The Design Excellence in Networked Lighting Control Award was created in 2021 as part of LEDs Magazine’s Sapphire Awards. The Lighting Controls Association is proud to sponsor this award, which recognizes projects that push the boundaries of advanced lighting control.
This month, we explore a lighting and controls installation at the Glover Cary Bridge in Owensboro, KY, which earned a 2021 Sapphire Design Excellence in Networked Lighting Control Award for Integration. Lighting control design by AECOM. Photography by Jason Tanner. Lighting by Color Kinetics.
The scope of the Owensboro, Kentucky bridge was to effectively illuminate the façade of this “blue” bridge with LED luminaires with RGBW channels. Other design challenges included a $2M budget constraint, allow US Coast Guard to turn Off/On luminaires, remote programming of multiple static/dynamic scenes, and allow controls to synchronize to music.
Luminaires were installed on each end of the horizontal and vertical structural beams. Intermediate luminaires were installed at the midpoints of the longer beams.
In terms of budget, a contributing factor to move this project forward was to have the luminaires and control system directly purchased by the owner to save on distributor/contractor mark-ups.
In order to address visual comfort, adjustable luminaires with 8° optics were selected to highlight the beam façade and reduce glare from vehicular traffic. Field aiming these luminaires optimized contrast and uniformity ratios.
A dedicated internet service was provided for remote programming. A radio control unit was provided to allow the US Coast Guard to turn on/off these luminaires due to existing navigation lights. A Lighting Playback Controller was provided which features individually controllable and independently running timelines and scenes to build customizable pre-programmed lighting effects, show control, and integration features. An audio integration device was provided which is connected to the controller over the Ethernet network to allow synchronization to music.
In terms of expandability, 512 of 2,048 DMX channels are utilized. In terms of electric load, 25.92kW is connected to a 63kVA transformer.
In order to optimize performance that span the length of this 2,000 ft. bridge, fiber optic cabling was specified to minimize communication losses. Localized control cabinets were provided to transition from fiber optic to copper.
The energy goal of this project was based on ASHRAE-90.1 requirement of 5.0 W/LF. This energy goal was surpassed by allowing only 1.24 W/LF.
Leave a Reply