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10 Questions To Ask Before A Lighting Upgrade Begins

When considering a lighting upgrade, the first impulse is to retrofit the existing installation by replacing lamps and ballasts, or even replacing existing fixtures with new ones. But often this is not the best long-term solution. There are many circumstances where a retrofit is a poor investment and results in throwing good money after bad. Retrofits are also subject to "cream skimming," where the proposed solutions target the easiest savings with the lowest first cost. It is easy to increase efficiency and decrease consumption &#; the challenge is to provide acceptable lighting quality and designs that retain their savings over the long run.

True value can come from redesign. Redesign includes assessing the qualitative aspects of the design and exploring potential improvements to lighting quality while saving energy.

Qualitative features include glare control, contrast, color rendering, visual comfort and other elements that have an impact on work performance, retail sales, and health and well-being of the employees, occupants and visitors of buildings. Light levels are seldom the most important element of quality.

In fact, the desire to maintain or increase the quantity of light on the task surface often results in designs where the luminaires re-direct more light downward. The resulting effect is less light on walls and faces, significantly reducing lighting quality. More efficient lamps and ballasts are unlikely to improve lighting quality, even if the quantity of light is increased. The greater brightness of energy efficient lamps like T5 fluorescent and LEDs are likely to increase glare.

The first question facility managers should ask when considering a lighting upgrade is, "What is the purpose of the lighting?" The answer is so much more complex than, "To see the task." In an office, lighting contributes to long-term satisfaction with the work environment and overall work performance.

Important questions include: Would you want to spend eight hours in this space? Is the electric light balanced with the daylight; is there enough variation and stimulation without harsh shadows and distracting hot spots? Can the performance of multiple tasks be accomplished free of glare and with light levels that can be controlled by the individual? Are face-to-face discussions enhanced by flattering lighting that enables facial expressions to be clearly read?

These are not minor issues. Energy savings without quality will inevitably backfire. If the quality of light in a space is poor, occupants tend to "self-medicate" &#; take more sick days, work less effectively, bring in their own (inefficient) desk lamps, or disable an improperly calibrated control system. These can have a negative impact on energy savings, causing "bounce-back" as energy consumption starts to creep up after a retrofit.

Here are 10 other questions facility managers should ask in evaluating a lighting redesign versus a retrofit.

 

 

When Is Redesign The Best Choice?

If your project has the following characteristics, redesign is the best choice.

• New tenants or major renovation
• Replacement of ceilings or electrical components
• Need for new luminaires
• High labor costs
• Utility or other incentives
• Energy code or LEED compliance

&#; Hayden McKay

When The Associated Press relocated its headquarters to the top three floors of the New York Daily News building in Manhattan, the lighting system was redesigned to allow personal control for each employee. In addition to offering flexibility for employees, energy consumption decreased by about 25 percent.

The company is the world’s best automotive lighting molds supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

 

What Spaces Are Poor Candidates For Retrofit?

• The quantity or quality of light is marginal, unacceptable
• The functions of the space have changed (office workers now work more on computers than with paper)
• Furniture and partitions are high, blocking the light distribution
• Existing luminaires and controls are outdated, reducing the full savings potential. Avoid installing more efficient lamps in an inefficient luminaire, such as 2-by-2 foot troffers, or parabolic or flat-lensed fixtures.
• The same luminaire is used everywhere, for every function, rather than the luminaire being tailored for the application

&#; Hayden McKay

Related Topics:

The lights in modern cars do more than illuminate dark roads. They&#;ve become a design signature of many OEMs. Audi started this trend in with the LED daytime running lights fitted onto the A8, and lighting technology has advanced rapidly since then, making auto lamp mold production a critical part of automotive manufacturing. Today LED lights are commonplace in both the front and rear ends of the vehicle, active lighting is throwing light around corners, and even laser high beams are emerging.

Front and rear light clusters go through rapid design cycles as manufacturers make styling changes every few years. Producing these assemblies of injection molded plastic components requires complex mold tools and their long lead times can easily constrain or delay model facelifts. Inevitably, designers and die makers are under increasing pressure to accelerate auto lamp mold production.

Iterating Faster

Product development typically follows a pattern of: design; prototype; test and validate; freeze or modify design before it moves into scalable manufacturing. True design validation often calls for complex auto lamp mold production tools that might take weeks or months to finish, dragging out each iteration and risking a launch or program delay.

Advanced 3D computer modeling and ray tracing software lets designers conceive and evaluate more alternatives but there&#;s still no substitute for physical prototypes. The key is to reduce auto lamp mold production lead time so they can be made faster.

Why Prototype at All?

In the case of auto lamp mold production, physical prototypes are essential, for five reasons:

1. Cost evaluation
2. Fit assessment
3. Prove-out of 

   overmolding

   /insertions
4. Material performance assessment
5. Optical testing

1. Cost Evaluation

Only by molding parts is it possible to determine actual cycle times and actual yields. Lessons will be learned about the mold temperatures and pressures needed, cooling and shrinkage rates, distortion and so on. From these, tool modifications will be identified that bring down ultimate manufacturing costs.

2. Fit Assessment

After metalizing, molded reflectors are bonded to the clear or colored housings to create lamp clusters. Fitting together in the computer is no guarantee the actual parts will go together the same way, so prototypes are essential. The completed assemblies are then mounted on vehicle mock-ups and sculpted models for evaluation of fit and appearance under a range of lighting conditions and viewing angles.

3. Prove-Out of Overmolding/Co-Molding and Insertions

Many automotive lamp assemblies need different color plastics molded together, such as orange and clear or red, orange, and clear, and these are made by overmolding or co-molding. Male and female threaded inserts are needed for mounting in the vehicle as well as holding the bulbs and associated electrical components. Only by actually making the parts is it possible to verify the integrity of these overmolded and sometimes co-molded assemblies, and the insert bond strength and position.

4. Material Performance Assessment

Auto lamp assemblies are expected to last years in all kinds of environmental conditions without substantially diminished output. Plastics manufacturers continue to improve the grades available and prototyping lets development teams evaluate their performance under a wide range of conditions.

5. Optical Testing

Output, intensity, visibility, and beam shape are the subject of many regulations. Additionally, as manufacturers put greater efforts into adaptive lighting, it becomes even more important to track critical performance metrics. Regardless of how much modeling is done, only a functional prototype can &#;bring to light&#; the actual performance achieved or delivered, validate the modeling, and demonstrate conformance to tighter regulations.

Tooling Lead Time Reduction

Production injection molding tools are typically machined from steel before hardening. Milling is slow and usually followed by hours of grinding to blend radii and surfaces. EDM can take hours to spark-erode complex pockets and cavities, after which more grinding is needed. The whole process, from design initiation to delivery, can take months.

Additive manufacturing methods using metal may one day reduce development time but today their chief contribution is producing SLA patterns as a basis for urethane molds. These allow pouring of liquid acrylics that take on the shape of the part needed, as described in this case study of an automotive tail lamp prototype, but aren&#;t directly usable in injection molding.

An alternative is to harness the speed and precision of modern CNC machine tools to shape molds from aluminum. Aluminum can be machined without slow grinding and EDM processes. Lifetime, measured in quantity of parts produced, will be less than that of steel tools, but that&#;s not a concern when making prototypes. In addition, the heat flow characteristics of aluminum can be of benefit when molding small quantities.

All About Speed

The lamp clusters used on modern cars have almost become fashion accessories and that means frequent design changes and intense pressure to get new designs to market. Computer modeling lets designers explore far more alternatives than was possible before but physical prototypes remain essential. Consequently, launching face-lifted car models depends on the speed of auto lamp mold production, which, in turn, depends on quality, time-sensitive prototyping.

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