill going strong after 120 years, the venerable Indianapolis Museum of Arthas added three new wings

58Worth the WaitLighting creates day/night drama at thePark Hyatt Zurich, the city’s first luxury hotel in 20 years

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CONTENTS

D E P A R T M E N T S

4 Editor’s Note • 6 Letters to the Editor • 8 Energy Advisor •

10 Research Matters • 14 Technology • 20 Hot Button • 25 IES News •

29 Industry Updates • 33 Scanning the Spectrum • 65 Manufacturers’

Directory Form • 67 Light Products • 70 Calendar of Events •

71 Classified Advertisements • 72 Ad Index

FEATURES

52

LED APPLICATIONS

O N T H E C O V E R :Clockwise from top: Photo by RonaldLo, courtesy of OptiLED; photo courtesye3LED; photo courtesy LEDtronics; photoFAO Schwarz by J.P. Lira, courtesy RockwellGroup/Focus Lighting.

37

IN 1988, THERE WAS NOInternet, reality TV was the eveningnews, Los Angeles had not one buttwo NFL teams, and “LED” was notpart of the lighting lexicon. Thingschange. Today, Los Angeles is foot-ball-free on Sundays, but it’s gotplenty of LED fixtures—160 ofwhich now adorn the city’s longestsuspension bridge.

You see, if a project hangs aroundlong enough,a viable design solutionmight emerge. In 1988, San Pedrocommunity activists had a dream—to light the Vincent Thomas Bridge(page 37)—but no money. By thelate 1990s, they had the money, butno lighting approach that all stake-holders could agree on. Enter LEDs.

And with that, enter the firstissue of LD+A themed to LED appli-cations. I guess it’s a sign that on thevery day I began writing this editor-ial, staring at me from myMSNBC.com homepage was anarticle titled, “LED light bulbs: abright idea?” The author, GaryKrakow, begins by asking, “Nexttime you screw in a cheap incandes-cent light bulb, ask yourself this: Doyou ride a horse to work? Stillchurning your own butter?”

That might be overstating LEDs’current market penetration inarchitectural lighting applications,but there’s little doubt that thetrend lines continue to point in thatdirection.You couldn’t navigate theaisles of LIGHTFAIR the past fewyears without stumbling across anLED manufacturer around everybend. (The number of LED manu-facturers at the show doubled from2003 to 2004, according to the“2004 LED Specifier Report,” pub-lished by Zing Communications.)Meanwhile, the recently enacted

federal Energy Act allocates millionsto LED R&D, and the Departmentof Energy is currently partneringwith the Next Generation LightingIndustry Alliance to support com-mercialization of solid state lighting.

Out in the field, the applicationsare moving well past narrow nich-es—“pen lights and Christmas light-ing” as Krakow calls them—tomore sweeping, general illuminationinstallations.The projects are morehigh-profile too. A supermarketfreezer is one thing; a landmarkbridge in one of the nation’s largestcities is another.

LEDs may also be on the cusp ofachieving a certain gravitas withinthe industry. What makes theVincent Thomas bridge project sointriguing is that the LED solution

satisfied more than just the archi-tainment or decorative needs of thebridge. There were many playerswith different agendas who had aseat at the table when LEDs wereselected in L.A., and LEDs appearready to seize a more prominentseat at the table when lightingchoices are made.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Paul Tarricone

PublisherWilliam Hanley, CAE

EditorPaul Tarricone

Associate EditorJohn-Michael Kobes

Assistant EditorRoslyn Lowe

Art DirectorSamuel Fontanez

Associate Art DirectorPetra Domingo

ColumnistsTed Ake • Emlyn G.Altman Denise Fong • Brian Liebel

Doug Paulin • Paul Pompeo Willard Warren

Book Review EditorPaulette Hebert, Ph.D.

Marketing ManagerSue Foley

Advertising CoordinatorLeslie Prestia

Published by IESNA120 Wall Street, 17th FloorNewYork, NY 10005-4001

Phone: 212-248-5000Fax: 212-248-5017/18

Website: www.iesna.orgEmail: [email protected]

LD+A is a magazine for professionals involved in the art,science, study, manufacture, teaching, and implementationof lighting. LD+A is designed to enhance and improve thepractice of lighting. Every issue of LD+A includes featurearticles on design projects, technical articles on the sci-ence of illumination, new product developments, industrytrends, news of the Illuminating Engineering Society ofNorth America, and vital information about the illuminat-ing profession.

Statements and opinions expressed in articles and edito-rials in LD+A are the expressions of contributors and donot necessarily represent the policies or opinions of theIlluminating Engineering Society of North America.Advertisements appearing in this publication are the soleresponsibility of the advertiser.

LD+A (ISSN 0360-6325) is published monthly in theUnited States of America by the Illuminating EngineeringSociety of North America, 120 Wall Street, 17th Floor,New York, NY 10005, 212-248-5000. Copyright 2005 bythe Illuminating Engineering Society of NorthAmerica. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY10005 and additional mailing offices. Nonmember sub-scriptions $44.00 per year.Additional $15.00 postage forsubscriptions outside the United States. Member sub-scriptions $32.00 (not deductible from annual dues).Additional subscriptions $44.00. Single copies $4.00,except Lighting Equipment & Accessories Directory andProgress Report issues $10.00. Authorization to repro-duce articles for internal or personal use by specificclients is granted by IESNA to libraries and other usersregistered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)Transactional Reporting Service, provided a fee of $2.00per copy is paid directly to CCC, 21 Congress Street,Salem, MA 01970. IESNA fee code: 0360-6325/86 $2.00.This consent does not extend to other kinds of copyingfor purposes such as general distribution, advertising orpromotion, creating new collective works, or resale.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LD+A, 120Wall Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10005. Subscribers:For continuous service please notify LD+A of addresschanges at least 6 weeks in advance.

This publication is indexed regularly by EngineeringIndex, Inc. and Applied Science & Technology Index.LD+A is available on microfilm from Proquest Infor-mation and Learning, 800-521-0600,Ann Arbor, MI.

4 www.iesna.org

A supermarketfreezer is onething; a landmark bridge in one ofthe nation’slargest cities isanother

e-mail a letterto the editor:

[email protected]

6 www.iesna.org

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Inertia Means No Respect You are so right about lighting not “getting any respect.” (LD+A,

October, Editor’s Note.) Sometimes, though, it might be a few lightingdesigners’ own fault because they suffer from terminal inertia in changingprocedure and have not yet adopted alternate lighting tools availableabroad for decades.With the great emphasis on lighting in energy con-servation, perhaps federal and state governments offering rebates andreduced taxes might change attitudes.

During my four-year service as an appointed member of the nationalASRAE/IESNA Committee on Standard 90.1, I could not convince thegroup to include fiber optic functional architectural lighting in the models.Even our local IESNA section hasn’t had a seminar on fiber optics sinceFebruary 2002!

Soon glass fiber optics should join fluorescents and halogens to expandthe designer’s palette. This would eliminate some designers’ complaintsthat the energy conservation mandates hinder planning. It is possible,within the restrictions, to create sophisticated yet sustainable illuminationusing every suitable method and a little imagination. However, in all cases,energy conservation must be balanced with increased productivity.Otherwise, it is useless.

Gersil N. KayConservation Lighting International

Philadelphia, PA

PRESIDENTAlan L. Lewis, O.D., Ph.D., FIESThe New England College of Optometry

PAST PRESIDENTCraig A. Bernecker, Ph.D., FIES, LCThe Lighting Education Institute

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT (President-Elect)Kevin FlynnKiku Obata & Company

VP-EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIESRonald Gibbons, Ph.D.Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

VP-TECHNICAL & RESEARCHPekka HakkarainenLutron Electronics Co. Inc.

VP-DESIGN & APPLICATIONJoseph B. Murdoch, Ph.D., PE, FIES, LCUniversity of New Hampshire (retired)

VP-MEMBER ACTIVITIESKimberly Szinger, PEStantec Consulting

TREASURERBoyd CorbettS2C Incorporated

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTWilliam HanleyIESNA

DIRECTORSDavid A. BaumHolophane

James CyrePhilips Lighting

Terrance Kilbourne, LCTEC, Inc.

Denis Lavoie, LCLUMEC, Inc.

Paul Mercier, LCLighting Design Innovations, Ltd.

Russ Owens, LCWest Coast Design Group

RVP/DIRECTORSCraig Kohring mda engineering, inc.

Thomas Tolen, LC TMT Associates

2005-2006Board of DirectorsIESNA

THE SOVEREIGN CITY OFNew York has had its own electricalcode for over 100 years (thanks toThomas Edison’s choice of businesslocation), but we decided to adoptthe National Electric Code (NEC) of1999, with amendments, because ofthe complexity of an electric networkthat serves largely high-rise officebuildings and apartment houses with138,000 V running under some of ourstreets.And we adopted an amended2002 NEC and are working on the2005 NEC adoption as we speak.

The Energy Code we must followis the New York State EnergyConservation Construction Code of2003, which is based on theInternational Energy ConservationCode (IECC), with amendments.Some of us who practice in NYC feltthat with all the tourists who stay inhotels and visit the theater, museums,shops, etc., we required some subjec-tive changes to that code, which gavecredit for controls instead of strictLPD (Lighting Power Density) limits,and still respect the intent of thecode.

New ProposalsSeveral of us, including Charles

Stone II of Fisher Marantz Stone, pres-ident of the IALD, and Paul Gregory,founder of Focus Lighting, addressedthe Technical Committee of the N.Y.State Department of State with sug-gestions as to how to amend the codeand still accomplish energy conserva-tion. With help from the committee,especially its chair, Steve Rocklin, assis-tant director of energy services,Division of Code Enforcement andAdministration,several amendments tothe N.Y. State Code were proposed.• 101.6.2 Renewable Energy.The pro-

visions of this code shall not beapplicable to building systems,which are demonstrated to deriveenergy solely from renewablesources.

• 102.4 Electrical Energy Consumption.In all buildings having individualdwelling units, provisions shall bemade to determine the electricalenergy consumed by each tenantby separately metering individualdwelling units.Ed. Note. Many apartment houses

in NYC have master meters and consumption is estimated basedupon the size of the apartment,notbased on actual usage.

• ECC-20 Section 805.4 : “Internallyilluminated exit signs shall notexceed five watts per side.”

• ECC-22 Table 805.5.2, Footnote “c”:“Where lighting equipment isspecified to be installed to highlightspecific merchandise in addition tolighting equipment specified forgeneral lighting, and is switched ordimmed on circuits for generallighting, the smaller of the actualwattage of the lighting equipmentinstalled specifically for merchan-dise, or 1.6 watts per sq. ft timesthe area of the specific display, or3.9 watts per sq. ft times the actu-al case or shelf area for displayingand selling merchandise including, butnot limited to jewelry, apparel andaccessories, or china and silver, shallbe added to the interior lightingpower determined in accordancewith this line item.”Reason:This proposal deletes an unde-

fined, subjective term that may be inter-

preted in wildly diverging ways. By retain-ing the examples, it offers direction todesigners and enforcers.• ECC- 24 Sect. 805.5.2.3 Interior

Lighting Power Increase: Interiorlighting power calculated in accor-dance with Sections 805.5.2.1 or805.5.2.2 may be increased by upto 50 percent of quantifiable ener-gy savings from automatic lightingcontrols not required by Sections805.2.1 through 805.2.2.2.1 provid-ed these controls meet the accep-tance requirements in theAdvanced Buildings E- BenchmarkVersion 1.0 Appendix A.Reason:This change provides addition-

al flexibility for lighting designers to useinnovative approaches to lighting controls

to reduce energy consumption,while gain-ing the ability to add accent lighting orother specialty lighting to selected spaces.

Progress In The ProcessIn May of this year three forums

were held throughout the state toadvise the public of the changes pro-posed to our energy code. InSeptember the Code Council of theNew York State Uniform FirePrevention and Building Codeapproved the proposals and passedthem on for public comment.Hopefully, these amendments will beadopted and incorporated in theenergy code

In September 2005, New York Cityadopted a “Green Building” law forcity owned and financed structuresrequiring that they meet LEED stan-dards, though not necessarily officialLEED certification.

Any one of the states, cities, towns,etc., that adopt national energy codeslike ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1 or theIECC can amend them to suit localconditions and, if desired, give creditfor the use of lighting controls, as longas they meet the intent of the code.

NYC residents are not alone in hav-ing little patience for “process,” butlook at what progress the proponentsof light trespass laws and dark skies leg-islation have made. The energy codescan be amended without having to fightcity hall. Eric Richman of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory ischair of the Lighting Sub-committee ofthe ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1 Committeeand he encourages members of ourSociety “to get involved in the codeformulating process because it makesfor a better standard.”

I urge you to get involved in thelocal, state or national code writingprocess.You will be helping our indus-try and may wind up saving your ownjob.

Willard L.Warren, PE, LC, FIESNA, isthe principal of Willard L. WarrenAssociates, a consulting firm servingindustry, government and utility clients inlighting and energy conservation.

ENERGY ADVISOR

Willard L.Warren,PE, LC, FIESNA

8 www.iesna.org

The energy codescan be amended

without having tofight city hall

TWO THINGS ANNOY ME about the start-up of some lightingsystems. One is the delay that canoccur between pressing the “on”switch and actually seeing light.Another is the slow warm-up timesof some systems, where the systemstarts out with relatively low lightoutput and takes time to reach theright amount. I guess I just don’t liketo wait for my lighting. Most people,including me, are probably used tothe lighting at home (mostly incan-descent) where the lights generallyturn on at full brightness apparentlyas soon as we flip the switch.

It is sometimes technology such asprogrammed starting and certain dis-charge lamps, which have increasedlife and energy efficiency, and whichcan result in the start-up delays andlonger warm-up times I dislike. But ifothers also find these aspects annoy-ing, it could be a barrier to morewidespread use of more efficientlighting technology.1 Indeed, in theU.S., for example, the federal EnergyStar specifications2 for screwbasecompact fluorescent lamps requirethem to start within one second andto reach 80 percent of their full lightoutput within three minutes.

What Do We Know?There’s not much information in

the literature about how peoplemight respond to delays and low lightlevels at start-up. I haven’t yet foundany literature on responses todelayed starting except that someinstant start equipment could resultin shorter (and less bothersome)delays compared to some pro-grammed start equipment. In the May2004 installment of “ResearchMatters,” Yukio Akashi described sev-eral studies of the noticeability ofslow light level changes, such as dim-ming in order to reduce electricalload during peak demand times.3

Akashi mentions that these studiesgenerally found that most people didnot notice a 20 percent change inlight level,when that change occurredover at least several seconds. Sincesome lighting systems have start-upand warm-up times of up to a fewminutes,4 the difference between theinitial and final light output could

sometimes exceed 20 percent and,therefore, be quite noticeable.

Overall then, there is little informa-tion in the literature about how thesefactors might affect people’s percep-tions of and responses to the start-upperformance of lighting systems. Wedo know that people can notice, andwill disapprove of, lighting that startsand warms up slowly.5 As part of aproject to identify suitable perform-ance metrics for energy efficient light-ing, we conducted a very simple pilotstudy to explore this issue.

Pilot TestIn a small laboratory, we set up a

table lamp (Figure 1) on a workbenchand asked subjects to enter the room(which was dark), turn on the light andcomplete a short questionnaire. Thetable lamp contained a low-voltageincandescent lamp that could be easilycontrolled,and that when illuminated atfull output,produced about 75 footcan-dles on the workbench.We divided thesubjects randomly into three groups of10.For each group, the lighting behaveddifferently when switched on:• For the first group,the lamp turned

on nearly immediately (withinabout a quarter of a second) to fulloutput (control condition).

• For the second group, the lampturned on after a 1.5-secondlength of time (delay condition).

• For the third group, the lampturned on nearly immediately tohalf output and then increased tofull output over 10 seconds(ramp-up condition).

Note that because we used anincandescent lamp,both the light leveland the color of the lighting changedduring the 10-second ramp-up periodfor the third group. Ideally, we’d haveliked to keep that constant, but thiswas just a pilot study, and weobserved that the color change washardly noticeable when it was simul-taneous with the light level change.

The questionnaire contained sev-eral “distractor” questions about thedistribution of light in the space andits suitability for office and storageareas.At the end of the questionnairewe also asked whether peoplenoticed any delays or light levelchanges (and if so, whether thesewere acceptable). We also simplyobserved and took notes on subjects’behavior, because especially for thedelay condition, the 1.5-second delaymight cause some people to say thelight was malfunctioning or try toturn the light switch on again.

Response to the DelayCondition

When asked if the light turned on assoon as they pressed the switch,nobody who saw the delay condition

10 www.iesna.org

RESEARCH MATTERS Is The Warm-up Worth It?

John D. Bullough,Lighting ResearchCenter, Rensselaer

Polytechnic Institute

A small table lamp was set up in a laboratory for the pilot test.

F I G U R E 1

answered yes. Even for the controlcondition (when the light came onwithin about a quarter of a second)only about 30 percent said the lightscame on immediately, which is proba-bly because low-voltage filament lampstend to have slower rise times thanconventional higher-voltage incandes-cent lamps.When asked how accept-able the delay was (if noticed; if not,theanswer was scored as very accept-able), the people who saw the controlcondition found the delay acceptable,while those in the delay group found itunacceptable (Figure 2). Additionally,we found that the delay elicited somekind of behavior in 40 percent of thepeople in that group—either pressingthe switch again, looking under thelamp shade, or asking the experi-menter about it. Nobody in the con-trol group did anything other thanstart to fill out their questionnaires.

Response to the Ramp-upCondition

When asked if they detected achange in light level since they turnedthe light on, about 40 percent of thepeople seeing the ramp-up conditionanswered yes. While this is a largerpercentage than for the group whosaw the control condition, about 20percent of the people in the controlgroup also said the light level hadchanged when in fact it was constant.These “false positive” responses couldbe caused by the relatively slow (quar-ter of a second) rise time for the low-voltage lamp, or they could be mis-takes from the subjects. In any case,when asked how acceptable (ifnoticed, otherwise the answer wasscored as very acceptable) the changesin light level were, people found themvery acceptable (Figure 3).

What Could This Mean?It is sometimes helpful to remem-

ber that most people (IESNA mem-bers and LD+A readers excepted) donot obsess about the profile of lightoutput that is created when we turnthe lights on.They have other, inexpli-cably, more important things to do. Inour small pilot study, people werefocused on the questionnaire in frontof them, and therefore did not havemuch time to spend thinking about

the lighting, and whether there wereunacceptable delays or changes inlight level.Yes, it would have been bet-ter to use a lamp that did not changecolor as a function of light level, andthat could be switched on more rap-idly, but despite these shortcomings,our little pilot study does help usunderstand what matters and whatdoesn’t for the starting and warm-up

time characteristics of lighting sys-tems.

Delays probably matter,since peoplefound them unacceptable. Taking theEnergy Star specifications and theirone-second maximum delay to heartas a reasonable starting point wouldseem to make a lot of sense. Evenshorter delays are probably better,since people even noticed the slowish

November 2005 LD+A 11

Rejuvenation1/2 island

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F I G U R E 2

F I G U R E 3

rise time (about a quarter of a second)of our low-voltage lamp in the controlcondition. On the other hand, initiallight output that is half of the total out-put of a lighting system,and which risesto full output within 10 seconds, didn’tseem to bother people at all in ourpilot study. Of course, this assumesthat the reduced light output does notcompromise visibility of an importanttask or reduce safety (such as in a haz-ardous location), but this is not likelythe case in most homes and offices. Ifincreasing energy efficiency involvestrading off a couple hundred lumensfor a few seconds (as long as they getsome to begin with), it’s probably aworthwhile trade, and worth the wait.

I’d like to acknowledge the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency for sup-porting this pilot study, and my col-leagues Ramesh Raghavan, RichardPysar, Yukio Akashi, Jennifer Fullam andMark Rea for their input.

References1.Kjoerulf F.1997.Transforming the

CFL market by consumer campaigns.Right Light 4 Conf., Copenhagen,Denmark, p. 145.

2. ENERGY STAR. 2003. ENERGYSTAR Program Requirements forCFLs. Accessed on September 13,2005 at www.energystar.gov/ia/part-ners/product_specs/program_reqs/cfls_prog_req.pdf

3.Akashi Y.2004.Research matters:Is it okay to dim your lights for loadshedding? Lighting Des. Appl. (LD+A),March, p. 12.

4. Rea MS (ed.). 2000. IESNALighting Handbook: Reference andApplication (9th ed.). New York, NY:Illuminating Engineering Society ofNorth America.

5. Figueiro M, Fullam J, O’RourkeC, Rea M, Taylor J. 2003. IncreasingMarket Acceptance of CompactFluorescent Lamps [report to U.S.Environmental Protection Agency].Troy, NY: Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute.Accessed on September 15,2005 at www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/light-ingtransformation/colorroundtable/pdf/marketacceptanceofcflsfinal.pdf

Spectrum1/3 v

RESEARCH MATTERS

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TECHNOLOGY Dimming Diversity

THE SIMPLEST DECISION IN lighting is “on or off?” However, dim-ming technology means you nolonger have to limit yourself to justtwo choices. Dimmable ballasts allowyou to explore the full spectrum oflighting possibilities between thosetwo settings. Plus, they can providediversity from lamp to lamp, group togroup, or zone to zone.

Dimming technology can take youin two basic directions. One towardsenergy savings and the other towardscomplementary lighting—adapted tothe way the space is used. Sometimesone path will lead you to both desti-nations, but generally speaking youare going to choose your lightingequipment for one reason or theother—not both.

The decision to pursue energy sav-ings through dimming can be a rela-tively simple one. It is, after all, a mat-ter of pure mathematics. Dimmingcan cut your utility bill by nearly 30percent. Naturally this technology is

more expensive than traditional light-ing equipment, but usage over timesaves energy and dollars.

Complementary light controlthrough dimming can be a more com-plicated decision because the benefitsare not so easily quantifiable.Withouta doubt,environment is linked to pro-ductivity in an office, retail space orrestaurant. However, it is sometimesdifficult to calculate the direct rela-tionship between improved lightingand increased productivity.

Energy SavingsHow much light do you need? This

is the first and most important ques-tion to ask when designing any light-ing arrangement. The pitfalls of pro-viding too little light are obvious.Theproblem with providing too muchlight is more subtle (unless you go sofar as to start blinding people).Unnecessary light generally goesunnoticed until the utility bills start topile up.

Dimmable ballasts allow you toprovide only as much light as neces-sary. This is an effective cost-cuttingtechnique, but it is sometimes over-looked. A much more common wayto reduce utility costs is to focus onefficiency. Upgrading to higher effi-ciency lighting equipment does notalways provide the maximum energysavings possible. A high-efficiencylamp may provide the most light forthe least cost, but what if that light isunnecessarily bright? Efficiency is onlyhalf of the answer.Once you minimizethe amount of electricity needed toproduce light, you must also minimizewasted lumens in order to get themost out of every energy dollar.Thisrequires precise control.

Dimming is all about control. Asdemand for lighting changes, so doesoutput.The lighting will adjust—man-ually or automatically—to fit the situ-ation or time of day.This allows youto curb energy use and minimizecosts.

Step Dimming. Certain ballastscan provide incremental light-levelswitching, also known as “step dim-ming.” This allows the lamp to switchbetween two or three power levels.In other words, you can dim the lightsto 50 percent at the flip of a switch.Of course, there is a simpler methodto achieve similar results: just turn offhalf of the lamps. However, this solu-tion creates uneven lighting. By dim-ming the lamps instead, you maintainuniform illumination. This is prefer-able for safety reasons, as well ascomfort and visual appeal.

Analog Dimming.Another energy-saving style of ballast is the 0-10-V ana-log dimming ballast, which has becomecommon in office buildings that employdaylight harvesting techniques. Analogdimming technology is a cost-effectivechoice for single-zone applicationswhere all lamps are dimmed to thesame level simultaneously. Unlike stepdimming, this technology allows forcontinuous dimming from full bright-ness down to about one to three per-cent in most cases.These ballasts arecompatible with a wide variety of pop-ular controls and photocells, and theyfacilitate compliance with strict energy-saving requirements such as CaliforniaTitle 24 and ASHRAE-IESNA 90.1.

Wallace Creer

Lee Filters1/3 sq

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TECHNOLOGY

Daylight harvesting—where pho-tocells detect the amount of naturallight in the room and dim the ballastsaccordingly to avoid unnecessaryenergy use—is a highly effective useof automated controllers to cut utili-ty costs.And they can often be usedin conjunction with occupancy sen-sors and schedulers.

Complementary LightControl

The previous ballast designs areeffective if you want every lamp toperform the exact same task, such asdim to 50 percent when the sun isbright. On the other hand, you mayrequire a more sophisticated way tocontrol your environment. If you

need different lamps to respond indifferent ways, you will need a pro-grammable network of ballasts.

A lighting arrangement, like all otheraspects of architectural design, mustcontribute to the functionality of thespace. In other words, it must help theoccupants achieve their goals—whether the goal is relaxation, retailsales, office work, public speaking, etc.Multi-use rooms are therefore going torequire multiple lighting arrangements.

Programmable lighting arrange-ments allow you to adapt your envi-ronment to changing situations withthe touch of a button.This versatilitycan be a valuable tool. For example,an auditorium may require numerouslighting arrangements for a single

event.A restaurant may wish to adaptits ambiance numerous timesthroughout the day, from businesslunches to family dinners to late-nightromantic dining. The purpose isalways to increase productivity, how-ever it is measured.

Digital Dimming. Digital dimmingallows for dynamic, programmablelighting arrangements.This technologyenables multiple light types (fluores-cent, halogen, incandescent, etc.) tooperate on a single circuit and yet becontrolled individually.A wall-mountedcontroller or handheld remote is gen-erally used to program the lamps,either one-by-one or grouped intozones. With digital dimming, all setupand programming are done via thecontroller.Changes can be made at anytime without opening a single fixtureor touching a single wire.This innova-tive technology is perfect for sophisti-cated dimming environments such asconference rooms, hotel lobbies,restaurants, classrooms, and more.

DALI. An alternative digital dim-ming provides new dimensions in ver-satility, programmability, and scalabili-ty. Digital Addressable LightingInterface, or DALI, is the new indus-try standard for digital communica-tions between ballasts and controlsystems. DALI technology allows alimitless variety of lighting groups, andeach one can be programmed to per-form multiple commands at the pushof a button. Commands includeon/off, light level control and scenerecall. Ballasts can be controlled indi-vidually or in groups, correspondingto rooms or functional areas—pro-viding maximum flexibility.

Since DALI is a standard IEC pro-tocol, numerous manufacturers are

With digital dimming, all setup and programming are done via the con-troller. Changes can be made at any time without opening a single fix-ture or touching a single wire.

Certain ballasts allow forstep dimming.

exploring this technology.Wall stationdevices make initial programming anddaily operation simple and conven-ient. Although a wall controller is allthat is necessary to effectively controla DALI digital dimming system, thistechnology also allows for two-waycommunication between the ballastand a central computer controller.

Other technologies only allow thecontroller to issue orders and do notallow the ballast to “talk back.” WithDALI, the ballast can alert the con-troller when a lamp fails. Monitoringballast-to-controller communicationcan also help identify new opportuni-ties to save energy and reduce main-tenance costs.

Choose Your PathDigital dimming can, of course,

duplicate all the energy-saving fea-tures of step dimming and analogdimming ballasts. However, as youwould expect, more capable tech-nologies are more expensive. In manycases it is unnecessary to invest in adigital dimming technology such asDALI for simple daylight harvesting orother energy-saving reasons.

Analog dimming ballasts couldpotentially be engineered to achievesome of the versatility of moreadvanced technologies. Extensivewiring might allow you to design asmall number of complex lightingarrangements that you could switchbetween with the touch of a button.However, these ballasts could only begrouped into zones by wiring, not bysoftware. Changing the zones ordesigning new arrangements wouldrequire a great deal of labor.

Whether new construction orretrofit, choosing wisely will pay off interms of savings and productivity.Fortunately, the diversity in dimmingproducts and technology demon-strates that there is a ballast solutiontailor-made for everyone.

Wallace Creer is dimming productmanager for Universal Lighting Tech-nologies, Nashville, TN. His 21 years ofprofessional experience includes R&D,product development engineering andproduct management.

Daylight harvesting—where photocells detect the amount of naturallight in the room and dim the ballasts accordingly to avoid unnecessaryenergy use—is an effective use of automated controllers to cut utilitycosts.

DALI technology allows a limitless variety of lighting groups, and eachone can be programmed to perform multiple commands at the push ofa button. Commands include on/off, light level control and scene recall.

TECHNOLOGY

18 www.iesna.org

20 www.iesna.org

HOT BUTTON The Vision Thing

AN IMPORTANT DEBATE IStaking place in the lighting communi-ty,one that requires a good slap in theface. No, not an insulting or punish-ment slap; more like the one you giveyourself in the shower to wake up inthe morning...what you need to snapout of a bad dream and come to yoursenses.

What I’m talking about here is theVision Thing—the debate in theindustry about whether or not the20/20 vision standard adopted byvision science and optometry haspractical use in assessing the effec-tiveness of lighting. The two sides inthis debate often delve into nuancedterminology that many of us don’trecognize, and we’re left wonderingwhat each side is saying.

Background In the field of spectrally enhanced

lighting, there are three undisputedvisual effects resulting from relativeincreases in the shorter wave length

(blue/green) content of a light source:for the same light level, there isincreased brightness perception, areduction in pupil size and measur-able improvements in visual acuity atthe optometric standard of 20/20vision, or threshold. While these

results are generally agreed upon, theimportance to lighting practice of thevisual acuity improvements is highlydebated. One side of the debate(Group A) states that changes in

vision occurring at the threshold con-dition where acuity is determined arerelevant to lighting practice; the otherside (Group B) states that changes invision at this level of refinement aretoo small to matter, since readingmaterial in normal applications isnever that small.

At issue is whether vision improve-ments resulting from changes in thespectral properties of light have mea-surable effects on vision that matter. Itis a critically important question toask, since empirically derived applica-tion factors for spectrally enhancedlighting are based in part on improve-ments in visual acuity at the optomet-ric standard, and these application fac-tors have direct lighting and energyconsequences. If this threshold level ofrefined vision really doesn’t matter,perhaps the application factors aren’tpertinent to lighting practice.

At its core, however, this debategoes well beyond spectrally enhancedlighting—it is a fundamental disagree-

Brian Liebel, PE

Should we, as lighting

professionals, usea different

standard thanoptometrists?

Fulham1/2 horiz


ment over the use of a well-estab-lished standard to assess the effectsof lighting on human vision. Shouldwe, as lighting professionals, use a dif-ferent standard than optometrists?

What is Visual Acuity?When you go to the optometrist,

you are asked to read various lettersof smaller and smaller size, until youcan’t read the letters anymore.Optometrists test for “normal” 20/20vision, which corresponds to the visu-al capability to distinguish letters witha stroke and gap size of one minute ofarc. Letters are used in vision testingbecause they are easily recognized,content neutral and easy to use—thefine details at this threshold limit arepicked up through common mistakesof seeing a “P” when it’s really an “F,”or an “O for a “C,” for example.Theoptometrist knows full well that youdon’t usually read letters this small; it’sjust that having the ability to discernthis level of detail ensures your bestlevel of resolution and visual comfort.

Which leads us to the fine point ofthe debate—Group A researchers haveshown improved visual acuity resultingfrom spectrally enhanced lighting whentesting at 20/201,2,3,4,5, while Group Bresearchers investigating the spectraleffects of lighting under the less exact-ing criteria of 20/30 vision (1.5 minutesof arc) have not found visual perfor-mance improvements6.Group B arguesthat testing at the 20/20 acuity limit isirrelevant, on the premise that thereare no real office tasks that use lettersthat small,while Group A argues that itis entirely predictable that there wouldbe no difference in task performancewhen people are tested at 20/30, sinceanyone with normal 20/20 visionshould easily be able to identify letterssized at 20/30 under a wide variety oflighting conditions.

Why Does It Matter?Let’s analyze this debate through a

simple question: What is the differencebetween 20/20 and 20/30 vision, andwhat do we miss in the interval between?In other words, if we decide that any-thing smaller than 20/30 doesn’t mat-ter, let’s find out what we are missingif we corrected our vision to 20/30instead of 20/20!

Try this test with your optometrist:Once you have your vision set at20/20 (with corrective lenses or not),have your optometrist put letters onthe wall that are sized to 20/20 vision.Read the letters with both eyesrelaxed and without the machine infront of your face so you have full-field-of-view. Now, ask the doctor to put

lenses in front of your eyes—correc-tive lenses that change your vision to20/30 and you’ll see that you can’t readthe 20/20 letters anymore. Aim yourgaze at other things in the room thatare the same distance away as the let-ters (say the corner of the room), andalternate your viewing between yourprecise 20/20 vision and the 20/30

Lightech Inc1/2 island

lenses—first you see clearly, then youdon’t.The difference in your clarity ofvision is what you are missing if youassume that 20/30 vision is goodenough.

Finally, return to your 20/20 visionand ask your optometrist to alternatethe letters between 20/20 and 20/30,and see how easy the 20/30 letters areto read.See the difference? Clearly, the20/30 letters are much easier to readand therefore provide a much largermargin of error for making mistakeswhen being tested.7

Group B argues correctly that younever find words printed at the verysmall threshold size of 20/20.Group Aagrees with this observation, but clar-ifies the reason; vision studies consis-

tently conclude that typeface must besized at least three to four timesthreshold (minimum 20/60 vision fornormal-vision people) to read com-fortably without slowing down.8, 9, 10, 11,

12, 13 For example, at a 14-in. viewingdistance, newspaper typeface is at thethree times threshold, or 20/60 size,while telephone book typeface issized smaller at two times threshold,or 20/40 size—that’s why we squint,move closer, use a magnifying glass orjust read slower when reading thephone book.The key point here is thatthe reference point for reading speedis threshold, and that fine adjustmentsin vision at the threshold level impactreading speed and visual comfort fornormal reading tasks.

When vision is tested with letterswhose smallest size is 20/30, the test-ing lacks the resolution necessary toassess real vision impacts and gives afalse sense of security to those whoclaim there are no benefits to testingat more refined levels. It’s like testinga steak knife for its ability to cut athick steak by using a stick of butteras the test case—sure it can cut thebutter, but what about the steak? Thetest leaves us with irrelevant informa-tion, when what we really need is the

guarantee that we have the sharpestknife in the drawer.

20/20 ThresholdThe importance of visual resolution

at the threshold limit of 20/20 visioncannot be summarily dismissed. Smallrefinements in visual acuity directlyaffect both visual comfort and readingspeed, facts well established in visionscience.8 Furthermore, optimizingvisual acuity is critical to minimizingeye strain and reducing posture prob-lems, such as hunched backs fromreading legal contracts or extendednecks from reading Internet pages onyour computer.

Visual performance tests using20/30 letters that are one-and-a-half

times the size of the normal visualacuity limit miss the point of visiontesting and underestimate the realeffects of clear and precise vision. Ifyou still question the validity of theoptometric standard and its impor-tance to lighting, take a cold showerand slap yourself real hard—size doesmatter, and in this case, the smallerthe better.

References1. Berman S.M., et al (1993)

Luminance controlled pupil sizeaffects Landolt C test performance.JIES, 22(2):150-165.

2.Berman,S.M.et al. (1994) LandoltC recognition in elderly subjects isaffected by scotopic intensity of sur-round illuminants. JIES 23(2): 123-130.

3. Berman, S.M. et al (1996)Luminance controlled pupil sizeaffects word reading accuracy. JIES,25(1): 51-59.

4. Navvab, M. (2001) A comparisonof visual performance under high andlow color temperature fluorescentlamps. J.IES,Vol. 30, No. 2 pp.170-175.

5. Navvab, M. (2002) Visual acuitydepends on the color temperature ofthe surround lighting. J.IESVol.31,No.1, pp. 70-84.

6. Boyce, PR et-al. The impact ofspectral power distribution on theperformance of an achromatic visualtask. Lighting Res. & Tech. 35,2.

7. If you aren’t going to theoptometrist soon, try downloading avision test on your computer, like theone at www.tucows.com/get/34305-1_130290—it’s free! Make sure youcalibrate the screen to the correctsize and take the test at 10’-0”away—otherwise the pixelization onthe computer won’t provide theappropriate resolution—and have afriend help you conduct the test. Seethe difference in 20/20 and 20/30?

8. Flom, M.C. (1966). New con-cepts on visual acuity. OptometryWeekly. 57(28), 63-68.

9. Bailey, I.L. et al (1980).The designand use of a new near-vision chart.Am J. Opt. & Phys. Opt. 57,740-753.

10. Legge, G.E. et al (1985).Psychophysics of reading I: Normalvision.Vis. Res. 25, 239-252.

11. Whittaker, S.G., et al (1993)Visual requirements for reading.Opt.& Vis Sc., 70(1), 54-65.

12. Bailey, I.L. et al (1993) Size as adetermination of reading speed. J.IES22,102-117.

13. Lovie-Kitchen, J.E. et al (1994)Th effect of print size on reading ratefor adults and children. Clnc & ExpOpt. 77, 2-7.

Brian Liebel is principal of Afterimage +Space, an architectural, engineering, andlighting design and research firm. Duringhis 20-year professional career, he hasconsulted for numerous projects and firmsas a lighting designer, electrical engineer,lighting educator, exhibit designer, lightingresearcher and product developer.He hasreceived several local, regional, and nation-al lighting design awards and is currentlythe principal investigator for research inthe field of spectrally enhanced lighting forthe U.S. Department of Energy.Comments addressed to the author onthis column can be addressed [email protected]

22 www.iesna.org

HOT BUTTON

At issue is whether vision improvementsresulting from changes in the spectral

properties of light have measurableeffects on vision that matter

Make yourVOICE HEARD!

Join an IESNA committee:

Fax: (212) 248-5017

ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING SOCIETYNEWS


VOLUME 35, NUMBER 11 • November 2005

Obituary - Frederick A. Dickey, 68Frederick A. Dickey, a long time electrical lighting engineer with General Electric and Member Emeritus of the

IESNA,died on July 26 at the age of 68.Born in Pittsburgh, PA,Mr.Dickey received a bachelor of science from OhioUniversity,Athens, and a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

After his retirement in 2000, Mr. Dickey worked with Major League Baseball (MLB) as a lighting and field con-sultant. He was also a strong supporter of the “Bright Idea” program, which promotes the use of energy efficient,compact fluorescent lamps as a fundraising initiative for schools and community non-profits located in NorthCarolina.

Mexico Section TakesLighting Journey

The IESNA Mexico Section’s 7th InternationalLighting Journey was held in July at BanamexConvention Center in Mexico City. Highlightsincluded presentations by Craig Bernecker,IESNA past president, who discussed lighting ofpublic spaces;Naomi Miller,who spoke on visionand comfort factors in lighting; and Penn State’sRick Mistrick, who discussed daylighting.Pictured are the speakers and section officers,from left to right: top—Peter Petersen, PedroGarza,Marco Gongora, Scott Padios (SouthwestRegional VP), Luc Lafortune, Craig Bernecker,Fred Oberkircher, Alain Guilhot and Jose A

Fernandez; bottom—Victor Palacio, Leo Mendoza (Regional IIDA chair), Naomi Miller, Juan P. Ruiz, Lisa Ishii, RickMistrick and Joaquin Linares.

For more information on the 8th Lighting Journey in Mexico City, email Victor Palacio, section president at [email protected]

Members In The News...Paulette Hebert was promoted to professor at the University of Louisiana at

Lafayette. She previously taught in ULL’s School of Architecture as anassistant and then associate professor for the past 10 years. She will con-tinue to serve as the director of the Facility Design and ManagementStudio at ULL, as well as the owner of Ph.D.esign, a lighting consultingfirm.

Leviton Manufacturing Company, Little Neck, NY, appointedDavid Weigand to the position of product manager for LightingManagement Systems.

Luxo Lamp Ltd named Claude Blache as national sales manager forthe Luxo and Burton product lines in Canada.

Bruck Lighting Systems promoted Ken Esterly to the national salesdirector position. Esterly, who will be based out of Chicago, has previously served as the eastern

sales and international LED director.

Lightolier Controls has named Rob Stredde as regional sales manager for the North Central United States.Based out of Chicago, IL, Stredde will support the sales of both Lightolier Controls and Entertainment Technology.

January 8-10, 2006IESNA CENTENNIAL

CONFERENCEContact:Valerie Landers212-248-5000 ext.117

www.iesna.org

IESNA Calendar of Events

Hebert

Weigand

26 www.iesna.org

SUSTAININGMEMBERS

The following companies haveelected to support the Societyas Sustaining Members whichallows the IESNA to fundprograms that benefit allsegments of the membership andpursue new endeavors, includingeducation projects, lightingresearch and recommendedpractices. The level of support isclassified by the amount ofannual dues, based on acompany’s annual lightingrevenues:

Copper:$500 annual duesLighting revenues to $4 million(Copper members are listed inone issue of LD+A each year, aswell as in the IESNA AnnualReport.)Silver:$1,000 annual duesLighting revenues to $10 millionGold:$2,500 annual duesLighting revenues to $50 millionPlatinum:$5,000 annual duesLighting revenues to $200 millionEmerald:$10,000 annual duesLighting revenues to $500 millionDiamond:$15,000 annual duesLighting revenues over $500 mil-lion

DIAMONDCooper LightingGeneral Electric Co.Lithonia LightingOSRAM SYLVANIA Products, Inc.Philips Lighting Co.

EMERALDHolophane Corporation

PLATINUMDay-Brite Capri OmegaLightolierLutron Electronics Co, Inc.

GOLDA.L.P. Lighting Components Co.Altman Lighting IncThe Bodine CompanyCanlyte Inc.Con-Tech LightingDuke Power Co.Edison Price Lighting, Inc.Finelite, Inc.Florida Power Lighting SolutionsGardco Lighting Indy Lighting, Inc.Kenall Mfg Co.The Kirlin CompanyKurt Versen Co.LexaLite Int’l CorpLighting Services IncLiteTouch, Inc.Louis Poulsen LightingLSI Industries, Inc.Lucifer Lighting Co.Martin Professional, Inc.Musco Sports Lighting, Inc.Niagara Mohawk Power CorpPrudential Lighting Corp

RAB Lighting, Inc.San Diego Gas & ElectricSPI LightingVista Professional Outdoor LightingThe Watt Stopper Inc.Zumtobel Staff Lighting, Inc.

SILVERArdron-Mackie LimitedArkema Inc.Associated Lighting Representatives. Inc.Atofina Chemicals, Inc.Bartco Lighting, Inc.Barth Electric Co., Inc.The Belfer GroupBeta Lighting, Inc.Birchwood Lighting, Inc.BJB Electric CorporationBorder States Electric SupplyBulbrite Industries, Inc.Celestial ProductsCity of San FranciscoCon Edison of New YorkCustom Lighting Services, LLCCustom Lights, Inc.Day Lite Maintenance Co.Eastern Energy Services, Inc.Eclipse Lighting, Inc.Elko LtdElliptiparEnmaxEnterprise Lighting SalesETC ArchitecturalEye Lighting IndustriesEye Lighting Int’l of NAFiberstarsFocal PointGammalux SystemsH E Williams, Inc.HDLCIlluminating Technologies, Inc.Kramer LightingLee FiltersLegion Lighting Co.Leviton Mfg. Co. Inc.Lightology LLCLiteTechLitecontrol CorpLitelab CorpLitetronics Int’l Inc.Lowel Light ManufacturingLumascap USA Inc.Manitoba HydroManning LightingMetalumen Manufacturing, Inc.New York State Energy Research &

Development AuthorityOCEM/Multi Electric Mfg. Inc.Optical Research AssociatesParamount Industries, Inc.Peter Basso Associates, Inc.Portland General ElectricPrescolite, Inc.Reflex Lighting Group, Inc.Richard McDonald & Associates, Ltd. -CalgaryRichard McDonald & Associates, Ltd. -EdmontonSentry Electric CorporationShakespeare Composites & StructuresSolar Outdoor LightingSouthern California EdisonSternberg Vintage LightingStrand Lighting, Inc.StressCrete King Luminaire Co.Tennessee Valley AuthorityUniversal Electric Ltd.US Architectural Lighting/Sun Valley LightingUtility MetalsVelux America Inc.WJ Whatley Inc.WAC Lighting, Co.Wisconsin Public Service CorpWybron, Inc.Xenon Light, Inc.

As of September 2005

IES SUSTAININGMEMBERS

Allscape1/2 V


New MembersMembership Committee Chair

Paul Mercier announced the IESNAgained one Sustaining Member and81 members (M), associate membersand student members in September.

Sustaining MembersThe Watt Stopper Inc., Santa Clara, CA

Canadian RegionBarbara A. Bennett (M), Cooper Lighting

Canada,Toronto, ON Tim Moggridge (M), Instrument Systems,

Ottawa, ON Janet Wicks, Janick Electric Limited, North York,

ON

East Central RegionTaylor Adair (M), Lamina,Westhampton, NJ Sarah Bucher, B2E Consulting Engineers,

Leesburg,VA Steve A. Camillucci (M), Pace Collaborative,

Virginia Beach,VA Walter S. Farley, Langhorne, PA Garrett E. Fox, Spears/Votta & Associates, Inc.,

Fallstone, MD Emad A. Hasan (M),The Lighting Practice, Inc.,

Philadelphia, PA Mickel D. Johnson, City of Richmond -

Department of Public Utilites, Richmond,VA Kenneth H. Powell (M),AKF Engineers, LLP,

Philadelphia, PA

Great Lakes RegionDean A.Thornberry, Holophane, Newark, OH

South Pacific Coast RegionSteven Holdaway,Associated Lighting

Representatives, Oakland, CA Michael Koolhoven,A&F Engineering Group, Inc.,

Rancho Cucamonga, CA Thom Petrush,Vista Professional Outdoor

Lighting, Simi Valley, CA Dean Pournaras,The Watt Stopper, Inc., Santa

Clara, CA Duane S. Price, Corona, CA April Ruedaflores (M),Architectural Area

Lighting, La Mirada, CA Garland K.Wong, City of Concord, Concord,

CA Darrin Wood,Vista Professional Outdoor

Lighting, Simi Valley, CA

Midwest RegionStephen R. Baim, Ranken Technical College,

Edwardsville, IL Michael T. Dudek, Kansas State University,

Manhattan, KS David A. Exe (M), Industrial Engineering, Inc.,

Woodbury, MN Terrance Maskil (M), Malone Finkle Eckhard &

Collins, Inc., Shawnee, KS William R. Oliver (M), Creative Lighting &

Associated Systems, Inc., Elkhorn, NE Dirk A. Rannebarger (M), Daily & Associates,

Engineers, Inc., Champaign, IL Joseph A. Regis, Robert E. Hamilton Consulting

Engineers, PC, Joliet, IL Tejinder S.Thethi (M),Techknow Engineering,

LLC, Chicago, IL

Laura Vogel, Muermann Engineering, LC, Kiel,WI University Of Nebraska, OmahaDerek Bentz, Garrett Galyen, Brett Garner,

Samuel Haberman, Kent Krause John McCart, Chrysanthi C. Mishek, Misty

Owings, Cerone Thompson Jon Turner,Andrew WilsonMilwaukee School of EngineeringChristopher Durham

Southeastern RegionDuWaynne G. Rettke, Hudson, FL University of AlabamaMae Beth Aden, Lauren Bacon, Mandy Buck,

Sarah Cole, Kathlen Cowley, Laura RuthEdge, Katherine Field, Michael J. Hand,Christine Lankey, Miranda Lawrence,AudreyLayton, Bradley Logan, Lacey Moseley, LydiaPeavler, Carolyne D. Perry, Deasy Phillips,Melody Riddle,Amelia Smith, Lisa Vandillon

Northeastern RegionMichael A. Lunn, PCI Lighting Control System,

South Burlington,VT Sergio Mazon (M), Mazon Lighting Design,

Boston, MA John Micelotta (M), Expert Electric Inc.,Astoria,

NY Adam Ying, Jesco Lighting, Inc., Ridgewood, NY University of BridgeportVicki Kohanek

Northwest RegionMorena A. Delrosario EIT (M), URS Corp.,

Seattle,WA Ernest Kim (M), ODOT Traffic, Salem, OR Barry Locken,Wesco Distributions, Nanaimo,

BC Mark Morris (M), Morris Engineering Group,

LLC, Juneau,AK Yvon Pelletier, Prolux Lighting, Calgary,ABKenneth T. Ratcliffe (M),AMC Engineers,

Anchorage,AK Ross G. Reiniger (M), Holophane, Calgary,AB

Southwestern RegionJonathan A. Carter, ccrd Partners, Dallas,TXSteven G. Martin, SiGMA, Boulder, CO Patrick Murray (M), Philips Lighting Co., Sugar

Land,TX

Southern RegionRobin E. Johnson, Equinox Energy Systems, Inc.,

Marietta, GA Chad W. Luttrell, Loganville, GA Terry D. Norwood (M), Echelon Eng., Charlotte,

NC Ronald C. Ray, Equinox Energy Systems,

Marietta, GA

InternationalItzhak Hershkovich, Ma’tz,The Israeli National

Roads Co. LTD., Or Yehuda, Israel

Selador1/3 v


INDUSTRY UPDATES

The Lighting Industry Responds To Hurricane Katrina Members of the lighting community have come forward with contributions of products and dollars

in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.• SOL Inc., Palm City, FL, in conjunction with Louisiana State Police, has installed 30 solar-powered

lighting systems at designated areas in and around New Orleans.The lighting system utilizes thesun’s energy to charge batteries during the day, which then powers the lights throughout the night.The energy is free and wireless, so the lights can be installed quickly and then moved to other loca-tions as needed. Members of Tiger 21, a New York City learning group for investors, provided$230,000 in emergency donations, while Sharp Electronics Corporation contributed solar panelswith an approximate value of $40,000.

• Acuity Brands, Inc., and its employees have contributed $250,000 of assistance to victims ofHurricane Katrina. The company’s subsidiary, Acuity Brands Lighting, donated the use of an idle160,000 sq ft facility in the metropolitan Atlanta area to serve as a relief center for dozens of orga-nizations providing relief to victims, including the United Way, American Red Cross, GoodwillIndustries,Traveler’s Aid, and various other federal, state and DeKalb County agencies.The facility has enabled people to register children in local schools, locate long-term housing, for-ward mail, receive food, clothing and financial assistance, and find other needed relief services underone roof. During its first week of operation, the facility helped almost 5000 families including plac-ing 2250 families in long-term housing.Acuity Brands Lighting also responded to FEMA’s request for emergency lighting for a temporaryhousing site near New Orleans by providing 200 Lithonia Lighting brand Dusk-to-Dawn fixtures.

• A group of Utica, NY, businesses including Meyda Tiffany collected supplies, including ready-to-eatfood, bottled water, work gloves, trash bags and other emergency relief supplies to aid Feed TheChildren: Hurricane Katrina Emergency Relief Fund.

• On behalf of its corporate staff and North American sales agents, Nora Lighting, Commerce, CA,has made a donation to Feed The Children: Hurricane Katrina Emergency Relief Fund.

Phot

os:J

.R.F

inkle

Baton Rouge’s State Police headquarters compoundserved as the staging area for the first responders,and all the law enforcement personnel and federalagencies who were stationed in the area.

30 www.iesna.org

INDUSTRY UPDATES

LRC To RedefineNational RoadwayLighting Guidelines

The Lighting Research Center(LRC) at Rensselaer PolytechnicInstitute,Troy,NY,was awarded a con-tract from the National CooperativeHighway Research Program (NC-HRP), a division of the NationalResearch Council’s TransportationResearch Board (TRB), to redefinenational roadway lighting guidelines.The three-year, $800,000 project isdesigned to improve the operationalefficiency of roadway lighting andreduce automobile crashes.

As part of the project, LRCresearchers will produce user-friend-ly guidelines for roadway lighting anda calculation tool to help determinewhat type of roadway lighting, if any, isrequired. The calculation tool isintended to be an algorithm thatweights safety, cost and other impactsof lighting such as light pollution, eco-nomic development and security.Thecalculation tool will factor in detailssuch as road geometry, traffic charac-teristics, number of pedestrians, glare,and interactions between headlampsand streetlights.

“The LRC will perform crash analy-ses and lighting studies through siteevaluations and computer modelingfor a wide range of conditions androadway classifications,” said John VanDerlofske, Ph.D., head of transporta-tion lighting at the LRC and principalinvestigator on the project.

The LRC also partnered withresearchers from the PennsylvaniaTransportation Institute at Penn StateUniversity Park, who will receive aportion of the funds to assist in per-forming traffic data analysis for theproject. Students enrolled in LRC’sgraduate education programs willparticipate in the project, assisting inlaboratory testing, data analysis andon-site evaluations.

Additional information on theTransportation Lighting Group and itsresearch can be found at www.lrc.rpi.ed-u/programs/transportation

Call for Entries: ‘It’s Your Light’ StudentDesign Competition

Florida lighting manufacturer Luraline Products Company has announced theCall for Entries for its fifth annual “It’s Your Light” student design competition.The 2005-2006 competition, which solicits new concepts for lighting fixturesfrom design and architecture students, focuses on RLMs.

RLMs are shade fixtures, which may be pendant, wall or post mounted, andare used to provide illumination of exterior parking lots, facades and signage,as well as interior accent or general area lighting in restaurants, cafes, storesand shopping centers.

As in past years, entries will be judged by a panel of industry experts basedon creativity and feasibility of the design.The winner will receive a cash prizeof $1500 and the winning design may be put into production by Luraline.Thecompetition is open to students enrolled in design and architecture programsat U.S. universities, colleges and technical schools. Deadline for entries isDecember 31, 2005. For more information go to www.luraline.com

Energy Design Guide Earns Awardfrom Alliance

The Washington, DC-based Alliance to Save Energy has recog-nized the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings withan honorable mention as part of its annual Stars of Energy EfficiencyAwards.The award was presented at a luncheon seminar programat the Alliance offices in Washington.

The guide was developed by a committee of energy profession-als drawn from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating andAir-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the lead organization on theproject, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), IESNA and theNew Buildings Institute (NBI) with support from the U.S.Department of Energy.

The guide provides recommendations on how to build energy-efficient small office buildings that use significantly less energy thanthose built to minimum code requirements. Copies are availablefrom the IESNA publications department (Order #AEDG-1-05 ListPrice: $59.00 and Member Price: $47.00)

From left to right: Harvey Sachs,American Council for anEnergy-Efficient Economy, representing NBI; Ronald Majette,U.S. Department of Energy; Kateria Callahan, President,Alliance to Save Energy; Don Colliver, chair of the AEDGcommittee,ASHRAE;William Nitze,Alliance Board member;Rita Harrold, IESNA; and Richard Hayes,AIA.


ThomasResearchProducts

2/3 Vert Ad

Lighting ForTomorrow Names2005 Design andTechnology Winners

Lighting for Tomorrow’s 2005 Designand Technology Competition Awardswere presented at the American LightingAssociation Annual Conference in MiamiBeach, Fl.

Taking the competition’s grand prize of$15,000 was Lithonia Lighting, Conyers,GA, who won the top design in theIndoor Fixture Family category with itsFerros indoor fixture.American Fluores-cent Corporation,Waukegan, IL, also cap-tured the top awards in the OutdoorFixture Family with the Eureka outdoorfixture and the Technical Innovation cate-gories with the Chablis-Soleil chandelier.

Los Angeles-basedJustice Design Groupwas awarded $7500for second place in theIndoor Fixture Familycategory. Three otherdesigns received hon-orable mention, one(Lighted Mirror) byGood Earth Lighting,Wheeling, IL; and two(Flipster and Lulu) byFire & Water, New York, NY.

For this year’s competition, specificobjectives focused on indoor and out-door fixture families as well as innovativedesigns that addressed technical barriersto energy-efficient lighting. In order toqualify for the 2005 competition, all pro-totypes had to meet Energy Star criteria.For further information, visit www.lighting-fortomorrow.com

Ferros Chandelier

Eureka OutdoorSconce


applications & solutions •

Updated Track Lighting is the Favored Flavor “A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose instead.” Singer Billy Joel famously described

the indecision that many experience when attempting to find the right bottle of wine.Rather than just stock different types of wine, the owners of Englewood Wine Merchants, Englewood,NJ,

also created retail displays and designated tasting stations that give patrons the opportunity to learn moreabout wine selection.

Opened in May 2005, the store’s main room is 15 ft wide x 60 ft long,with 10 ft highdark ceilings. Illuminating this space was an outdated track lighting system that waslarge and cumbersome.Ownership wanted a lighting solution that would suit the roomand directly highlight the labels on the wine bottles without distracting customers.They contracted with Ken Mackenzie, vice president and general manager ofLightolier’s Track Lighting Business Unit, who acted as the store’s lighting consultant.

Mackenzie studied photographs of the space in order to make a suitable productrecommendation. What he found was that because of the depth of the retailspace–and dark color of the ceiling and walnut cabinetry –the area would requirehigh-intensity white light that could be focused accurately on the wine displays andtasting stations. “I recommended low-voltage MR16 lamps, which are perfect for thisapplication because they are very bright, very white and intense, and they fit in smalltrack fixtures that won’t detract from the overall design,” said Mackenzie.

The Alcyon track light features a small, unobtrusive transformer case, which rideslow along the track, and the slim wireless stem provides the illusion of a floating head

of light.The fixtures are also adjustable, and replacing burned-out lamps is easy because of the luminaires’lamp-forward design, which places the front of the lamp ahead of the fixture case.

Owners selected matte black low-voltage cylinder fixtures to blend with the dark ceiling and also optedfor the Advent two-circuit track, which offers separate controls for each track head, so that different fix-tures may be turned on or off at a given time.

—John-Michael Kobes

The Project: Englewood WineMerchants, Englewood, NJ

The Challenge: Highlight thelabels on wine bottles whilecomplementing store designwithout distractingcustomers.

The Solution: Low-voltagetrack lighting system andcylinder fixtures

Phot

o:Ch

uck

Papp

as

34 www.iesna.org

Custom Made Fixtures Brighten Up Convention andExhibition Center

With its monster facility figures (1544 ft longby 730 ft wide) the Boston Convention andExhibition Center (BCEC) provides the flexibil-ity to accommodate conventions and tradeshows of any size.

The center’s 1.7 million sq ft of total exhibitionspace does receive some daylight through the107,000 sq ft of glass on the exterior walls, butfacility owners weren’t satisfied with the light lev-els. Contributing to the lighting plan was manu-facturer Kramer Lighting, Sturtevant, WI, whoprovided more than 500 luminaires includingseven custom fixture types.

“There wasn’t a fixture that existed to dowhat we wanted to do,” explains lightingdesigner Glenn Heinmiller of LAM Partners Inc,Boston, MA. “We needed a 1000-W narrowbeam downlight–you just don’t find one.”

The fixtures were mounted in pairs and had tobe precisely aimed to maintain uniform illumina-tion of the floor space 90 ft below.Designers posi-tioned them so each would cover a 30 x 30 ft area.The fixture’s design also included a five-to-15 degof beam tilt and the fixture height varies from 85 ft at the roof’s cen-ter to 60 ft at the end of the hall where the roof is lower.

The largest fixtures used to illu-minate the exhibit hall floor mea-sure 27 in. in diameter and 32 in.high and each includes a 1000-Wmetal halide lamp. The upperreflector assembly has 30 deg oftotal vertical adjustment to aimthe fixture’s beam.Tool-less accesseases relamping and maintenance.

The ballast is remote mountedin a ballast box that houses a fuseand fuseholder.These fixtures arealso custom-mounted in pairs tothe bottom of catwalks. Accessholes in the catwalk provide forre-lamping and maintenance.

In addition to the catwalk-mounted fixtures, 400-W pendantand surface-mount downlight and wallwash cylinder fixtures mount to roof supports along the wallsof the convention center. These luminaires are 14 in. in diameter and 20 to 25 in. tall depending onwhether they are surface-mount with remote mount ballast or pendant-mount with integral ballast.This project received a 2005 IIDA Award of Merit.


The Project: The Boston Convention andExhibition Center, Boston, MA

The Challenge: Create custom, highperformance fixtures to meet theproject’s stringent criteria, whichincluded mounting requirements,physical size constraints and lamptechnology

The Solution: Catwalk-mounted fixtures;pendant and surface mount downlight;and wallwash cylinder fixtures

Phot

os:J

ohn

Koro

m

• applications & solutions

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How many years does it take to make a light bulb?Five...at least that was the case in San Pedro, CA, asdesigners searched for a way to light the Vincent

Thomas Bridge.Truth be told, the five years needed to gain approval for

the customized blue LED solutionpales in comparison to the astound-ing 17 years it took to bring the pro-ject to fruition. A lack of funding,energy shortages, light pollution con-cerns, migrating birds and even a pairof nesting peregrine falcons had allthwarted previous attempts since1988 to string lights across the mile-long span. Ironically, the fits andstarts lasted so long that a new designalternative—LEDs—emerged in the intervening years.

The Vincent Thomas Bridges sits above the main channel ofthe Los Angeles Harbor and plays several roles in the commu-

DESIGNERS INLOS ANGELES

OVERCAME 17 YEARS’WORTH OF ROADBLOCKS

AND SPEED BUMPSBEFORE LIGHTING

THE VINCENTTHOMAS BRIDGE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

blueFINALLY

The new LED fixtures are affixed to the suspension cables and used at deck level totrace the roadway. Below, the custom-madeLED product is used with a jelly jar fixture.

By Paul Tarricone

PHOT

OS C

OURT

ESY

OF L

EDTR

ONIC

S

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38 www.iesna.org

nity. As the third longest suspension bridge inCalifornia behind the Golden Gate and the San-Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it’s a source of localpride, the “official welcoming monument of theCity of Los Angeles,” as well as an economic linch-pin for southern California. The bridge is the mainconduit through which goods flow from the har-bor to the nation’s network of highways, storesand consumers.

The odyssey to light the bridge began at thegrassroots level. Spearheaded by the VincentThomas Bridge Lighting Committee, fund-rais-ing efforts ranged from having donors “buy” alight, to bridge walks and even placing collec-tion cans in stores. Once the mayor’s office got

behind the project, the city kicked in funding,while Caltrans donated engineering time.

Stoking enthusiasm for the project was onething, determining precisely how to light thebridge was another. Stakeholders in the project—all with a voice in the lighting plan—includedenvironmental groups and astronomers, theFederal Aviation Administration, since flightpaths would be impacted, the Coast Guard andthe Port of Los Angeles.

Second Time the Charm Los Angeles-based Lighting Design Alliance

was involved in the project for seven years,says firm principal Chip Israel. The goal was

always to use blue light, to complement theamber high pressure sodium light usedthroughout other areas of the harbor, but thecolor is about the only thing that didn’t changeleading up to the LED solution. “We did the firstdesign with a local artist,” says Israel. “Therewere four 7000-W Xenon skytrackers mountedon four columns that shot light up into the sky;metal halide floodlights; and mercury vaporlamps in clear jelly jar fixtures.” That designwas ultimately rejected by the CaliforniaCoastal Commission due in part to cost, lightpollution concerns and for fear that the lightspill would attract migratory birds.

Lighting Design Alliance brought LED manu-facturer LEDtronics, Torrance, CA, into the pro-ject in 1999. “We had read about the project inthe Daily Breeze and we knew there had beenfundraisers earlier,” says LEDtronics’s market-ing manager Jordon Papanier. A new LED prod-uct, custom-made for this project, was present-ed to the lighting committee. Papanierdescribes it as a “cluster of blue LEDs insideoff-the-shelf jelly jar fixtures.” A total of 160 fix-tures light both sides of the bridge; 80LEDtronics units are affixed to the apex of thesuspension cables and 80 LED fixtures fromFarlight, Wilmington, CA, are used at deck levelto trace the roadway. Each lamp is five millime-ters in diameter; 360 LEDs are used per lamp;and the lamp brightness is equivalent to a 150-W incandescent lamp. Each LED fixture con-sumes 20 watts of power.

Israel says this second design specificallyaddressed the dark sky issue. “We positionedthe lights so candlepower would not be aimedabove the horizon. This eliminated stray lightinto the atmosphere.” In addition, to satisfyastronomy enthusiasts, the LEDs can be turnedoff to accommodate “special atmospheric view-

Ironically, the fits andstarts lasted so long that a new design alternative—

LEDs—emerged in the intervening years

Even in the first design, the plan was to use blue light to complementthe amber light throughout the rest of Los Angeles Harbor.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .P R O J E C T


ing conditions, like a comet,” says Israel. Thatwas enough for the design to get the green lightfrom the state Coastal Commission. The finalcost of the project was just over $1 million.

Leveraging Solar Energy The project also showcases an innovative use

of solar energy in tandem with the LED lights.A 4.5 kW solar panel system located near thebridge generates electricity that is then sold tothe Los Angeles Department of Water andPower. While the LED lights themselves do notdirectly tap into the solar-generated power, thebridge is able to leverage solar-generated powerto pay for the cost of operating decorative light-ing. Each panel is two ft wide by four ft longand generates 10 watts of electricity per sq ft.

The city expects 100,000 operating hoursfrom its LED lamps. The hours will tick awayeach night as the lights illuminate the VincentThomas Bridge between dusk and midnight.That means designers won’t have to worryabout new lights on the bridge for, say, anoth-er 40 years or so. That’s a relief, after 17 yearsof waiting.

About the Designers: Chip Israel, LC,Member IESNA (1994), IALD, has beena lighting designer for over 20 years. In1992, he founded Lighting DesignAlliance. His design experience rangesfrom building facade lighting, to customfixture design, to corporate officespaces, to themed hotels and resorts.

Notable projects include First Interstate World Tower,Sanwa Plaza at Figueroa & Wilshire, Sony High DefinitionPost Production, Mission: Bermuda Triangle, Disney’sWilderness Lodge and the UCLA Site Lighting Master Plan.He has received a number of IIDA Awards of Excellenceand Merit and a GE Award of Excellence.

Julie Blankenheim, LC, Member IESNA(2002), is senior designer with LightingDesign Alliance, where her work hasincluded healthcare, retail and restau-rant design, as well as commercial,assisted living, and renovation projects.Project highlights include the TropicanaResort and Casino in Atlantic City, Bank

One Plaza and the McCormick Place Convention CenterWest Expansion, Chicago. Ms. Blankenheim has receivedseveral IES Lumen West Awards of Excellence.

Iota Engineering1/2 horiz

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D E S I G N T R E N D SD E S I G N T R E N D S

40 www.iesna.org November 2005 LD+A 41

The signs are all around us. The use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a replacement forneon signage may offer more potential than

any other application in the drive to conserve ener-gy. The replacement of neon is now well underwayby a number of national and international retailers;LED-based lighting is increasingly being chosen forcorporate identity signage in gas stations, conve-nience stores and fast-food restaurants. The reasonis that the rugged LED technology allows for ener-gy savings of up to 90 percent over neon, whileappearing as bright or brighter and featuring great-ly reduced maintenance costs.

However, as the lighting industry has found withother energy-saving technologies, new technolo-gies such as LED-based signage can cost more inthe specifying stage. They deliver exceptionalfinancial benefits in the years after the purchase,however, so quantifying this value in terms of

return on investment (ROI) can be an essentialcomponent of alleviating client concerns duringthe price quote stage. What follows are the keyareas of the ROI analysis:

• Energy savings can curb retailers’ electrici-ty consumption. For high-volume energy con-sumers like retailers, LED or solid state lighting(SSL) technology holds great promise for reducingelectricity consumption, a contribution that maysoon be mandated by governments to preserveworldwide energy reserves and combat globalwarming. Other benefits, such as LEDs’ opticallyefficient size and precise electronic control, mayyield new types of signage in the future and offeralternative ways to promote corporate identities.

Conceivably, SSL could reduce lighting’s usage ofelectricity by 50 percent or more, leading to a glob-al reduction in the volume currently devoted topowering lights—a figure now equal to 25 percent

Seeing Dollar SignsA SIMPLE ROI ANALYSIS MIGHTMAKE THE MOST COMPELLING CASE

FOR LED SIGNAGE AS ANALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL NEON

By Grant Harlow

PHOTOS: COURTESY TIR SYSTEMS LTD

LED signage can produce a quick two-year payback andprovide effective corporate branding. Typical applications

include gas stations, restaurants and theaters.

of global electricity. In short, lighting could be the low-hanging fruit of a global energy savings program, withSSL the foundation for positive change.

• Lifetime cost of ownership metric. The lifetime (ortotal) cost of ownership metric—which takes into consid-eration that the cost of electricity and maintenance laborto operate a lighting system over time can far outweighthe initial purchase price—provides a longer-term, morerealistic analysis of a signage system’s ultimate true cost.

Lifetime cost of ownership includes the following: pur-chase price, contractor installation charges, and total esti-mated energy usage and maintenance costs for repairand replacement for the life of the system. For LED-based lighting, the lifespan can be more than 10 years,leveraging the energy savings potential after the initialpayback period (on average 24 months or less for newinstallations). Any established lighting manufacturer isable to provide data on its products’ energy usage andfuture maintenance costs. From these figures, lightingdesigners and engineers can calculate the lifetime own-ership costs of competing systems and technologies.

• Payback in two to three years. Upfront, LED-basedsignage will generally cost more than neon, yet will morethan make up for that initial investment by consuming upto 90 percent less energy to deliver the same or a higherlevel of brightness than neon over its lifetime. In addition,SSL systems’ extremely low maintenance requirementsmean a greatly reduced maintenance bill (as compared toreplacing broken or burnt-out neon on a regular basis)over the projected 10-year life of the system.

Typically, LED-based signage pays for itself in two tothree years, so that, in subsequent years, the buildingowner saves money on energy and maintenance. Thekey point to owners—be they retailers themselves or abuilding management company—is that the cost of LED-based lighting in the construction phase cannot be con-sidered in isolation. In other words, taking a long-rangeview is critical.

• The environmental ROI. Then there are the intrinsicenvironmental benefits of LEDs that may come in handyin the future—i.e., if governments begin to tax energyusage or implement a system of “carbon tax credits”aimed at reducing consumption. Many business leadersagree these changes are almost a certainty in one formor another.

With lighting consuming some 25 percent of all elec-tricity generated globally on an annual basis, and giventhe difficulty of siting and building new power plants, aneffective LED-based system offers an opportunity for theretail industry to contribute to the cause of reducing elec-tricity consumption in society. This is not to mentionaddressing incremental damage from global warming,and reducing lighting’s environmental footprint.

Some Caveats No new technology is perfect. The sign industry is lit-

tered with stories of disappointment—and sometimes fail-ure—on the part of LEDs. Some products touting 100,000-

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D E S I G N T R E N D S

42 www.iesna.org

How cold is the western Canadian winter? Socold that the only signage used by retailerArctic Co-Operatives Limited that would sur-

vive the severe temperatures were non-illuminatedvinyl graphics or paint on plywood. And the onlyoutdoor lighting was wall units illuminating the sidesof the building.

Surely, that’s no way to build a brand.To determine the feasibility of illuminated signage,

Arctic-Co-ops recently conducted a pilot test at itsRankin Inlet, Nunavut, location. With the conditionsdeemed too severe for neon, an LED-based system(using LightMark and LightScript products from TIRSystems and signs from Selkirk Signs and Services)was specified.

Red and green LightMark border tubes weremounted around the exteri-or of the building, and redLightScript was used to illu-minate the red “Co-op”channel lettering on twoelevations of the building.

The implementation win-dow is very short each year.As the weather warms,

installers have between July and October to undertakeany work that needs to be completed before the freezebegins again. At the Rankin Inlet site both LED systemswere installed before the winter of 2004-05, andreportedly there were no failures during the season.

Aside from durabili-ty benefits, Artic Co-ops hopes to leveragethe aesthetic benefitsof the signage system.The daytime color ofthe red and green bor-der tubes is not com-promised as the extru-sion maintains its appearance even when switchedoff.

Arctic Co-ops has now arranged for two other mem-ber retail sites to be installed with the LED products.

Cold, Harsh Reality

hour life have stopped working after only a fraction of thattime. “Easy” installations have proven anything but.Rumors of fires have hurt the claims of safe operation.

However, these stories do not mean LEDs are faulty. Inthe early days of any new technology, it can be difficultfor users to know which manufacturers’ systems willwork properly and which will not; consider the first com-puter you owned. In the particular case of LEDs, a greaterawareness is needed regarding SSL systems that incorpo-rate LEDs and other key elements of a turnkey solution.

LEDs are simply sources of light, much like a commonhousehold light bulb—or more precisely the filamentinside one. A light bulb sitting on a kitchen table emits nolight; before it can do its job it has to be screwed into asocket that, in turn, is connected to a source of electrici-ty. The socket must be housed in some type of light fix-ture that may also include a shade or lens. Thus, the bulbis only one part of a lighting system.

Similarly, LEDs are not useful until they are incorporat-ed into a SSL system that mounts the LED, makes a con-nection to a power source and houses the system com-ponents appropriately. SSL system design is complex,addressing aspects of technical engineering and designissues such as power conversion, LED control and drive,thermal management at the LED level and environmen-tal management (sealing, temperature range) at the sys-tem level. Other important aspects include light deliveryor optics, overall systems integration and ease of manu-facture/installation.

If handled improperly at the design and manufacturingstages, each of these aspects can compromise a system’sperformance, reduce the energy savings potential andhurt the quality of light output. And, even if all of thecomponents work individually, they are useless if theycannot work together. SSL system designs will be suc-cessful only if all components and the interactionbetween them have been accurately considered and test-ed. Failures associated with early LED signage have fre-quently resulted from problems with components andsetup rather than the LEDs themselves. Buyers must becertain to deal with manufacturers that have the techni-cal expertise to integrate SSL systems correctly.

And don’t forget that all LEDs are not created equal.The LED source of light needs to be packaged before itcan be integrated, and this is a key step to providing areliable light source. Packaging offers a mechanical wayto handle and mount the devices to a circuit board, aswell as providing a means to connect to the LED electri-cally and, most importantly, to dissipate the heat fromthe LED to its surroundings. LEDs from many suppliersare useful only in certain conditions. Check the datasheetfirst and be sure to ask for the “useful life” characteristicbefore making a final selection.

The bottom line is that if you choose an experiencedmanufacturer, all you will need to worry about is installa-

tion; this can be as simple as straightforward replace-ment, with minimal disruption to business.

How Long Will They Go?Will LEDs really last 10 years? The short answer is yes.

However, when any new technology is introduced, thereis a tendency for information to be misunderstood andmisused. For SSL signage, the issue of “lifespan” hasproved to be the most controversial of the claims made

for the technology. When LEDs were first introduced as alight source for signs, proponents claimed they had a lifeof 100,000 hours—end of story.

The reality, in a well-designed and manufactured SSLsystem, is that LEDs should last at least that long and evenlonger, providing the LED is run according to manufactur-ers’ guidelines and the elements within the system sup-port that time frame. However, the quantity of light LEDsemit will decrease over time. They do not burn out;instead, they slowly lose their intensity over time. Thus,the measurement of useful life in a signage application isdifferent depending upon the ambient lighting conditionsand the specifics of the application. The best way to con-sider the useful life is to consider when the sign stopsattracting the eye of the customer. It is the responsibility ofthe SSL manufacturer to help the owner understand howtheir system will degrade in output over time and whatimpact that will have on the performance of the sign.

In the future, LEDs are likely to become a standardtechnology for illuminated signs. Energy and mainte-nance savings, along with brilliant colors, are only thebeginning of making SSL technologies the dominantsource for lighting signage. In the end, it is the prudentdecision-making of sign makers and end users—lightingspecifiers and architects, building owners and construc-tion staff—that will advance the industry. That decision-making process can begin with a hard look at ROI.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D E S I G N T R E N D S


The best way to consider the useful life is to consider when thesign stops attracting the eye ofthe customer

About the Author: Grant Harlow, P.Eng, MemberIESNA (2000), is director of strategy and businessdevelopment at TIR Systems, a Vancouver-head-quartered developer and manufacturer of solidstate lighting (SSL) systems. Mr. Harlow has workedwith TIR Systems for more than 15 years in prod-uct development, applications engineering, prod-uct management, business management and mar-

ket strategy. He is also the co-holder of a patent in lighting technology.

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44 www.iesna.org

Independence Day is an oppor-tunity for lighting designers tolet their hair down and create

a jaw-dropping lighting spectacle.It’s just that in Canada, the funstarts three days earlier. To helpcelebrate Canada Day on July 1,designers transformed a once-bland lighting display at therenowned Canada Place inVancouver, British Columbia, intoa festival of LED colors.

Located on the waterfront ofthe Pacific Ocean, Canada Placeis situated in the country’s thirdlargest city and home to itsbusiest harbor. The futuristiccomplex is approximately 2000ft long, which comes out to justover four city blocks and featuresa distinctive peaked fabric roofdesigned to resemble an oceanliner under full sail. The mixed-use facility is also home to theVancouver Convention andExhibition Center, the Pan PacificHotel, the Vancouver PortAuthority corporate offices,Cruise Ship Terminal (operatedby the Vancouver Port Authority),the CN IMAX Theater, WorldTrade Center office complex andCitipark parking facility.

Among the building’s morenoticeable architectural detailsare its five 90-ft tall concave-shaped sails, which were previ-ously fitted with a lighting system

consisting entirely of white metalhalide fixtures. Conceptualizedby the Canada Place Corp. was aseries of pre-programmed colorcombinations and shows thatwere composed for the CanadaDay 2005 unveiling. These illumi-nated, nightly scenes resembledimages like waves in the oceanand the Canadian Flag.

Mounted 33 ft apart on top andwith a setback of 60 ft are 40LED fixtures. Brad Fleck, regionalsales manager for Illumivision,Edmonton, Alberta, said, “TheLight Wave fixture has the abilityto wash the surface in whiteand/or colored light with animpressive intensity.” The LEDswere also equipped with eight-deg optics in order to reach thetop of the sails, while 24-degoptics were used to fill in the mid-dle portion of the sail.

Canada Place Corp. also wantedto reduce energy costs when illu-minating the exterior. The previ-ous system was comprised of 40400-W white metal halide fixtureslocated around the building, whilethe new system utilizes 40 85-Wcolor changing LED fixtures. As aresult, the lighting now uses12,600 fewer watts. “Manage-ment is able to take advantage ofutility company rebates for energysaving lighting upgrades,” saidFleck. The LEDs are projected to

A COLOR VISION

LEDsCOME SAIL AWAY WITH

PHOT

OS: W

AYNE

STA

DLER

IN CANADA AND THEU.S., TWO WATERFRONT

PROJECTS INCORPORATEDLED-BASED LIGHTING

INTO THEIRINDEPENDENCE DAY

CELEBRATIONS

Forty LED fixtures wash the sails incolor-changing or white light.

of global electricity. In short, lighting could be the low-hanging fruit of a global energy savings program, withSSL the foundation for positive change.

• Lifetime cost of ownership metric. The lifetime (ortotal) cost of ownership metric—which takes into consid-eration that the cost of electricity and maintenance laborto operate a lighting system over time can far outweighthe initial purchase price—provides a longer-term, morerealistic analysis of a signage system’s ultimate true cost.

Lifetime cost of ownership includes the following: pur-chase price, contractor installation charges, and total esti-mated energy usage and maintenance costs for repairand replacement for the life of the system. For LED-based lighting, the lifespan can be more than 10 years,leveraging the energy savings potential after the initialpayback period (on average 24 months or less for newinstallations). Any established lighting manufacturer isable to provide data on its products’ energy usage andfuture maintenance costs. From these figures, lightingdesigners and engineers can calculate the lifetime own-ership costs of competing systems and technologies.

• Payback in two to three years. Upfront, LED-basedsignage will generally cost more than neon, yet will morethan make up for that initial investment by consuming upto 90 percent less energy to deliver the same or a higherlevel of brightness than neon over its lifetime. In addition,SSL systems’ extremely low maintenance requirementsmean a greatly reduced maintenance bill (as compared toreplacing broken or burnt-out neon on a regular basis)over the projected 10-year life of the system.

Typically, LED-based signage pays for itself in two tothree years, so that, in subsequent years, the buildingowner saves money on energy and maintenance. Thekey point to owners—be they retailers themselves or abuilding management company—is that the cost of LED-based lighting in the construction phase cannot be con-sidered in isolation. In other words, taking a long-rangeview is critical.

• The environmental ROI. Then there are the intrinsicenvironmental benefits of LEDs that may come in handyin the future—i.e., if governments begin to tax energyusage or implement a system of “carbon tax credits”aimed at reducing consumption. Many business leadersagree these changes are almost a certainty in one formor another.

With lighting consuming some 25 percent of all elec-tricity generated globally on an annual basis, and giventhe difficulty of siting and building new power plants, aneffective LED-based system offers an opportunity for theretail industry to contribute to the cause of reducing elec-tricity consumption in society. This is not to mentionaddressing incremental damage from global warming,and reducing lighting’s environmental footprint.

Some Caveats No new technology is perfect. The sign industry is lit-

tered with stories of disappointment—and sometimes fail-ure—on the part of LEDs. Some products touting 100,000-

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D E S I G N T R E N D S

42 www.iesna.org

How cold is the western Canadian winter? Socold that the only signage used by retailerArctic Co-Operatives Limited that would sur-

vive the severe temperatures were non-illuminatedvinyl graphics or paint on plywood. And the onlyoutdoor lighting was wall units illuminating the sidesof the building.

Surely, that’s no way to build a brand.To determine the feasibility of illuminated signage,

Arctic-Co-ops recently conducted a pilot test at itsRankin Inlet, Nunavut, location. With the conditionsdeemed too severe for neon, an LED-based system(using LightMark and LightScript products from TIRSystems and signs from Selkirk Signs and Services)was specified.

Red and green LightMark border tubes weremounted around the exteri-or of the building, and redLightScript was used to illu-minate the red “Co-op”channel lettering on twoelevations of the building.

The implementation win-dow is very short each year.As the weather warms,

installers have between July and October to undertakeany work that needs to be completed before the freezebegins again. At the Rankin Inlet site both LED systemswere installed before the winter of 2004-05, andreportedly there were no failures during the season.

Aside from durabili-ty benefits, Artic Co-ops hopes to leveragethe aesthetic benefitsof the signage system.The daytime color ofthe red and green bor-der tubes is not com-promised as the extru-sion maintains its appearance even when switchedoff.

Arctic Co-ops has now arranged for two other mem-ber retail sites to be installed with the LED products.

Cold, Harsh Reality

hour life have stopped working after only a fraction of thattime. “Easy” installations have proven anything but.Rumors of fires have hurt the claims of safe operation.

However, these stories do not mean LEDs are faulty. Inthe early days of any new technology, it can be difficultfor users to know which manufacturers’ systems willwork properly and which will not; consider the first com-puter you owned. In the particular case of LEDs, a greaterawareness is needed regarding SSL systems that incorpo-rate LEDs and other key elements of a turnkey solution.

LEDs are simply sources of light, much like a commonhousehold light bulb—or more precisely the filamentinside one. A light bulb sitting on a kitchen table emits nolight; before it can do its job it has to be screwed into asocket that, in turn, is connected to a source of electrici-ty. The socket must be housed in some type of light fix-ture that may also include a shade or lens. Thus, the bulbis only one part of a lighting system.

Similarly, LEDs are not useful until they are incorporat-ed into a SSL system that mounts the LED, makes a con-nection to a power source and houses the system com-ponents appropriately. SSL system design is complex,addressing aspects of technical engineering and designissues such as power conversion, LED control and drive,thermal management at the LED level and environmen-tal management (sealing, temperature range) at the sys-tem level. Other important aspects include light deliveryor optics, overall systems integration and ease of manu-facture/installation.

If handled improperly at the design and manufacturingstages, each of these aspects can compromise a system’sperformance, reduce the energy savings potential andhurt the quality of light output. And, even if all of thecomponents work individually, they are useless if theycannot work together. SSL system designs will be suc-cessful only if all components and the interactionbetween them have been accurately considered and test-ed. Failures associated with early LED signage have fre-quently resulted from problems with components andsetup rather than the LEDs themselves. Buyers must becertain to deal with manufacturers that have the techni-cal expertise to integrate SSL systems correctly.

And don’t forget that all LEDs are not created equal.The LED source of light needs to be packaged before itcan be integrated, and this is a key step to providing areliable light source. Packaging offers a mechanical wayto handle and mount the devices to a circuit board, aswell as providing a means to connect to the LED electri-cally and, most importantly, to dissipate the heat fromthe LED to its surroundings. LEDs from many suppliersare useful only in certain conditions. Check the datasheetfirst and be sure to ask for the “useful life” characteristicbefore making a final selection.

The bottom line is that if you choose an experiencedmanufacturer, all you will need to worry about is installa-

tion; this can be as simple as straightforward replace-ment, with minimal disruption to business.

How Long Will They Go?Will LEDs really last 10 years? The short answer is yes.

However, when any new technology is introduced, thereis a tendency for information to be misunderstood andmisused. For SSL signage, the issue of “lifespan” hasproved to be the most controversial of the claims made

for the technology. When LEDs were first introduced as alight source for signs, proponents claimed they had a lifeof 100,000 hours—end of story.

The reality, in a well-designed and manufactured SSLsystem, is that LEDs should last at least that long and evenlonger, providing the LED is run according to manufactur-ers’ guidelines and the elements within the system sup-port that time frame. However, the quantity of light LEDsemit will decrease over time. They do not burn out;instead, they slowly lose their intensity over time. Thus,the measurement of useful life in a signage application isdifferent depending upon the ambient lighting conditionsand the specifics of the application. The best way to con-sider the useful life is to consider when the sign stopsattracting the eye of the customer. It is the responsibility ofthe SSL manufacturer to help the owner understand howtheir system will degrade in output over time and whatimpact that will have on the performance of the sign.

In the future, LEDs are likely to become a standardtechnology for illuminated signs. Energy and mainte-nance savings, along with brilliant colors, are only thebeginning of making SSL technologies the dominantsource for lighting signage. In the end, it is the prudentdecision-making of sign makers and end users—lightingspecifiers and architects, building owners and construc-tion staff—that will advance the industry. That decision-making process can begin with a hard look at ROI.

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The best way to consider the useful life is to consider when thesign stops attracting the eye ofthe customer

About the Author: Grant Harlow, P.Eng, MemberIESNA (2000), is director of strategy and businessdevelopment at TIR Systems, a Vancouver-head-quartered developer and manufacturer of solidstate lighting (SSL) systems. Mr. Harlow has workedwith TIR Systems for more than 15 years in prod-uct development, applications engineering, prod-uct management, business management and mar-

ket strategy. He is also the co-holder of a patent in lighting technology.

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Arelatively new lighting sourcefor general illumination islight-emitting diodes or LEDs.

Although LEDs have existed fordecades, it is only within the pastdecade that output levels have beensufficient to consider them for otherthan indicators or direct view lightsources. Red and green LEDs, aug-mented by blue LEDs in the late1990s, have allowed additive colormixing to produce any color; this issimilar to your computer monitor inthat they spatially mix points of lightto produce a wide gamut of colors.This has resulted in an explosion ofapplications in architectural andentertainment lighting where colornow plays a part in building and envi-ronment design. General advantages

include direct generation of coloredlight without filters, long life, high effi-ciency and lower operational costs.

LEDs are viable for all color applica-tions today; they can light up the sideof an 11-story building from theground, they light Broadway sets andprovide sufficient output for all but thevery highest output fixtures using tra-ditional sources with filters. Just a fewyears later, exactly the same trendsfor white light are starting to occur. Foraccent, decorative and display light-ing, white LEDs are already viable,and general illumination sources maybe just around the corner.

White LEDs are fast approachingutility as high-quality light sources forillumination. While mixing of colorscan produce a white light, it is also

COLORED LEDS ARE ALL AROUND US, BUT ARE WHITE LEDSALSO POISED TO MAKE THE LEAP FROM NICHE TO MAINSTREAM?

Crossing the

CHASMBy Kevin Dowling

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50 www.iesna.org

generated by combining a blue LED with a phosphor mix.This is similar, in principle, to the mechanism used by afluorescent light source to create white light from a UVsource. The phosphor absorbs radiation of one frequencyand re-emits at another frequency; blue light is trans-formed into white light. For white LEDs, the challenge forthe past several years has been to produce sufficient out-put to be useful, to produce a good quality white light, andto produce a consistent output from LED to LED and fromfixture to fixture. What follows is a look at five specificchallenges that will likely affect white LED acceptance andmarket penetration.

1. Quantity. LEDs continue to improve in output. Eachyear brings a 35 percent improvement in output. Thistrend has occurred over 40 years since LEDs were firstcreated in the laboratory. Decades of improvements inmaterials, tools and processes followed by improve-ments in manufacturing have resulted in this steadydrumbeat of improvements. It shows no sign of slowing.Single LED packages today can produce 30-44 lumensand multi-chip packages have been shown by severalmanufacturers in the 1000 lumen range. At 800 to 1000lumens, a very large fraction of traditional lamps are cov-ered. Directed light sources, such as in car headlights, arealready being implemented with LEDs.

2. Quality. Early white LEDs were not only dim, but thelight output had a pronounced bluish tinge. The light con-version mechanism resulted in light output spectra thathad a noticeable blue hump. Improvements in the phos-phors have also improved the spectral output. Color tem-perature selection in white LEDs is steadily moving downinto incandescent territory and good quality warm whitelight LEDs down to 3000K are available. As the color tem-perature drops, the conversion efficiency also drops, sincethe conversion leap from blue wavelengths down to redwavelengths becomes greater and more challenging.

3. Color Rendering Index. Quality is a funny metric.How do you measure the “goodness” of a light source?One metric devised to address this issue is ColorRendering Index. CRI compares color appearanceviewed under the source to color appearance viewedunder a reference illuminant. The CRI scale is from 0-100, where 100 is identical to the illuminant. In general,70 to 80 CRI is considered good and above 80 is excel-lent. Differences of five or so are meaningless.

Additionally, two light sources of different color tem-peratures may have identical CRI but will render colorsvery differently. You cannot compare the CRI of two lightsources at two different color temperatures. Also, a scoreof 100 does not mean it will render color well in gener-al. Try matching dark blue and black socks under lowlight incandescent sources.

CRI has known deficiencies and problems; designersoften use their hands under a light source to gauge thequality of light rather than simply looking at the num-bers. There are multiple efforts worldwide to addressissues with CRI, but this will take a few years to resolveand get a consensus. Even with this metric however,white LED sources are already available in the mid tohigh 80s, sufficient for all but the most demanding appli-cations. The color space used for CRI is non-linear, espe-cially in red, is also obsolete and is used now only for cal-culating CRI. Several efforts are underway to redefine aquality metric for light sources, but light quality, in theend, must be determined by the user.

Moreover, white light LED outputs can vary acrosstheir beam. Color and optical artifacts result in non-uni-form intensity and spurious textures. Generally thismeans that additional diffusers or other means arerequired to homogenize the output. But visual, non-uni-form textures in the output are generally unacceptable.

4. Color Temperature Control. LED selection allowsthe use of different color temperature LEDs to create fix-

Making White Light

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tures that provide color temperature control. This allowsthe user of a control system to change color temperatureand brightness independently. When a halogen or incan-descent source is dimmed it shifts color temperaturetowards a warmer color. With an LED system you cannot only mimic that but create any sequence of colortemperatures. Thus, with such a system you can mimicdaylight so there is no transition between interior lightand exterior lighting.

5. Consistency. We take for granted that differentlamps of the same type and model will produce thesame output. LEDs, however, can vary significantly incolor, uniformity of output or light output. LEDs can varysignificantly due to small variations in the manufacturingprocess. This manifests itself as aberrant colors. This vari-ation is often referred to as the “binning” or “batching”problem. LED manufacturers sell their LEDs and can sup-ply different bins so that LEDs can be segregated accord-ing to color. But binning is not just a color issue. Thesesame manufacturing variations result in variations inintensity and electrical characteristics. Fortunately, thesetypes of variations can be accommodated by gooddesign practice, for the electrical variations and the inten-sity variations are less noticeable than wavelength orcolor variations. The three dimensions of color, hue satu-ration and value (sometimes termed brightness) are alsoin the order of decreasing sensitivity.

Trends and ApplicationsLED manufacturers have announced continued

improvements in efficiency, output and consistency ofwhite LEDs. These developments have resulted in pack-ages of 50 lumens per watt or more and binning narrowenough to rely on for production purposes. LEDs contin-ue to improve rapidly, and a decades-long trend contin-ues with packaged LED output growing at 35 percent peryear while, at the same time, the cost of this devicedecreases at a rate of around 20 percent per year. This isequivalent to doubling the combination of price and per-formance every 18-24 months.

As they did when making their earlier assessments ofLED technology, many designers and manufacturersappear to be waiting for some magical crossover point atwhich LEDs will exceed their traditional light sourcebrethren in certain metrics. However, LEDs already pos-sess many advantages over their elderly cousins in light-ing and are on the cusp of many applications beyondindication and colored lighting. Price and performancecontinue to improve in an industry not used to seeingthese levels of improvement in traditional light sources.General illumination is rapidly becoming viable both onfeatures and benefits, as well as cost. Quality measuresand specifications of CRI, color temperature and efficacycombined with these benefits are resulting in a lightsource that is compelling for many applications.

These applications, however, are not limited to themere replacement of conventional sources. LED technol-ogy will make it possible to rethink light itself—the wayit’s produced, controlled and applied. The physical natureof solid-state lighting devices—compact size, lack of radi-ated heat and lack of moving parts—frees them to beintegrated into walls, ceilings, furniture and other struc-tures to create luminous surfaces, for example. Imaginea future where these surfaces become the actual lightingsystem, and change the very way buildings aredesigned?

That future could be closer than you think.

References:Steelcase Workplace Index Survey, May, 1999.Wurtman, Richard J.: The Effects of Light on the

Human Body, Scientific American, vol. 233, no. 1, July1975, pp. 68-77.

Veitch, et al, Full-Spectrum Fluorescent Lighting Effectson People: A Critical Review. National Research Councilof Canada Institute for Research in Construction.

About the Author: Kevin Dowling, PhD, is vicepresident of strategic technologies for ColorKinetics Inc., a Boston-based provider of intelligentsolid-state lighting systems and technologies. He isactive in the National Electrical ManufacturersAssociation (NEMA) Solid-State Lighting Section,which is tasked with integrating solid-state lightsources in existing lighting practices and the cre-

ation of new practices to fully exploit the technology’s potential.

White LEDs are ready for low-medium luminance applications,such as display lighting in retail,but general illumination may stillbe a few years away.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF COLORKINETICS

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In 1883, May Wright Sewall, principalof the Girls’ Classical School ofIndianapolis, and several other city

residents founded what would laterbecome known as the IndianapolisMuseum of Art. They believed that life intheir young city would be richer if therewas a collection of art accessible to thepublic. That philosophy has endured forover a century; today the museum’s per-manent collection of art numbers50,000. But it’s not only the art collectionthat’s growing; it’s the physical space, aswell. Three new wings at the IMA openedin May of this year. The $74 million pro-ject added 172,000 sq ft of space, while120,000 sq ft was renovated.

IMA commissioned architect BrowningDay Mullins Dierdorf Architects and light-ing designers Fisher Marantz Stone, Inc.,to design the new wings, which include aglass oval Entry Pavilion, Gallery Pavilionand Special Events Pavilion. The pavilionsare part of a larger $212 million restora-

tion/site improvement plan that datesback to 1998.

The three new wings will make themuseum more accessible to the publicwhile giving the site a more unified qual-ity. During concept development, howev-er, several complex problems had to beaddressed. They ranged from protectingthe collections storage area at all times,general security, protection of select“specimen” trees, working aroundSutphin Fountain, building and then tran-sitioning services to a new central plant,and filtering damaging UV rays from day-light. Another challenge was keepingroom temperatures at 70 deg Fahrenheitand relative humidity at 50 percent with-in gallery spaces to maintain the propercondition of artwork. Moreover, themuseum officials’ requirement to keepIMA’s doors open through constructionfurther complicated what was already adaunting project.

Wings

STILL GOING STRONG AFTER 120 YEARS, THEVENERABLE INDIANAPOLIS MUSEUM OF ART HAS

ADDED THREE NEW WINGS

Spreading Its

The new two-story glass and steel EntryPavilion features a segmented tube integratedin the curtain wall that uplights the ceiling,as well as track lighting for special eventsand exhibitions.

PHOTOS: KEITH CLARK, BDMD ARCHITECTS

Making an EntranceOne of the first goals of site devel-

opment was to open the museum tothe street. This provided a more wel-coming view to the visitor, includinga direct view to the Lilly OldfieldGardens, supported by a tree-linedalley leading to the museum struc-tures. As visitors proceed toward themuseum, they are met by a rede-signed landscape that embraces theexisting Sutphin Fountain.

The 16,500 sq ft Efroymson EntryPavilion—a two-story oval structureof glass, lightweight stainless steeltrusses, and a delicate louvered brissoleil—is the starting point for visi-tors. The Entry Pavilion serves as atransition space from the gardensoutside to the display areas within.Its curtain wall-integrated lightingsystem consists of a segmentedtube that provides ambient uplight-ing of the convex ceiling and tracklighting system to provide lightingfor special events or sculptural exhi-bition. The continuous tubular seg-ments of track encircle the perime-ter curtain wall and provide 360 degflexible coverage throughout thepavilion.

The Entry Pavilion is also con-nected to the new parking garageby a tunnel that is itself embellishedalong both well-lighted walls bymuralist Kay Rosen. The tunnel ceil-ing features a curving line of ellipti-cal skylights providing natural lightalong the entry path—and an invit-ing glow from the plaza at night.

The Gallery PavilionThe second of the three new

structures is the Wood GalleryPavilion. Where visitors were oncemet by an imposing and oftenintimidating set of steps, the WoodGallery Pavilion now provides amore pleasing experience. Some44,000 sq ft of gallery space (a 50percent increase to the museum’sdisplay space) has been added onthree levels, including a permanentgallery for traveling exhibits. As wasthe case in the Entry Pavilion, anintegrated track lighting system

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Above, a curving line of elliptical skylights runalong the path leading to the Entry Pavilion.

These lights also illuminate a tunnel connectingthe Entry Pavilion and a new parking garage.

allows for a completely flexiblearrangement of fixtures that canlight art and sculpture throughoutthe spaces.

The New Pulliam Hall (alsoknown as Heron Hall) connects theEntry Pavilion and Wood GalleryPavilion. It serves as the focal junc-ture of the new and old galleries.With its adjoining balconies andcentral atrium circular skylight, itsets the stage for illuminating worksof art from conventional heights of12 to 14 ft up to the soaring 54 ft.New and renovated space ofapproximately 36,100 sq ft was des-ignated for collection support andeducation. These areas includeexhibit design, photography, state-of-the-art storage for prints, draw-ings and photographs, the referencelibrary and an educational resourcecenter. Also new is an education

suite, including four art labs, twolecture rooms, a lunchroom and stu-dio for distance learning.

The Gallery building also housestwo new restaurants: Puck’s—a fine

dining eatery from WolfgangPuck—and a neighboring café. Ahalf-wall separates the restaurants,with the café set slightly abovegrade to the restaurant. Diningroom lighting was conceived touplight rich wood ceilings and pro-

vides focal glow for special events.The dining area especially sparklesat night and features large glowingpendant fixtures that can be seenfrom across the landscape. Puck’s

overlooks the Sutphin Garden andFountain and will offer public diningthree nights a week after museumhours. The remaining four nightswill allow for private parties andgatherings.

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Another challenge was keeping room temperatures at 70 deg Fahrenheit and relative humidity at 50 percent within gallery spaces to maintain the proper condition of artwork

The Deer-Zink Pavilion includesa convex curved wood ceiling

uplighted by clerestory windowsand supplemental fluorescentlighting to create a soft glow.

Special Events PavilionThe new Deer-Zink Events Pavil-

ion, located on the north side of theSutphin Garden and Fountain, is thethird structural piece in the IMAdesign. It hosts both public and pri-vate events and houses a banquetfacility with capacity for 500 guests.This facility can now allow large-scale events to take place on muse-um grounds without disturbing nor-mal museum operations. A richlydetailed convex curved wood ceilingis uplighted by clerestory windowsand supplemental fluorescent light-ing to create a soft glow. A necklaceof sparkling fixtures creates a chan-delier-like presence in the center ofthe pavilion, highlighting the oculusskylight.

At IMA, good things—and renova-tion—come in threes.

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About the Designers:Charles G. Stone II, LC,Member IESNA (1991),IALD, is president ofFisher Marantz Stone. Hereceived a Bachelor ofArts degree from Prince-ton University with a

Certificate from the Program in Theater andDance for Lighting Design. Since joining FMSin 1983, Mr. Stone has designed projectsincluding concert halls, airports, conventioncenters, museums, hotels, theme parks, cor-porate headquarters, commercial develop-ments and residences. He has receivednumerous IALD and IESNA awards for pro-jects such as the American Museum ofNatural History, the Korea DevelopmentBank, Hong Kong Airport and most recently“Postcards”—the September 11 Memorial.Mr. Stone is a member of the EuropeanLighting Designers Association and is 2004-2005 president of the InternationalAssociation of Lighting Designers.

Jonathan R. Hess, AIA,has been with BrowningDay Mullins DierdorfArchitects since 1984. Agraduate of the Universityof Illinois, Urbana/-Champaign, he special-izes in projects ranging

from museums, to educational facilities,offices and houses of worship.

The café in the Gallery Pavilionsparkles at night due to large

glowing pendant fixtures, visiblefrom across the garden areas.

The site is now open to the street; thetree-lined alley provides an attractive

welcoming view for visitors.

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58 www.iesna.org November 2005 LD+A 59

Been there, done that? Whether forbusiness, or pleasure, most trav-ellers have probably frequented one

of the Hyatt’s 213 hotels in 43 countries.One of the latest newcomers to the hotelchain’s stable is the Park Hyatt Zurich inSwitzerland.

Located in the heart of city’s financial andcommercial district, the hotel is withinwalking distance of Bahnhofstrasse (a fash-ionable shopping street), the ZurichKongresshaus (convention and exhibitionhall) a local lake and the town of Altstadt.Completed in 2004, the Park Hyatt Zurich ismore than a 142-room (12 suites) residen-tial-style hotel. Additional features include arestaurant, bar, lounge, health club with agym and 12 meeting rooms, the largest ofwhich can accommodate 300 visitors forboth meetings and social gatherings.

The hotel’s architecture features an ultra-modern steel-glass design by Meili PeterArchitekten AG, Zurich, while the interiordesign concept was created by HBA,Hirsch, Bedner Associates, Atlanta, GA.London lighting consultants, Maurice BrillLighting Design (MBLD), were called uponto create a strong and clear lighting con-cept that needed to support the interiordesign concept and ultimately work in aseamless way throughout all of the publicareas. “With the majority of the interiorspaces fitted with polished blackberrygranite floors, offset by white or creamleather and timber wall panels, the mainchallenge was to create a controlled dra-matic atmosphere at a local level, but stillcreate a soft understated awareness of thelarge interior volumes,” said senior associ-

LIGHTING CREATES DAY/NIGHT DRAMA AT THE PARK HYATT ZURICH,THE CITY’S FIRST LUXURY HOTEL IN 20 YEARS WaitWORTH

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ate, Robert Honeywill. MBLD’sscope of work included the lightinglayout for the reception area, bam-boo garden, lobby lounge, Parkhuusrestaurant, Onyx bar, health club,ballroom and meeting rooms.

Right This WayCreating a sense of arrival and

quickly revealing the direction tothe reception area was an impor-tant element. Upon entry, clustersof three, 50-W 24 deg Delta Lightdownlights are used to form parallelstripes of light on the floor thatencourage guests towards thereception area, and the light reflect-ed from the dark granite floor pat-tern is cast up onto the ceiling.“One of the first decisions beforeputting pen to paper was to keepthe number of downlights to anabsolute minimum, keep the ceil-ings as uncluttered as possible andretain a minimalist philosophythroughout all the spaces,” saidHoneywill.

Once inside the reception area,the ceiling soars to three stories,which on one side allows a streamof natural daylight to penetratereception and lounge space. Thereception space also features a rec-tangular bamboo centrepiece thatallows the space to be maskedagainst the lounge areas. The bam-boos are uplit for the evening fromwithin by 20-W MR16 floorrecessed uplights, which form asubtle backdrop for the eveninglighting scenes. The floor areaaround the bamboo and in front ofthe reception and lounge aremounted with 500-W downlightsthat are set within a custom squarehousing that keeps within the fami-ly of fixtures.

Selected walls within the recep-tion and lounge areas are coveredby full-height soft white sheers,which created an opportunity tointroduce soft diffused ambientlight while at the same time framingand creating an alluring backdrop.Single lamp 100-W downlights areused to backlight the shears, which

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60 www.iesna.org

The bamboos are uplitfor the evening fromwithin by 20-W MR16floor recessed uplights,which form a subtlebackdrop for the eveninglighting scenes.

Selected walls within the reception and lounge areas are coveredby full-height soft white sheers, which create an opportunity tointroduce soft diffused ambient light while framing an alluringbackdrop.

(three for the lounge area) aredimmed at low levels for theevening lighting scenes, but for themorning breakfast scene are run at95 percent to create a brighter,energetic scene.

Honeywill said, “The majority ofthe hotel’s spaces are multi-function-al and are used differently morning,noon and night, and the lighting hasto be able to accommodate theseuses. Nearly all areas receive gooddaylight penetration, and we knewwe had to create spaces that had acompletely different feeling at nightthan the day.” A Lutron lighting con-trol system was used throughout,and the dimming and balance of allthe public areas were set at a low-level to tie into the intimate andsophisticated atmosphere.

The connecting corridor betweenthe lobby and the bar and restau-rant is lighted asymmetrically. Floor

recessed uplights mounted closelyto the wall form a band of light onthe ceiling, while multiple (three

lamps in a line formation) 50-Wdownlights mounted off center cre-ate pools of light that direct guestspast the bar and up to the restau-rant. (Kreon supplied all the uplightsand downlights for this portion ofthe project.)

Service ConceptThe bold and vibrant mood inside

the Parkhuus restaurant is createdby the centerpiece show kitchen

and a two-story wine library thatholds over 3000 bottles. Multipledownlights (four lamps in a square

formation) allow light to be careful-ly focused in the direction of thedining tables, while copper wiremesh pendants are suspendedoverhead. The wine tasting roomuses integrated fiber optics withinthe cabinet and a classic IngoMaurer ceramic pendant “PorcaMiseria!” creates a focal point.

Adjacent to the 135-seat restau-rant and separated by iridescentcopper mesh glass panels is the chic

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‘Nearly all areas receive good daylight penetration, and we knew we had to createspaces that had a completely different feelingat night than the day’

Multiple downlights allow light to becarefully focused in the direction of the

dining tables, while copper wire meshpendants are suspended overhead.

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62 www.iesna.org

Adjacent to the restaurantand separated by iridescentcopper mesh glass panels is

the chic Onyx bar.

Onyx bar. Named after the onyxstone that runs throughout, thevenue also features floor-to-ceilingglass walls that provide a view ofthe restaurant’s summer terrace. Inthe evening, the panels slide back toexpose the bar, and the sounds oflive music and dancing can scatterinto the streets once the exteriorwindows are lifted. The glass barwall was originally conceived to givea cold appearance using dimmed4000K T5 fluorescent OSRAM SYL-VANIA lamps as the backdrop tocold vodka bottles. Honeywill saidthat this was altered during thecommissioning to incorporate CTcolor filters, so a warmer appear-ance could be achieved from withinand seen from the street entrance.Subtle touches of light fromrecessed single lamp MR16 down-lights and internally lit alabastertables and bar counters, combinedwith the backlit bar, come togetherto establish an intimate ambience.

The banquet and meeting roomscover more than 3000 sq ft for sem-inars, banquets and private events.The banqueting room is divisible

into three soundproofed rooms anduses a combination of 250-W tung-sten halogen (Erco) downlights forambient lighting together with cof-fer mounted, concealed, white coldcathode for the daytime functionsand a midnight blue cold cathodefor the evening functions. Facilityillumination is also provided by ceil-ing recessed skyhooks. TheEnlighten UK skyhooks have theadvantage that when not in use, theonly visible aspect is a square plateon the ceiling. However, when inuse, vertical lighting bars drop downfrom the ceiling, and provide accessto theater equipment and DMX con-trols.

The pre-function area immediate-ly outside the ballroom is almost 30ft high and in order for designers tocreate a dramatic impact on thedark granite floor, they chose to usea single 500-W downlight to createa grand and dramatic statement.The ballroom wall was highlightedwith narrow beam downlightstogether with the entrance doors.As with the lobby corridor, the pre-function corridor sets up a key view

optimized by select pieces of inspir-ing artwork by artists such as SolLewitt. All of the artwork is selec-tively lighted from ceiling recesseddirectional downlights that providesplashes of vibrant color.


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About the Designers: Assenior associate, RobertHoneywill has been anarchitectural lighting de-signer at MBLD for over18 years. His projectexperience has includedworldwide five star hotel

developments, as well as commercial andretail sector designs, urban masterplans, andwork for British Airways, Hyatt International,Gap and University College London.

Maurice Brill, MemberIESNA (1989), is thefounder and creative direc-tor of MBLD. Throughouthis early career in the the-ater, he designed for com-panies such as the BalletRambert. He later formed

one of the UK’s first independent architecturallighting design companies.

All of the artwork is selectively lightedfrom ceiling recessed directional down-

lights that provide splashes of color.

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November 2005 LD+A 67November 2005 LD+A 67November 2005 LD+A 67

Lighting Control andDesign’s Intelligent Thermostat canbe locally and remotely accessed,program and monitor up to 32thermostats, via dial-up or internet,including set back-times and temps,local keypad adjustment range, andmore. Combine lighting and ther-mostat controls into one digital,easy to use energy managementsolution and at about 80 percentless than traditional EMS packages.

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CPS Corporation offersAluminum Silicon Carbide(AlSiC), a metal matrix compositeideally suited for thermal manage-ment solutions for high brightnessLEDs. AlSiC enables a tailoredCoefficient of Thermal Expansion(CTE), offering compatibility withvarious electronic devices andassemblies. Unlike traditional hous-ing materials, the isotropic CTEvalue of AlSiC can be adjusted forspecific applications by modifyingthe Al-metal/SiC-particulate ratio.

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Day-Brite Lighting’s Lumalier family of in-room air UV-C disinfectingproducts utilize UV-C irradiating lamp technology to kill up to 99.9 percentof airborne bacteria and reduce airborne transmission of influenza, coldsand viruses.

www.daybritelighting.com

At 2 7/8th in. in diameter,Lightolier's three-inch family ofMR16 recessed luminaires offersthe smallest aperture available withspecification-grade performanceand glare control. Like all CalculiteEvolution products, the three-inchoffers a complete palette of inter-changeable optical assemblies pro-viding the power and flexibility toenrich virtually any commercial orresidential environment.

www.lightolier.com

The Sivoia QED roller 64 systemfrom Lutron Electronics incor-porates all of the same features andbenefits of Lutron’s Sivoia QED sys-tem, but in a significantly smallerprofile, allowing it to be housed insmaller window jambs and pockets.In comparison, Sivoia QED roller100 controls up to 100 sq ft of fab-ric, while Sivoia QED roller 225controls up to 225 sq ft of fabric.The new Sivoia QED roller 64 con-trols up to 64 sq ft of fabric.

www.lutron.com


LIGHT PRODUCTS

68 www.iesna.org

Juno Lighting's ModuLightemergency lighting system providesone- or two-lamp T8 operation,1100 to 1400 lumens and 90 min-utes of operation time. A power-delivery lighting system that canreduce installation costs by 20 to 40percent, ModuLight's power con-verter is mounted separately fromthe lighting fixture, eliminating theneed for electrical components likeconduits, wiring and J-boxes.

www.junolightinggroup.com

Venture Lighting’s MP 875-W Uni-Form pulse start lamp pro-vides energy savings, longer lifeand significantly more light overtime than today’s standard 1000watt metal halide system. Thelamp has a high lumen output of95,000 lumens, mean lumens of76,000 and a rated life of 20,000+hours, indicating that 70 percentof the lamps will still be operatingat end of rated life.

www.venturelighting.com

The GlassChromia from ImagingSciences offers a patterned chromelook in decorative glass and is part ofthe Imagine Glass product line.Theglass utilizes a decorative interlayerlaminated between two or morepieces of glass, creating decorativearchitectural safety glass. Fine resolu-tion and artistic detail can now beincorporated into any window, sur-face or other glass constructionwhere a reflective surface is desired.

www.imaging-sciences.com

Version 1.8 of AGI32 lightingdesign and rendering software is amajor enhancement that includesmore powerful page layout capability,XP-style file management system,interactive render-mode walk com-mand,absolute zenith luminance day-light calibration and tone-mappingcompression for ray-traced images.The sample rendering demonstrateshow AGI32 enables the designer toshow how daylight will affect a spaceat any time of the day.

www.agi32.com

Cotco's half-watt Mini DoradoLED is ideal for compact lighting sit-uations where reliability and highillumination are essential.Architects,manufacturers and designers canuse the LED for a wide variety ofapplications in areas such as auto-motive and traffic lighting, interiorand exterior architecture design,entertainment, decorative and land-scape lighting.The Mini Dorado willalso be utilized in PDAs and otherhand-held devices that demandbrighter, higher power displays.

www.cotco.com

November 2005 LD+A 69November 2005 LD+A 69

Addressing the need for moreflexible LED displays, PopVision aportable, self-contained LED videoscreen features Lighthouse’s pro-prietary technology, enabling ahigh-resolution screen with betterquality images at an affordableprice. Designed for aesthetic inte-gration, PopVision–with brightnesslevel up to 3000 nit–is an optionchoice for any digital signage net-work (new or existing) whereLCD, Plasma and projection sys-tems are not appropriate. The sixmm screen is contained in a five ftby two ft mobile case with a wire-less remote and hydraulic systemthat enables the display to “pop up”for fast, simple set-up.

www.lighthouse-tech.com

Combining a sleek, compactdesign with new lamp technology,Amerlux unveils the ImperiaVertical track luminaire for accentand display lighting applications.Engineered with high performanceoptics,specially designed for the new20-W Philips Mini MasterColorCDM-Tm ceramic metal halidelamp, available in spot, narrow flood,flood and linear spread distributions,the Imperia Vertical provides a cost-efficient alternative to fixtures usinglow and line voltage halogen lampsup to 100 watts.

www.amerlux.com

Leviton’s ceramic lampholder isdesigned for single-ended metalhalide lamps with a G8.5 base.Thelampholder features a lead-in edgethat helps ensure proper lampingand reduces the incidence of bro-ken lamp pins. Solid nickel contactsare spring-loaded to ensure superi-or electrical continuity. Other qual-ity features include threaded bush-ings for secure mounting and high-temperature 250 deg leads.

www.leviton.com

Attractive and colorful, the win-ter garden from FiberopticLighting adds to the aesthetics ofwherever they are installed. Withits unique color wheel, the wintergarden changes colors from palespring to more powerful summerto the golds of fall and finally lookslike snow has fallen.

www.flisign.com

TMS1/6ad

The LED-FLEX LED lighting sys-tem from Mule Lighting, has thesame appearance as traditional neonlighting, but requires less energy, ismore flexible and durable, and canbe used in many applications whereneon is not appropriate. LED-FLEXcontains no harmful gases, making itsafe to handle, and can be customcut and shaped on-site, without theneed for specially trained personnel.

www.mulelighting.com

Research matters: Is the warm-up worth it

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