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PROJECT
daylighting
Raise A Glass For Daylighting Prismatic skylights make the difference for a beer-distribution facility. Management at Florida Distributing Co.’s large warehouse switched off the T5s and opted for prismatic skylights from Sunoptics to brighten the facility and take advantage of the Florida sunshine.
F
lorida Distributing Co., Orlando, FL, is a beer distribu-
“I was just amazed as to how much light it brought in,” said
tor servicing restaurants, bars, and grocery stores, among
Feltner. “We tested the skylight with the artificial lights on and
other customers, across six counties in central Florida.
off. We also checked temperatures and measured footcandles. The
The company operates 24/7 from a 300,000-sq.-ft. warehouse
skylight not only provided brighter light than incandescent bulbs,
with 400 employees filling orders and loading trucks.
the natural daylight actually enhanced the work environment for
The 13-yr.-old warehouse was equipped with T5 fluorescent
employees.”
lamps as the main lighting source. With Florida enjoying an av-
Based on test results, the potential skylight field was expanded
erage of 233 sunny days/yr. and company leaders’ commitment
to include the distributorship’s point-of-sale area, covering 30,000
to sustainability, the warehouse was an ideal location for day-
sq. ft. of the facility and including seven additional skylights.
lighting.
“He was very impressed,” Kuhn said. “That completed a sec-
Dennis Kuhn, senior project manager for roofing company
tion of the facility and it looked fantastic. So we were able to put
CentiMark Corp., Pittsburgh, had been in discussions with Flori-
that eight in, and he was able to get managers to pull the trigger
da Distributing’s George Feltner, vice president of operations,
on the entire project.”
about a re-roofing project for another of the company’s buildings.
Eventually, a total of 113 Sunoptics high-velocity, hurri-
Interested in the potential for energy-consumption reduction, but
cane-zone-approved prismatic skylights, each measuring 5 ft. x 8
concerned about reports that skylights can leak, Feltner was inter-
ft. were installed, covering just 2.6% of the roof.
ested in testing skylights on a small scale. A Signature series sky-
“The warehouse now is a whole lot brighter,” Feltner said. “We
light from Sunoptics Skylights, Sacramento, CA, was installed for
turn off the electric lights from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., providing the
a 60-day evaluation.
employees with natural light and reducing our energy consumpwww.cbpmagazine.com
NOV/DEC 2014
COMMERCI A L BUIL DING P RODUC T S
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