The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and LED technology go back a long way.
May 18, 2015 - Lighting
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and LED technology go back a long way. University of Illinois alumnus Nick Holonyak Jr. invented the first practical visible-spectrum LED in 1962. Fifty years later, the Chancellor pledged for the campus to become the first major research university to commit to LEDs as its main source of lighting, with interior and exterior wayfinding fixtures to be replaced by 2025 and with the majority of all lighting to be LED by 2050.
During a project to upgrade the lighting at three gymnasiums in the Activities and Recreation Center, the university also wanted to increase illumination to meet the Illuminating Engineering Society’s recommended light levels, as well as save on energy and maintenance costs. The decision was made to replace the existing 400-watt metal halide fixtures with 100-watt Metalux HBLED high-bay LED luminaires.
The LED fixtures were chosen to reduce lighting maintenance labor and electrical consumption, since LEDs generate a fraction of the heat compared to other sources. University staff also wanted the ability to individually control the lighting on each court instead of having to switch on all the fixtures at once.
The Metalux HBLED luminaire features precision designed optics available in narrow and wide distributions, four lumen packages up to 30,000 lumens and three color temperatures. The product is designed to satisfy multiple mounting heights – even some low-bay applications.
