Hubbell Lighting Luminaires provide safety and sustainability for LEED certified garage at University of Nebraska

GREENVILLE, USA: Hubbell Lighting, a division of Hubbell Inc., and a market leader in innovative lighting technology for over a century, provided both indoor and outdoor energy efficient illumination for a 5-story parking garage with more than 1,000 parking spaces on the campus of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Built near the east/northeast corner of the growing higher education campus, the parking garage, which opened in the Fall 2010 semester primarily to serve students and faculty, attained USGBC LEED certification, a first for the State of Nebraska for this type of parking structure.

Under the guidance of Engineering Technologies Inc., (ETI), the lighting specified for the garage called for 379 state-of-the-art interior and 47 exterior pole mounted fixtures from Kim Lighting, a Hubbell Lighting brand. ETI chose Kim Lighting’s patent-pending PGL7- LED fixtures for interior illumination and Kim’s WARP9-LED pole mounted area lighting fixtures for the garage’s exposed roof level parking.

“As designer of the facility, our main goal was to provide a safe and effective environment for the occupants,” said Gary Loop, an ETI principal/electrical engineer.

“We took advantage of the unique characteristics of the light sources available to us as well as the energy they saved. By comparison to traditional indoor HID 100watt HID lamps/magnetic ballast, the PGL7 LED/electronic driver provides a 44 percent energy savings per unit; compared to an outdoor 250 watt HID/magnetic ballast the new WARP9 LED/electronic driver provides a 52 percent energy savings per unit, impressive figures that go directly to the University’s bottom line. When we were presented with Kim’s new PGL7 and WARP9 luminaires by Lighting Specialists, the Hubbell Lighting sales agency, we could immediately observe the energy savings they presented.”

“Unique to Kim’s new designs were the internal optics that not only provided the light levels desired but also put the light where we wanted. One of the important visual characteristics that we observed from Kim’s fixtures was the reduction in glare compared to similar LED fixtures and conventional sources. Being able to provide a well lit environment while minimizing distractions to the driver allowed us to provide an effective design,” said Loop.

“To meet high standards of reduced energy and maintenance costs as well as limited light trespass, Kim’s proprietary MicroEmitter technology was used to provide the garage with exceptional luminous uniformity and glare control. Unlike most LED and HID luminaries whose light output is directed straight down, the Kim luminaries with MicroEmitter technology dramatically improve illumination uniformity by eliminating the wasteful “nadir dump” of lumens directly below the fixture. Because each MicroEmitter is precisely aimed exactly where needed, glare is substantially reduced preventing direct view of more than 50 percent of the LEDs from any viewing angle,” noted a Kim Lighting spokesperson.

In addition to the Kim Lighting’s remarkable fixture performance, the company is doing its part to limit hazardous waste by using aluminum-housing materials and reflector components constructed from more than 90 percent recycled materials for all MicroEmitter LED luminaire offerings. All of Kim’s LED products are entirely lead and mercury free meeting strict US and international environmental protection and recyclable requirements.