Green light go

Applied technology is exponentially changing the way stores are being illuminated. In the past year, industry manufacturers and designers have introduced and implemented lighting systems that deliver significant energy savings and reduce operating costs.

Lighting is a prodigious user of a retail store's energy budget. The U.S. Department of Energy says lighting accounts for 59 percent of total electricity use in domestic retail and service buildings. Cooling interior environments, including dispersing the heat created by luminaires, is pegged at 14 percent of overall electric usage in this category by the DOE.

Two references provide designers and building owners statutes and guidelines for new construction and renovation. ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2001, an updated version of the 1989 document, has been incorporated into every state's building code. Developed jointly by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the DOE, it defines standards for the building envelope, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, power and light, as well as lighting for exterior spaces.

The revised lighting section seeks energy conservation primarily through lighting control and total building wattage limitations. Separate exceptions for special venues such as historic properties and retail are defined.

? For spaces enclosed by ceiling-height partitions, at least one control device is to be used per space?one per 2,500 sq. ft. for more than 10,000 sq. ft.; or one per 10,000 sq. ft. for less than 10,000 sq. ft. The control must be readily accessible.

? Individual controls are to be provided for display lighting, accent lighting, case lighting and task lighting.

? Extra power density allowances are permitted for decorative, indirect for video display terminals and retail display lighting.

Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is the organizational entity directing the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Buildings and interiors that meet LEED standards can earn up to 69 points toward a top LEED certification. "LEED at this time is not considering the material composition of a luminaire or a light source to gain points toward LEED certification," says David Bergman, RA, LEED AP, architect and designer of furniture and lighting products based on utilization of sustainable materials through his firm, Fire & Water. "Rather, their concern is with energy consumption, and this is where LEED points are tallied," he says.

USGBC is currently circulating the first public comment draft of LEED-NC-AGR, Application Guide for Retail, the Green Building Rating System for New Construction & Major Renovations. "The second draft that will incorporate comments from reviewers will go to the USGBC to become part of its official documentation," says mechanical engineer Robert Diemer, PE, LEED AP, a partner in the Philadelphia office of AKF Engineers, LLP. Diemer's firm has served as a consulting engineer to such retail organizations as Bed, Bath and Beyond, Rite Aid, Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Navy and Commerz Bank. A proponent of sustainability and energy-efficient practices, Diemer is a board member of Delaware Valley Green Building Council and chairs its Education Program Committee.

Diemer indicates that lighting is a major component of energy consumption that in turn has a big impact on LEED certification. "In a retail environment, the key to reducing energy costs comes down to efficient and effective lighting," he explains. Glass that cuts down markedly on transmitted heat and damaging rays is in the construction mainstream, and makers of packaged rooftop air conditioning equipment have applied energy-saving technologies to minimize energy use, Diemer says.

Lamp sources that provide ambient and accent lighting impact the air conditioning load and the energy needed to operate the cooling system. Linking the luminaires to controls that respond to daylight sources is a recommended technique to reduce operating hours for the lighting system and the cooling equipment needed to keep the interior temperature at a comfortable level, Diemer indicates.

Designers such as architect Bergman and New York-based lighting designer David Apfel agree that benefits accrued from a green building are the result of fitting together green features into systems that create a building that works. "To build up points for LEED certification, start with the least amount of energy needed to do an effective job, and then employ an energy management system, including sensors, motion detectors, and shutoff controls," says Apfel.

In designing the lighting for an installation, "give clients what they want. Don't sacrifice the creative process and don't design by the numbers," he emphasizes. "Design comes first; consider 2.5 to 3 watts per square foot for retail. Then look at the wattage allowance and interpret the code for the space."

Apfel would like more up-front time set aside for project planning sessions and discussions by the store designer, architect, engineers and lighting designer. "As early as possible in the process, the design team members need to know where the merchandise and the displays will be placed," he says. "The lighting designer requires a schedule of the interior architecture elements so that the appropriate luminaire and lamps can be specified and installed in the right position. The engineer has to know where to bring in power at designated locations to operate the luminaires and the controls."

"To obtain a building permit from the local municipality, the plans must show the placement of the display and the ambient lighting," Apfel says. From these drawings, maximum wattages are calculated for local compliance. "It has added another month to the design process." In his experience, if the project is working toward LEED certification, the task of filling out needed forms increases the time devoted to the project.



Fiber optics

Two features particularly applicable to food and jewelry merchandising are inherent to illumination by fiber optics: virtually no heat build-up, and no ultraviolet or infrared rays. Gersil N. Kay of Conservation Lighting International Ltd., Philadelphia, is a long-time proponent of glass fiber optic illumination. Components of a glass fiber optic system include a remote light source or projector, typically the size of a large shoe box; a bundle of flexible light guides or tails, called a harness; and lenses needed to control the beam. The glass tails, manufactured in Europe are from 1.13 mm to 10 mm in diameter.

"The tails are assembled into the harness and fixed to a common end that is attached to the light source, a metal halide lamp with a 100-watt lamp rated to burn for 6,000 hours," Kay says. She says that accessories are now available for dimming, downlighting, color and motion, and can be linked to DMX512 controllers. "Large size tails can throw the light 100 feet, making the system applicable for ambient and feature lighting in stores as well as accent illumination placed close to products," she mentions. High-end London jewelry merchant Theo Fennell effectively uses glass fiber optic lighting in display cases.

Fiberstars Inc., Fremont, Calif., last year cooperatively launched with Gensler the EFO Fiber Optic Lighting System to create applications of a powerful fiber optic lighting technology that greatly reduces energy consumption. This year, EFO is being installed in more than a dozen Whole Foods supermarkets. First beta-tested in the Austin, Texas, flagship store, the patented system racked up a 72 percent savings over the existing lighting based on MR16 lamps.

As explained by Paul Ravenelle, spokesperson for Fiberstars, each lighting source has a 68-watt metal halide watt lamp in the illuminator that sends the light into eight 10 mm-diameter-wide fibers (about .4 inches) that vary from 4 feet to 20 feet in length. The fibers themselves are made of a monomer material. "We did not use a polymer that can break down over time," he reports. At each end of the fiber, the light intensity is equal to a 50-watt MR16," Ravenelle says. "That means that a single illuminator can produce up to 400 watts of light," he says. "EFO carries a rated life of 10,000 hours versus 2,000 hours for an MR16, which means that relamping maintenance is significantly decreased." When an EFO is replaced, the user places it in a pre-addressed box and ships it to a special recycling center.

Whole Foods stores now using the EFO system include Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, Colo.; Santa Fe, N.M.; New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.; Los Angeles; San Antonio; and Palm Beach, Fla.



White LEDs

A pure white light emanating from an LED (light emitting diode) has been the lighting industry's Holy Grail since the dawn of the current century. Now, Boston-based Color Kinetics has announced that its IntelliWhite solid state technology lighting system was selected for a multiple store roll-out by the Bostonian specialty men's footwear brand. Approximately 15 stores operated by Bostonian and its sister brand Clarks (parent company of Bostonion) will apply iW Profile to light display shelving, replacing existing fluorescent luminaires.

iW Profile is Color Kinetics low-voltage linear unit designed for interior display, exhibit, under-cabinet, task and alcove lighting. It features variable color temperature control and can produce cool to warm gradients of white light from a single fixture along with basic LED benefits of efficiency, long life, durability, and lack of radiated heat and UV emission. "



Integrated metal halide

Philips Lighting and Sephora have worked together to roll out the first application of the 25-watt PAR38 MasterColor Integrated lamp that combines lamp and the ballast in one screw-in unit. Installed in overhead tracks in Sephora's new 5,700-sq.-ft. L-shape store facing New York's Union Square?its 100th location in the United States?the lamp provides both ambient and accent illumination.

Philips is marketing its MasterColor Integrated as a one-step, energy-efficient replacement for tungsten halogen lamps. It stresses the Integrated 10,500-hour rated life, three times that of halogen, and higher output, with 25 watts equaling the illumination provided by a 90-watt halogen lamp. Kim Klingler, Sephora's North American director of construction, specified the lamp shortly after its introduction earlier this year. "It will give us a competitive advantage," Klingler says.



Green rollouts

PNC Bank, a Pittsburgh-based financial services firm, already has two LEED-certified buildings in Pennsylvania and plans to LEED-certify 90 new branches in the future. Other major retail corporations are watching the proposal for LEED to streamline volume-build certification and institute a volume-build category to the process.