Winona Lighting Receives 2012 Architectural Record Product Award

Full Circle curvilinear luminaire recognized as one of the most innovative building products in 2012. 

The Winona® Lighting Full Circle luminaire from Acuity Brands has been acknowledged as one of the most innovative and useful building products of 2012 by Architectural Record. A panel of judges selected the Full Circle luminaire as a lighting solution for architects, specifiers and designers to help distinguish the best product options for 2013 projects.

The Full Circle luminaire breaks away from traditional recessed linear fluorescent slot fixtures. It allows light to curve and flow through a space with freedom and flexibility. Available in four forms – full circle, radius, straight and organic – it can be used as an individual luminaire or combined to create a unique pattern or shape for any space.

“This acknowledgement is an honor, and affirms that Winona Lighting continues to deliver unique product offerings that enable customized lighting design,” said Tony Speltz, Product Design Manager, Acuity Brands Lighting. “The Full Circle luminaire is another example of how Acuity Brands continues to excel in offering a variety of lighting solutions to accommodate any design and space.”

The Full Circle luminaire can be used in suspended grid ceiling or hard ceiling applications. For more information about lighting solutions from Winona Lighting, please visit www.winonalighting.com or www.acuitybrands.com.

Acuity Brands Intelligent Lighting and Control System Helps Government Building Become Net-Zero Energy Ready

Government institution installs state-of-the-art integrated lighting control system as part of $4.4 million modernization and renovation project.  

The Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) reduced its electrical load by 70 percent with help from Lithonia Lighting® RT Series LED luminaires embedded with nLight® technology from Acuity Brands. This installation helps IPERS meet both its short-term energy savings goals for its 43,000-square-foot building, as well as position IPERS to achieve its long-term goal of operating as a net-zero energy building.

“We decided to specify Acuity Brands products because of the indoor ambient LED lighting option,” said Brad Lauritsen of Key Professional Engineers, who performed an energy audit of the facility. “The RT Series luminaire from Lithonia Lighting neatly integrates with nLight technology to create a total solution from a single supplier.”

Through integrated lighting and controls solutions, IPERS experienced a $12,000 reduction in energy costs over the same three-month period from the previous year. In addition to specifying RT Series LED luminaires, IPERS incorporated Peerless® lighting solutions from the Acuity Brands portfolio to create a modern look and feel in the conference rooms.

“One of the advantages of working with Acuity Brands is we can provide a smart and simple lighting and controls solutions for any space,” said Dave Ranieri, Vice President and General Manager of the Indoor Business Unit of Acuity Brands. “As industry leaders in integrated lighting and controls solutions, we were able to provide IPERS with the right technology to meet their short- and long-term goals.”

Two Acuity Brands Experts Receive Prestigious IES Awards

Acuity Brands Lighting experts Richard Heinisch and John Selander were acknowledged for exemplary contributions to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and lighting industry during the 2012 IES Conference in November.

Heinisch, manager of energy and environmental standards for Acuity Brands Lighting, received the IES Presidential Award recognizing his efforts to improve energy management and for over 15 years of service developing ASHRAE IES energy standards. Selander, director of specification sales for Acuity Brands Lighting, received a Recognition Award for his leadership on the IES Board of Directors since 1999.

“Acuity Brands is at the forefront of the lighting industry thanks to experts like Heinisch and Selander,” said David Grimm, Acuity Brands Lighting Vice President, Channel Marketing. “It is visionaries and dedicated industry professionals like these that enable Acuity Brands to advance lighting technology and industry standards.”

For information about digital lighting, controls and daylighting innovations from Acuity Brands, visit www.AcuityBrands.com. For more information about the IES, please visit www.ies.org.

Electrical Co-Op Integrates Acuity Brands LED Lighting and Digital Lighting Controls Technology

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. headquarters reduces maintenance and operations costs with integrated LED lighting and digital lighting controls solutions.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., a wholesale electric power supplier in Westminster, Colorado, installed advanced LED lighting and digital lighting controls solutions from Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) for its 116,000-square-foot office expansion and renovation at Tri-State’s headquarters. Hundreds of Lithonia Lighting® RT Series LED luminaires, nLight® lighting controls and occupancy sensors from Sensor Switch® were installed to meet maintenance and operational savings goals and enhance energy efficiency.

“Tri-state was very interested in using LED lighting technology everywhere it was appropriate,” said Bob Hawkins, Lighting Applications Engineer, The Lighting Agency, who helped evaluate the best LED lighting solution for the job. “They had a great experience using LED lighting technology outdoors and wanted to achieve the same benefits indoors. We conducted a demonstration with the lighting and digital controls, and Tri-State determined the RT Series with embedded nLight controls would be the best fit for their facility.”

Through integration of the RT Series LED luminaires, nLight lighting controls and occupancy sensors, Tri-State calculated it will achieve a 10 percent energy savings over the system life. Furthermore, the flexibility of the controls provides Tri-State with simple reprogramming capabilities that enable the system to fit the changing needs of the space. In open office spaces where furniture is changed often, it is critical to have a lighting system that can be programmed to work with different or adjacent zones without the cost and hassle of rewiring.

“The Tri-State Headquarters is a perfect example of the benefits of integrating high-performance LED lighting with a digital control platform,” said Dave Ranieri, Acuity Brands Lighting Vice President and General Manager, Indoor lighting. “Embedded nLight controls and occupancy sensors create a tailored lighting system that sets a precedent for all indoor lighting.”

Visit www.AcuityBrands.com for information about digital lighting and controls solutions integration.

Sunoptics Launches Prismatic Daylighting Solution for Suspended-Ceiling Applications; Offers Wide Variety of Choices in Lens and Size Options

New LightFlex system delivers superior daylighting with the ability to integrate seamlessly with LED lighting and digital lighting controls.

Acuity Brands introduces the LightFlex™ system, a high performance prismatic daylighting solution for suspended-ceiling applications from Sunoptics. The LightFlex system makes optimal use of daylight throughout the day, delivering glare-free lighting while minimizing energy usage from electric lighting.

The LightFlex toplighting system uses the Sunoptics® Signature Series prismatic skylight. This skylight allows the system to efficiently capture low-angle sunlight and optimize light distribution. A unique, patent-pending optic sphere drives light down through the skylight’s light well, maximizing the system’s light penetration. The result is the system makes extremely effective use of available sunlight to provide beneficial daylighting for more hours, during more days and in more geographic locations than typical skylights. The system comes standard with a conventional insulated square roof curb, which uses roofing industry-preferred flashing methods.

The LightFlex daylighting system is available in 21” tubular as well as 2’ x 4’ and 4’ x 4’ configurations to fit a variety of fixture options for plenum ceiling applications. The larger unit options allow for fewer penetrations in the roof. The tubular device includes adjustable elbows to bypass interior ceiling obstructions in retrofit applications.

All LightFlex products’ light wells use MIRO-SILVER® reflective aluminum, which features 98 percent light reflectivity performance from industry leader Alanod®. LightFlex is also offered with numerous lens options that match many of the lenses used in Acuity Brands LED and fluorescent luminaires. This breadth of choices allows an architect to match up the design of the electric source with the design of the natural light source, a feature that separates the product line from competitive daylighting offerings.

The LightFlex daylighting system is designed to integrate seamlessly with the broad array of Acuity Brands® controls solutions, such as nLight® controls and Dark to Light® control systems, as well as to match up with Acuity Brands indoor ambient luminaires. In addition, the system’s light control louvers allow users to adjust the amount of daylight entering the room, including completely darkening the daylight for visual presentations.

“The release of LightFlex daylighting products for suspended ceiling applications further expands the total toplighting offering from Sunoptics,” said Eric Huffman, Director, Daylighting Sales, Sunoptics. “Our solution integrates technology, controls and daylight harvesting for intelligent, holistic and sustainable lighting solutions, which contrasts with the single product feature approach used by many competitors.”

For more information on the Lightflex daylighting system, please visit  http://www.sunoptics.com/LightFlex or http://www.acuitybrands.com.