FacilitiesNet

Daylighting Provides Extra Benefits in Upscale Supermarket

Byerly’s is an upscale supermarket chain with locations in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. When the company decided to open a new store on France Avenue in Edina, Minn., CEO Tres Lund's direction was to incorporate sustainability into the design, including daylighting. While he was not a fan of traditional skylights, he was intrigued by other daylighting technologies like Solatube Daylighting Systems. The desire was for more natural light, but for it to be diffused across large areas of the store. Byerly’s also wanted it to integrate smoothly with the electric lighting.

Byerly's management was familiar with the Solatube SolaMaster Series 750 DS product line, but they were most excited to hear there was a larger diameter option available with the new high-output Solatube SkyVault Series. The project used 37 SkyVault Series M74 DS Core Units, installed in the roof throughout the store and integrated with LED lighting for night use. The Solatube M74 DS units and LEDs were paired together for maximum long-term lighting cost reduction.

The Solatube units provided another unexpected advantage: almost eliminating the need for "temporary construction lighting" during the construction phases of the project. The addition of the Solatube systems provided ample lighting levels for the construction crews to build out the interior finishes, as well as allow the equipment installation crews to fit out the store before the permanent lighting was installed. The permanent lighting ended up being a very late delivery item and the project was able to still be completed on time without the need for temporary lighting. The store opened on schedule in September 2014.