LED lighting just crossed a milestone – used, for the first time for general illumination for a skyscraper.
Boston’s Marriott Custom House Tower’s lighting makeover makes it a beacon for efficient lighting – no longer lit by inefficient incandescents, it shines over the city with LEDs that use a third the energy.
"This is a milestone installation in that it prominently showcases the arrival of LED systems for general illumination, says Jeff Cassis, CEO of Philips Color Kinetics, whose fixtures were used. "We have taken LED technology from the billboards of Times Square to large-scale architectural floodlighting – an incredible step towards further reducing energy use in our cities. We’re proud to light this local landmark while also making Boston an example for other cities to follow; both in our uniquely beautiful skyline and the energy-efficient way that we illuminate it."
In addition to consuming less energy, the LEDs require far less maintenance and have a projected lifetime of over 20 years at six hours of use per day.
An approximate total of 125 eW® Blast Powercore and eW Graze Powercore fixtures now illuminate the Tower from the 17th floor to the peak, while energy-efficient metal halide fixtures from Philips Lightolier illuminate the building’s base.
Says Brad Koerner, Project Designer at Lam Partners, which designed the system, "To achieve this kind of architectural application with white LED technology would have been unthinkable even just a year ago. Today the long life and efficiency of white LED sources will open up new possibilities for sustainable urban lighting."
The former incandescent light fixtures were essentially replaced one-for-one in their existing locations and mountings, demonstrating the adaptability of the new LED fixtures. They incorporate Philips’ proprietary Powercore® technology to directly accept line voltage, which eliminates the need for external low-voltage power supplies and special cabling that were historically required to run LED fixtures. Both the LED and metal halide fixtures generate warm white light that closely matches the desired look of the former incandescent sources.
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