Win an Amazon Kindle 3G Wireless e-Reader!

What’s black and white and green all over? It might be the Amazon Kindle 3G you win after visiting Acuity Brands at the 2011 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Toronto, October 4-7.

Come see the best intelligent lighting, controls and daylighting solutions in the industry and how they help reduce energy consumption by tremendous amounts over traditional lighting. The Acuity Brands booth is no. 1819N. Say the word “artichoke” and register to win one of five Amazon Kindle 3G e-readers.

For contest rules, visit this Web site.

Visual Design Tools More Accessible

Visual lighting design tools are now engineered to answer basic lighting design questions quickly and with greater access, thanks to their availability online and through a viewer from Acuity Brands.

The tools recreate the desktop experience on modern Web browsers, saving time by always being available when needed. They include the Interior Lighting Tool and Area Lighting Tool. Also available: a tutorial video, which can be accessed from www.visual-3D.com.

Also, Acuity Brands’ Visual Team, in conjunction with the Acuity Brands Lighting Center, will provide training sessions for Visual Professional Edition throughout 2011. Click here to learn more.

Relighting, Controls Bring Substantial Energy Savings

As part of its ongoing public-housing renovation efforts, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MHPA) in 2010 installed more than 125 Lithonia Lighting® RTLED™ luminaires and more than 375 RT5D LED luminaires throughout a senior high-rise facility. The new LED lighting is being used in all the common areas, including hallways, stairwells, offices, kitchens and boiler rooms.

To achieve even greater energy efficiency, the MPHA also installed SensorSwitch® occupancy sensors, creating an intelligent lighting and controls solution. Since the installation, the senior facility has reduced the energy consumption associated with this lighting application by more than 77%, the carbon dioxide emissions by 76%, and the maintenance costs by 58%.

ROAM® Selected by Austin for Money-Saving Upgrade

The ROAM® remote monitoring system has been selected by the city of Austin for a comprehensive street lighting upgrade project. By the project’s anticipated completion in 2014, the city of Austin will be able to control each of its approximately 70,000 streetlights with the click of a mouse. The estimated annual savings: more than $1 million in combined energy and maintenance costs.

ROAM combines photo-control technology with wireless monitoring and control capabilities. In Austin, the ROAM system will be installed and managed by Austin Energy, which will monitor and control the streetlights using data received every hour from the wireless ROAM devices via a web-based communication system.

The ROAM solution is being used successfully by several cities throughout the country to help municipalities increase energy efficiency and reduce operating costs. These cities include College Station, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Glendale, AZ; and Anderson, IN.

Synergy Intelligent Ballast Control: Ultimate in Performance

The digital lighting-controls revolution has created a generation of electronic ballasts offering the ultimate in performance, flexibility, energy savings and cost-effectiveness. Among the best: Synergy Lighting Controls’ new Intelligent Ballast Control, or IBC, module.

The IBC is adaptable to reconfigurations of spaces, simple to program and maintain, easy to integrate with energy-savings programs such as daylight harvesting, economical, and communicative for system monitoring.

Synergy’s Intelligent Ballast Control module provides seamless integration between digital ballasts and the Synergy Lighting Control System, and is compatible with a variety of intelligent ballasts including DALI, Simply 5, and Lutron® Ecosystem® digitally addressable ballasts. Read more in this Application Guide.

Petrolux LED Fit for Demanding Environments

Petrolux LED

The new Petrolux® LED (PLED) luminaire from Holophane provides a reliable, low-maintenance lighting solution for harsh environments and wet locations. It’s noted for its optical design and robust thermal-management system.

The PLED provides outstanding vertical illumination, uniformity and application efficacy, and is designed with multiple lumen packages and several optical choices. Uses include a variety of industrial environments: waste water treatment, power generation, petro-chemical, pulp and paper, textile, and ethanol and biodiesel production.

The PLED also is great for certain outdoor locations such as parking garages.

Acuity Brands Expert to Talk LED, Controls at Conferences

William Ballweg

William Ballweg, Lithonia Lighting’s product development manager, will be a featured speaker at the  Solid State Lighting Design (“SSL Design”) 2011 Summit in Los Angeles and the Strategies in Light® conference in Santa Clara, Calif.

Ballweg will speak at SSL Design’s 2011 Summit on January 19 about using advanced, intelligent digital controls to maximize LED lighting efficiency, enhance lighting capabilities, and accelerate return on investment. He’ll speak at the Strategies in Light conference on January 23 about harnessing the collective power of intelligent digital lighting and control systems.

SwitchPak Now Integrates with BACnet Protocol

SwitchPak, a compact and economical lighting-control panel from Synergy Lighting Controls, is now available to integrate with building automation systems using BACnet communication as a standard option. BACnet is the world-wide standard protocol for building automation and control systems. For more information, visit the Synergy Lighting Controls Web site.

New Building-Mount LED Saves Energy Outdoors

Hospitality, offices, schools and retail spaces now have an LED alternative to outdoor, building-mounted lighting, allowing them to reduce energy and operating costs by as much as 62%.

Building-mounted ALX LED

The new Lithonia Lighting^® ALX™ line of outdoor LED area luminaires combines the classic ALX family appearance with innovative technology. The building/wall-mounted ALXW model replaces HID fixtures one-for-one, meeting or exceeding recommended IES illumination levels and producing as much light as a typical 250-watt metal halide (HID) fixture. The ALXW also delivers improved optical uniformity and color rendering for architectural outdoor and pathway applications.

The ALXW’s long-lasting LED light source is designed to provide up to 50,000 hours rated life at maximum operating temperature, equating to 13 years of operation for a typical application.

White Paper on High Bay Occupancy Sensors Available

A new Acuity Brands white paper entitled, “High Bay Occupancy Sensors: Delivering Energy Savings and Fast Return on Investment,” is available from Sensor Switch.

The white paper, which can be downloaded here from www.sensorswitch.com, discusses typical high bay spaces (with ceiling heights above 18 feet) such as warehouses, distribution centers, production facilities and other industrial spaces, and the energy that’s wasted in lighting unoccupied areas. The paper also reveals energy-efficient lighting solutions that can reduce energy consumption and provide tremendous cost savings.