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Electrical Contractors Boost LED Savvy to Offer New Lighting OptionsBETHESDA, Md. --(Business Wire)-- More electrical contractors are boosting their knowledge of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to develop a strategic, optimum lighting mix offering aesthetics with energy efficiency-according to a special supplement in the latest issue of Electrical Contractor magazine at www.ecmag.com. With 60 to 80 percent of electrical contractors now directly influencing or specifying lighting brands, a creative blend of traditional lighting with fast-emerging LEDs solves lighting challenges and meets green requirements such as earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits and other emerging standards, energy codes and programs. JMS Electric Inc.'s hotel projects have included the design work for Chicago's historic Blackstone Hotel in 2006 and a Wit Hotel in 2008. JMS Senior Design and Estimating Project Manager Jack Nelson said that in the two years between those projects, LED technology had really advanced with lower costs, improved white light balance properties and increased applications. While his company's initial Wit designs focused on load with a projected $10,000 monthly electrical bill, Nelson said the actual costs using LED ended up much lower at approximately $4,000 per month. "We hadn't anticipated how much the branch load really dropped using LED," said Nelson, whose Schaumberg, Ill. firm now advocates LED when discussing lighting options with clients. "If we knew of this efficiency beforehand, the construction budget could have been reduced in terms of distribution and service-equipment sizing." San Francisco's Decker Electric Co. faced many challenges during a nine-month design/assist for the Contemporary Jewish Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind. Decker's work included the detailed installation of 70 types of custom lighting fixtures throughout the exhibit area, conference rooms, a 200-person theatre, restaurant areas, a 4,000-square-foot retail store, loading dock, administration offices and a mechanical room. "There wasn't one straight wall," said Keith Burrows, Decker's executive vice president. "Every one was slanted, and the lighting had to match the design," he said, adding that the biggest challenge was getting the electrical to the lights. To help meet green building certification, top guiding concepts include using luminaires with well-designed optics to ensure the light gets on the intended surfaces; implementing lighting control technologies; replacing lamps, fixtures and ballasts; using appropriate controls; bi-level switching; occupancy sensors; dimming ballasts and daylight harvesting. Controls are considered the largest contribution to improving efficiency through sophisticated addressable ballasts along with daylight and motion sensors. Electrical Contractor reaches 85,300+ electrical contractors and 68,000+ electrical contracting locations, more than any other industry publication.
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