PARKING GARAGE LIGHTING


What to Consider When Switching to LED


By Brad Dobbs


If you think an LED lighting retrofit is out of the question, think again.


Advancements in LED technology have greatly reduced


luminaire costs, improved energy efficiency, enhanced lighting quality and reduced maintenance, making LED luminaires an ideal retrofit now more than ever before.


Across the industry, LED chip prices have decreased an


average of 25% annually over the last five years, while efficacies (the “MPG” of lighting) have risen 12% percent annually in that time. Those rates of change are expected to slow significantly over the next several years – meaning many LED luminaires today offer exceptional value that will be hard to beat in the future. Switching


to an


LED lighting solution has numerous benefits, and several key considerations will help achieve maximum results. All LED parking garage luminaires are not created equal.


Each product offers varying expected life and depreciation levels. For instance, some LED lighting solutions deliver 50,000 hours of life, or five years of continuous 24/7 operation, while maintaining 70% of the initial lumens. This is a dramatic improvement over a traditional 175W probe-start metal-halide lamp, which has a life of 10,000 hours (one year of continuous operation) and maintains only 55% of its initial lumens.


However, that pales in comparison with highly advanced


LED luminaires, which have a 100,000-hour expected life (10 years of continuous operation) and maintains 87% of its initial lumens. When selecting an LED luminaire, choose the option that has the longest life and the best performance. This will ensure that the facility reaps cost- and energy-efficiency benefits long after payback is achieved. Cost- and time-effective


retrofit projects require one-for- one replacements. Replacing existing products with twice as


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many (or more) LED units to achieve required light levels is counterproductive. This approach greatly increases the material and labor costs for installation, and doubling the number of luminaires could unintentionally increase energy usage rather than reduce it.


LED luminaires should be


installed seamlessly in place of existing fixtures without relocating. This


greatly


increases the installation efficiency, reducing labor costs and significantly decreasing the amount of revenue lost when areas of the facility are closed


for maintenance. Optics can make all the difference. Optical choices and optical quality are also crucial considerations.


A luminaire with optical solutions for both single- and twin-row mounting, as well as for entry points, stairwells and other niches, will support a more energy-efficient retrofit. Installing fixtures with only one type of optic throughout a parking structure can result in over-lighting some spaces (wasting energy dollars) and under-lighting others (posing safety issues), which amounts to poor uniformity overall. The LED luminaire of choice should offer multiple optics to


Choose the option that has the longest life and the best performance. This will ensure that the facility reaps cost- and energy-efficiency benefits.


address all application types, and should install as a one-for-one replacement regardless of the previous fixture layout. “For parking garage applications specifically, the most important optical factor when selecting a luminaire is glare; it should deliver the lowest level of glare possible,” said Craig Marquardt, Director of New Product Development, Outdoor / Optical Engineering at Acuity Brands. “Glare is measured with IES ‘BUG’ (backlight, uplight, glare) ratings on a scale from zero to five, with zero being the best and five the worst.


“Luminaires with poor glare ratings tend to lose control of light


Continued on Page 26 Parking Today www.parkingtoday.com


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