Expansion of the Johnson Controls Incorporated (JCI) business campus in Glendale, WI, has earned an LEED Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council on four buildings, making it the largest concentration of buildings on one campus to ever receive the rating.
The 33-acre complex is home to JCI’s global corporate headquarters, as well as the HQ for its power solutions automotive battery business, and a power solutions research center.
The company’s $73 million transformation, aimed at achieving status as the World’s Most Sustainable Campus, includes installation of 285 energy-saving BetaLED luminaires. Remarkably, while the square footage of the project doubled, energy usage is down 21%.
LED parking, security and area luminaires bring energy efficient lighting to a new parking structure, resurfaced parking lots and new streets. The four-level, 419-stall parking structure is illuminated with 134 pendant-mount parking luminaires. There are two parking structure luminaires on three floors and 16 poles with area lights on the upper deck.
Ward Komorowski, JCI’s Director of Facilities and Building Services, oversaw the renovation. He enlisted the help of the electrical engineering design firm Leedy & Petzold Associates to plan sustainable lighting solutions, including the outdoor LED installation.
The firm designed the application to meet LEED requirements and Glendale municipal lighting ordinances. There were restrictions on light levels and mounting heights that needed to be considered.
James Haug, P.E. and Principal at the firm, compared 175-watt metal halide fixtures to 118-watt LED area luminaires and calculated a 45% energy savings for the parking lot lights alone.
“We looked at other LED solutions but were convinced the BetaLED luminaires would offer a superior solution because of a thermal design that handles the heat better and a more advanced optical design,” Haug said. “We are confident that the BetaLED solution will provide worry-free operation for the next 12-plus years. The visibility is as good as or better than the metal halide provides.”
Haug said he was pleased with the lighting design that achieves safe light levels and energy efficiency. While meeting a height restriction in accordance with a local ordinance, superior lighting control yielded impressive performance, he said.
“Installing the LED area luminaires at a 15-foot mounting height provides horizontal footcandles that are as good as the vertical footcandles – a nice scale that’s just right for uniformly lighting the space according to code.
“Everything is evenly lit, not overly lit, and you just don’t get that from metal halide lights,” Haug said.
Kevin Orth, BetaLED Director of Sales, may be reached at kevin_orth@betaled.com.
