Building Management Hawaii - April/May 2012 - (Page 18)

? atts Up Watts W By Colin White What you don’t know about parking lots could cost you big bucks. DOWN ! ! W ProPerty imProvements hether it’s for retail, recreation or safety, outdoor lighting enables us to see essential details so that we can be active and productive at night. Good lighting can enhance safety and security, emphasize architectural features, or call attention to commercial and retail products. Unfortunately, poor or ineffective lighting is a pervalent problem. Most of the time, we are merely unaware of the impact that poor lighting has on our surroundings and fixed costs. Less than optimal use of artificial light not only hinders the aesthetics of the nighttime environment, it also costs buildings lots of money. fixed maintenance cost of operating a parking lot is usually the energy cost to keep it lit at night. If the poles are high, maintenance costs to change lighting can also be significant. For the past several decades, for the most part, our choices have been limited to three main types of lamps—metal halide, high-pressure sodium (HPS) and fluorescent. • Directional light, with more light ‘”hitting the ground” • Improved night sight • Great color uniformity and rendition for improved visibility, safety and sales • Increased energy efficiency • Lasts two to three times longer than some traditional sources • Maintains more lumens (a measure of the total “amount” of light emitted at the source). RAB Lighting, a leading manufacturer of sustainable outdoor lighting fixtures, did a study of parking lot area lights that found that after 4,000 hours (about one year burning only at night) metal halide had lost 35 percent of the initial lumens, while the LED unit had lost only 1 percent of its lumens. LED & LEP Are Game Changers What will a great parking lot light do for you? Two exciting and very effective lighting choices—LED (light emitting diodes) or LEP (light emitting plasma)—are changing the lighting industry. These high-tech light sources have several advantages, such as: • Very high illuminance with more directional light than previous light sources It will provide better visibility and lower your fixed costs. The greatest Light pollution creates a starless Honolulu night. Once a source of wonder our star-filled nights of just a few years ago are vanishing in a yellow haze. For generations in the Islands, the stars provided ancient Hawaiians with navigation, legends, culture and a sense of place and time. Imagine what they’d think if they were to step out to view our modern sky that is missing so many stars? According to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), light pollution mars our view of the stars, disrupts ecosystems, affects human biological clocks and wastes energy to the tune of $2.2 billion per year in the U.S. alone. Locally, it threatens astronomy and our huge investments the world leading Mauna Kea observatories (and amateur stargazers). “A lost view of the stars extinguishes a connection with the natural world and blinds us to one of the most splendid wonders in the universe,” notes IDA. “Children who grow up without the experience of a starry night miss invaluable opportunities to speculate about larger questions and to learn about the environment and larger world.” “Dark sky” lighting products help to ensure that the stars in the heavens are not erased by light pollution. LED and LEP lighting, with their directional advantages, can actually help us improve our dark sky situation. For more information, visit www.darksky.org or www.darkskysociety.org. 18 April - May 2012 BMH www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com http://www.darksky.org http://www.darkskysociety.org http://www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Building Management Hawaii - April/May 2012

Contents Building Management Hawaii, April/May 2012
DEPARTMENTS: Concrete Restoration
If You’re Not Testing, You’re Guessing. Diagnose your concrete woes to save time and money.
Corroding Rebar and Spalling Concrete. Why zinc can be a spalling solution.
Top Five Fixes for Spalling. Preventing the corrosion of your building.
Trees – Our Green Assets. How not to plant the wrong tree in the wrong place.
Watts Up? Watts Down!. What you don’t know about parking lots could cost you big bucks.
Covered Parking & Photovoltaics: A Symbiotic Relationship. Covered Parking & Photovoltaics: A Symbiotic Relationship
Fire Prevention & Response
Top 10 Fire Fighters. Preventing fires is a job for everyone, but condo boards and property managers have a particular responsibility.
Keep a Clean Chute. Maintainance of trash chutes prevents serious high-rise fires
Stop, Drop & Go Wireless. New technology aids in fast response and saving lives.
Insurance: Do Condo Owners ‘Get’ Your Master Policy?
EDITORIAL: Editor’s Note
Ask An Expert: Epoxy vs. Regular Rebar
Association Updates
Movers & Shakers
Industry News
Resource Guide: Concrete Restoration & Asphalt

Building Management Hawaii - April/May 2012