The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) raised the bar for energy savings thanks in part to the lighting system at its new headquarters. Electrical Alliance contractor J.E. Ric hards Electrical spent four months installing a Convia lighting control system at the DC headquarters.
The system conserves energy in the 75,000 square-foot office space in several ways.
- Harvesting sensors measure the amount of natural light in a room and dim the lights accordingly.
- Motion detectors monitor movement in the room and turn off the lights during periods of inactivity.
- A photo cell on the roof controls the window shades to allow more or less natural light.
- Global gateway monitors allow the building manager to control the lighting system from anywhere on earth.
It also conserves energy used by computers. Special computer receptacles that operate on a timer so that computers do not run at night or other off-peak times.
This was the first lighting control system that J.E. Richards installed. The crew installed the system from Convia shop drawings they customized into a unique configuration. The project involved an intense amount of wiring to link the lights to the monitoring systems and controls.
The USGBC will monitor exactly how much energy it saves. Sixteen meters measure electricity savings. Additionally, the electricity meters ties to the HVAC meters to create a complete energy management system.
