Smart Lighting Helps Enliven Office Building
DPR Construction knew upgrading the ground floor of its two-story office building in Newport Beach, Calif. had to serve as a living lab and testament to the company’s commitment to building great things.
The building itself was old and closed-in, which meant the team had the opportunity to create a unique space. The 17,000-square-foot floor plan provided a working canvas for DPR’s open office, embracing lighting as a critical element of the design.
With the goal of designing an environmentally responsible workspace, DPR Construction needed a highly controllable lighting solution that could help reduce energy consumption. DPR Construction used its self-created greenBook — a tool that helps analyze the cost lifecycle benefit of a project for every level of LEED certification. This tool helped calculate the ROI for all aspects of LEED criteria including energy usage, in conjunction with local utility rates.
The decision was made to equip 100 percent of the occupied spaces with LED lighting and integrated lighting controls. DPR Construction turned to Acuity Brands for its lighting solutions, and selected 93 2-by-2-foot LED fixtures with controls for the main office space and conference rooms. In addition, LED downlights were installed throughout hallways, bathrooms, a stadium seating BIM (Building Information Model) lab and showers.
As required by California Title-24, all spaces are equipped with occupancy sensors. Any time a room is not occupied for 10 minutes, the lights shut off, with the exception of the bathrooms, which shut off after 30 minutes without movement. Occupancy sensors are placed every six to eight workstations, in the kitchen, conference rooms and corridors. Daylighting sensors around the glazed perimeter of the open office automatically dim the LED fixtures based on light levels from outside.
DPR Construction also wanted lighting solutions that would help inspire employees. To accent self-performed concrete work, the company installed LED cove lighting. They also developed an Innovation Room, which includes Mark Architectural Lighting Slot 2 fixtures to add to the ambiance of the unique, non-traditional space.
"We wanted the innovation room to promote out of the box thinking. It had to feel different from any other gathering space in the office," says Laura Lawson of DPR Construction. "The light fixtures were chosen to highlight the unique features of the room, which is filled with writeable surfaces, flexible furniture, a large touch screen LCD monitor, a curved wood ceiling and large center pivot doors for openness and air flow."
The ability to control lighting is now available to multiple. While all users can control their own workspaces, some also have access to control gathering and collaboration areas from their personal computers and iPhones.
Based on California’s Title-24 2005 calculations, DPR Construction’s space is averaging 0.56 watts per square foot, or 35,600 kilowatt-hours on an annual basis. This is more than a 40 percent reduction in lighting power density compared to Title-24 baseline requirements.