6 North Shore Towers Courier n November 2015 BY STEPHEN VRATTOS If you visited the Arcade lately, you may have noticed something different. Actually, you may have noticed a lot of somethings different, as a recent comprehensive conversion from fluorescent to LED lighting has brightened the commercial byways of North Shore Towers in such a way as to make residents feel like they’re seeing the Arcade for the first time. How such a transformation took place in the most trafficked part of the Towers so quickly and unobtrusively is a credit to Chief Engineer Sal Castro and his crew. The origins of this “bright idea” can be traced back to 2006, when LED technology had been successfully utilized in the Sconce Light Retrofit project outside each apartment. The massive undertaking saved the co-op a remarkable $30,000 in annual energy costs and paid for itself in 1½ years. Even more, hardly any of the long-life bulbs used has had to be replaced since then, in contrast to the nearly daily maintenance the old bulbs required. BRIGHT In 2013 and 2014, Management, in conjunction with the Capital Improvements Committee’s Herb Cooper and Mario Carmiciano, began researching LED lighting for the many fixtures on the property. Perhaps the greatest concentration of lighting was in the Arcade, more than 200 2-foot square fluorescent troffers, or fixtures, which are illuminated 24 hours a day. Still, the size of the project also meant the chance for most savings and fastest payback. Over the course of the year, with the Board Room serving as the guinea pig, General Manager Glen Kotowski and Castro installed various types of lighting samples, which Management, the Board and its Committees evaluated for brightness, coloring, ease of installation and energy efficiency. None succeeded in every category, all failing to one degree or another. It was only in the last few months that advancements in LED technology led to the production of units suitable for the project. “The ‘new’ lights are actually an economical reuse of the old housings and wiring with a new surface mount retrofit kit,” Castro explained. The go-ahead for the project was approved by the Board this past May. The original 200-unit order by this time had increased to 800, then 900, as more areas beyond the initial publiclylit 24-hour ones were identified. This increase translated to a greater reduction in unit cost. The new lighting is not only stylish, but also brighter, so much so that they literally take up half the ceiling space as the fluorescent bulbs they replaced, while producing more than twice the amount of brightness. In fact, in some areas, fixtures were taken out, because the LED lights were too powerful for the space. The area directly above the entrance stand of the gym is just such a spot. Residents will notice a ceiling tile of a slightly different shade, which has taken the place of a former fluorescent bulb housing. This decrease in lighting units saves in the short term with a reduction in overall unit expense and in the long term with reduced energy costs. As impressive is the ease required to install the new LED lights, which are designed to snap into older existing fixtures in minutes, saving time and installation costs to approximately $21 per unit. Plus, LED lamps have an estimated lifespan twenty times greater than fluorescent bulbs, adding to the project savings in maintenance and replacement costs. IDEA Lighting upgrade has NST residents seeing things in a NEW LIGHT Photos by Stephen Vrattos
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