Lutron Washington, DC Experience Center
Commercial Applications

Case study: The Washington, D.C., Commercial Experience Center

When you visit any Lutron Experience Center, you’ll see how light controls save energy and contribute to sustainable building design. Now, when you come to our Washington, DC facility, you’ll see how Lutron solutions support LEED credit achievement, and helped the Experience Center achieve LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors.

“By using light control to contribute to LEED Gold certification, we were able to effectively show how impactful Lutron products and solutions can be to any building’s control strategy,”
- Marc Berman, Principal at Interplan, Inc.

Experience Center achieves LEED Gold Certification — light control contributes 19 points

Challenge:

As Lutron executives planned the company’s Washington, D.C., Commercial Experience Center, energy efficiency, sustainability and LEED certification were all top of mind.

The facility is specifically designed to showcase Lutron light control
The Washington, D.C., Commercial Experience Center
strategies; therefore, it is critical to be able to demonstrate how light control can contribute significant energy savings and help with credit achievement in commercial renovation projects.

Once he secured an appropriate site, Shaun Taylor, Manager of the Commercial Experience Center worked with Marc Berman, Principal at Interplan, Inc. to develop the space into an education and training center that makes it easy for customers to understand how light control saves energy.

In order to achieve certification under LEED for Commercial Interiors, the facility’s lighting power density had to remain under .85 W/ft2,” explains Shaun, “By incorporating our products throughout the facility, we met this goal, and are able to introduce architects, facility managers, and electrical engineers to efficient light control strategies that support credit achievement.”

The Washington, D.C., Commercial Experience Center

The solution:

Quantum Total Light Management system and Sivoia QS shades with Hyperion solar-adaptive technology.

A Lutron Quantum Total Light Management system controls all the lights and shades in the center, and serves as an important training tool.

In the classroom, for example, Hyperion solar-adaptive technology is programmed to automatically adjust Sivoia QS shades based on the angle of the sun. Direct light never hits the work surface, eliminating glare while creating an optimal workspace.

Using Quantum GreenGlance software, trainers can visually demonstrate the interaction of shades, daylight sensors, occupancy sensors, and dimming ballasts. Guests experience the changes in the space, and can actually see the energy-savings achieved with each lighting adjustment.

To emphasize the use of more efficient light sources, the space uses no permanently installed incandescent lamps, even in the appliances. The only incandescent lamps in the space are used in portable demos, enabling the staff to demonstrate a variety of dimming technologies.

Result

The center was awarded LEED Gold under the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating system (version 2009) in October 2011, achieving 63 points with 19 points attributable to the light controls in the space. “By using light control to contribute to LEED Gold certification, we were able to show how impactful Lutron products and solutions can be,” explains Marc Berman.

Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Lutron demonstrates their leadership through LEED certification of their Washington, DC Experience Center,” says Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, USGBC.

The Lutron center is quickly becoming a training destination for architects, facility managers, and electrical engineers who come to learn how to save energy, reduce costs, achieve LEED certification, and meet building codes on their projects. The ability to discuss and demonstrate daylight harvesting strategies is cited as the biggest draw for most visitors

Quantum Total Light Management system with Sivoia QS shadesA total light management system that allows central monitoring of an entire building, allowing for considerable energy savings and optimal performance.
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Products used in this project Sivoia QS shades Quantum Green Glance softwareEcoSystem digitally addressable fluorescent ballasts Daylight sensorsOccupancy/Vacancy sensors

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