Echostar Littleton, Colorado Indoor lighting problems can be solved efficiently with properly tuned and engineered lighting systems.

Featured Products: Lightduct™ Diminutive, LDM2
Application Type: Office

EchoStar Communications Corporation and its subsidiaries deliver direct-to-home satellite television products and services to customers worldwide. In addition, EchoStar’s DISH Network is the fastest growing direct broadcast satellite television company in the U.S. offering 500 channels to a single dish across the nation. When EchoStar decided to relocate corporate headquarters from Englewood to Littleton, Colorado, they chose the Riverfront Center, a 200,000 square-foot former retail mall, located just west of downtown on 32 acres along the South Platte River.

Lighting Challenge
Because the space was originally designed for a different application, EchoStar faced many challenges in renovating it to suit their needs. One of the most difficult questions to be addressed was how to light the space in a way that would assure the visual comfort of their 500-plus workers. EchoStar believed it imperative that indirect lighting be employed to reduce glare and reflections on computer screens, however the structure had very high ceilings and large skylights running down the center, which posed problems for such a lighting scheme. Along both sides were balconies that opened to the center foyer. This meant varying light levels had to be accommodated, as the structure was dark in the corners and very bright down the center of the building. Due to the computer-intensive environment, the lighting design required that IESNA RP-1 criteria, lighting levels, and ceiling uniformity standards be met

Lighting Solution
Peerless lighting products, a brand of Lithonia Lighting, had past experience lighting EchoStar corporate office spaces using their Envision indirect 3-lamp T8 fixtures. EchoStar was pleased with the Envision products and were now willing to consider the new Peerless Lightduct Diminutive product line, the industry’s first High Output T-5 lamp/ballast indirect luminaire. Lightduct Diminutive optical systems make optimal use of HOT-5 technology to deliver the smoothest possible distribution of light with the fewest possible number of fixtures. High Output T-5 lamps double the light output of T8 lamps and have superior lumen maintenance making them an excellent choice for high ceiling applications. In addition, the sleek, 6" x 2" Lightduct Diminutive product adds an attractive design element without intruding into the space, a feature the architects and owners both liked.

Property and facility manager Doug Hartwell was hesitant at first to approve the choice of Lightduct Diminutive HOT-5 lighting because it was a new technology. However, he was won over by the idea of fewer, smaller fixtures and the comprehensive Osram Sylvania warranty of two years on the lamps and 5 years on the ballast. In addition, Sylvania Lighting Services provides convenient on-site professional support.

The EchoStar Riverfront project features 16’ white ceilings with exposed ductwork painted blue. Over 4,000 linear feet of Peerless Lightduct Diminutive Indirect/Open (LDM2) fixtures were suspended 5 ft. 6 in. down, projecting sufficient quantities of light off the ceiling to provide an even level of 30 maintained footcandles throughout the space. Indirect/Open fixtures add a unique slot pattern on the bottom of the luminaire providing a hint of downlight into the space. Diminutive met the challenge of extraordinarily high ceilings with fewer fixtures and lamps than the conventional 3-lamp T8 alternative. RP1 criteria, lighting levels and ceiling uniformity standards were easily satisfied.

Conclusion
Given the high ceilings and unusual character of this space, Hartwell said he was pleased with the lighting conditions. EchoStar was so pleased with the results that they have since used Lightduct Diminutive lighting in the conversion of a 100,000 square-foot steel mill to a call center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.