Light control manufacturer Lutron Electronics has partnered with Mermet, a manufacturer of solar screen fabrics, to introduce the Basketweave E Screen with KoolBlack technology at Greenbuild 2012 in San Francisco. The company has also announced its new Sensor Layout and Tuning Service to assure that wired or wireless Lutron daylight sensors and occupancy sensors help projects achieve energy-savings goals.
Conventional dark-colored shade fabrics absorb energy and increase the solar heat gain in the space, wasting energy and creating an uncomfortable environment. This limits the use of dark screen fabrics in green or sustainable building design where heat reflection is specified in a shading solution. The new KoolBlack technology solves this problem by utilizing innovative heat reflecting properties that enable the dark fabric to reflect more solar heat. The technology increases the energy efficiency of dark, solar-shade fabrics to levels comparable with light colors, reducing solar heat gain coefficients up to 23% and contributing to LEED certification. It provides exceptional glare control and allows
superior view through, comfortable work environments, and elegant street-side aesthetics while saving energy. Constructed in a 2 x 2 basket weave pattern and available in a wide array of colors, the new Basketweave E Screen with KoolBlack technology offers an ideal cost-saving solution for commercial automated shading applications.
In addition, installing occupancy sensors and daylight sensors can be an inexact science, and sensor fine-tuning is best performed after the space is fully occupied, furniture is in place, and the HVAC system is balanced to the environment. Projects that include the new Lutron Sensor Layout and Tuning Service offer building owners and facility managers the assurance that the Lutron-provided sensors will be installed and calibrated to perform as intended.
“Lutron has developed its Sensor Layout and Tuning Service to ensure that Lutron Lighting Energy Management Systems achieve their energy savings goals through properly placed and tuned sensors, and establishes one-party ownership before, during, and after construction," said Scott Hanna, Vice President, Service Solutions at Lutron.
The Sensor Layout and Tuning Service is a three-step process. A Lutron service representative will analyze reflected ceiling plans for the project and design a detailed sensor layout based on an agreed-upon sequence of operations. Prior to, or during system startup, Lutron may advise the installing contractor regarding sensor relocation in the event that conditions in the space deviate from the original drawings
Lutron will provide up to two additional on-site service visits post-startup within the first calendar year from the time the building is turned over, to fine-tune sensor calibration.
Related Stories
| Mar 2, 2011
Top 10 states for LEED green buildings
According to the U.S. Green Building Council's 2010 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita (based on the U.S. 2010 Census information), the District of Columbia leads the nation, with 25 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2010. Nevada, being the leading state, has 10.92 square feet per person in 2010.
| Mar 2, 2011
The extraordinary growth of green building—A rebuttal to an article on why green building adoption is slow
In this rebuttal to The Green Building Adoption Rate is Slow, Find Out The Practical Reasons Why, the author argues that in fact the growth rate has been very high and that much of it came during a time of economic unrest and tight capital, which makes it all the more extraordinary.
| Mar 1, 2011
Smart cities: getting greener and making money doing it
The Global Green Cities of the 21st Century conference in San Francisco is filled with mayors, architects, academics, consultants, and financial types all struggling to understand the process of building smarter, greener cities on a scale that's practically unimaginable—and make money doing it.
| Mar 1, 2011
USGBC's new LEED Interpretations similar to old precedent-setting CIRs
This week the USGBC launched its long-awaited LEED Interpretations process and database. LEED Interpretations are like project-specific Credit Interpretation Rulings, but unlike those CIRs, they can be applied to multiple projects. LEED project teams with a unique situation or a question not answered by existing LEED resources have had access to CIRs since 2009, but those CIRs have been limited. With the launch of LEED Interpretations, the USGBC hopes to broaden its scope.
| Feb 25, 2011
Denver excelling in LEED green building development
The mile high city has a decidedly green tinge. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today noted that nearly 30 projects in Denver have achieved LEED green building certification since 2010 and two of these developments achieved LEED’s highest rating, Platinum.
| Feb 25, 2011
Procter & Gamble will pursue LEED for all new sites globally
Procter & Gamble will pursue LEED certification for all new sites. P&G's Taicang plant in China - which is breaking ground today - is the first P&G manufacturing site to pursue LEED certification, with several additional new P&G sites currently working toward the same distinction globally.
| Feb 24, 2011
Perkins+Will designs 100 LEED Certified buildings
Perkins+Will announced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of its 100th sustainable building, marking a key milestone for the firm and for the sustainable design industry. The Vancouver-based Dockside Green Phase Two Balance project marks the firm’s 100th LEED certified building and is tied for the highest scoring LEED building worldwide with its sister project, Dockside Green Phase One.
| Feb 24, 2011
New reports chart path to net-zero-energy commercial buildings
Two new reports from the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) on achieving net-zero-energy use in commercial buildings say that high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest, and most important step on the way to net-zero.
| Feb 23, 2011
Financial outlook for green commercial properties is promising
Leanne Tobias, founder and managing principal of Malachite LLC, an advisory firm that specializes in the development, leasing, management, financing, and certification of sustainable or green real estate on a global basis, writes about new government policy proposals that have her cheering—and one that makes her gravely concerned.