Award

The Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, Montreal. Design calculations show an energy consumption approximately 45 per cent less than the referenced building ASHRAE 90.1 (0.9W/pc versus 1.6W/pc). Almost all of the light fixtures on the interior and exterior use LED lamps. These light fixtures are at full cutoff or are directed towards the ground. This strategy helps limit the amount of light pollution and improves the observation of stars. Photo: Stéphane Brügger. T hough LED lights have been the eco-friendly choice of designers, architects and homeowners for years now, it's typically been at the expense of esthetics: the original generation of LEDs saved power, but often sacrificed light quality, colour and consistency in the process. Luckily, rapidly evolving lighting technologies are providing more opportunity than ever to marry energy efficiency with style. "Everyone, from a manufacturing standpoint, is getting into the LED craze," says Jim Ormshaw, lighting product specialist for Robinson Lighting & Bath. "LED bulbs are changing every 120 to 180 days with a better version. Prices keep dropping and the size of the actual bulbs are getting smaller with each version." "Energy efficiency continues to be the main driver of improvement in lighting design," agrees Cristian Suvagau, BC Hydro Power Smart engineer and light team lead. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are currently leading the market for residential lighting, but developments in LED technology are starting to meet more of a home's lighting needs. Outdoor uses of LED equipment in particular are quite successful – it's high performance, and there's no unnecessary light spilling into adjacent properties – and the technology is becoming the norm for public spaces and patios alike. Fortunately, that demand over the years for this eco- friendly technology has led to huge improvements from the manufacturers that make the products design-friendly as well, notes Chris Glandt, research development manager for Visa Lighting. "In order to save energy, people weren't necessarily looking at the quality of the light, but now we are starting to look at the quality in addition to the wattage," he points out. "We've got options for better colour, more consistent light and better representation of human skin tones. Designers are saying, 'Okay, I don't need to save an extra quarter of a watt per fixture; I can choose light people actually want to be in.' " The light output continues to improve, too, a nice change from early versions of the bulbs. "The first generation of fixtures did not have enough lumens," Ormshaw explains. "If you used them in a bathroom you would also need to use some recessed fixtures for sufficient light." He advises taking colour temperature into careful consideration when shopping for LED bulbs – watch for the Kelvin measurements to make sure you're getting the look you want. Bulb lifespans for LED products continue to increase with each new iteration of the technology. "We have started to see that the new standard for bulb life is at 100,000 hours," says Raj Atwal, electrical engineer for Williams Engineering Canada. The colour rendering index (the measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colours of various objects) of LEDs are improving as well, moving from the 80s to the 90s. "LED, LED, LED!" laughs Kate Carberry, Visa Lighting's marketing manager. "It's all everybody wants." But even though consumers and designers are buying high-tech bulbs, fixture design is steering away from exclusively modern or futuristic styles. "For a long time the design trend was such that if you had a big, architecturally massive building, you'd have massive lighting to match," explains Chris Glandt, research development manager for Visa Lighting. Now, though, fixtures are smaller and finer, with designs that won't compete with the rest of the building. Indoors, lighting fixtures with organic and faceted shapes are taking off, and there is a resurgence in classic finishes like rustic bronze and brass. Though chrome and satin nickel are still the most popular finishes in Western Canada, Ormshaw sees a move towards warmer metals coming soon. "The most recent Dallas Light Markets have introduced a lot of brass, copper and burnished bronze." There are other ways to save lighting energy outside of bulb choice: advanced controls for programming and adapting lighting to occupancy and daylight can save an average of 30 to 50 per cent of a building's lighting energy. "With the new building code and sustainability guidelines, such as energy savings, in various jurisdictions, we are seeing more emphasis on control systems," says Atwal. "Occupancy controls, daylight sensors and automated functions are more and more common." Used in combination with controls, LEDs can have an even larger impact in driving down energy expenditures and extending product life. "Since lighting is one of the largest consumers of electricity in a commercial building, it's a natural place to explore options to improve efficiency, and a natural consideration for builders, developers and engineers," explains Tami Timperio, Cree's VP of Communications for Lighting. Cree's new SmartCast Technology is the first self-programming wireless lighting control system that reduces energy consumption by more than 70 per cent, compared to traditional fluorescent luminaries, at half the cost of traditional lighting controls. "We found that lighting customers have resisted installing traditional lighting controls because of excess cost and complexity, and the majority of those who have installed controls stop using them as intended after the first year because they're difficult to maintain," says Timperio. "As an LED innovator, our goal was to further the energy-saving potential for lighting by removing the initial and ongoing complexities associated with lighting controls, allowing the lighting industry to realize the full savings potential with benefits – from cost to simplicity." SmartCast incorporates both daylight harvesting and occupancy sensing technology into a single integrated platform, all operated by the push of a single button. Timperio predicts an increase in demand for commercial lighting over the next few years, driven by the increase in construction and by the transition to LED lighting. "Commercial lighting will outpace construction growth as building owners look to retrofit existing buildings to capture the energy and maintenance return on investment offered by LED lighting," she explains. "The industry has made great progress in providing tangible value through LED including Bright Ideas Today's bUlbs and sMarTesT new lIghTIng TeChnologIes save More energy Than ever before by Stacey McLachlan oCTober 2014 /45 Lighting

• Cover