Clark Dietz, Inc. has been selected for the ACEC WI 2010 “Best of State” Engineering Excellence Award in the Energy category for providing LED lighting design to the Lakeland Airport/Noble F. Lee Memorial Field in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin.

Clark Dietz, Inc. was a subconsultant to Becher-Hoppe Associates providing design and construction phase services on an improvement project at the airport when the electrical engineer, Mark Porlier, observed that high wattage flood lights were used in highly concentrated areas resulting in inefficient lighting, high energy consumption, and uncomfortable glare. This type of lighting was typical when the airport originally installed the system, but with innovative design applications the airport could save energy and money. Mark recommended the airport replace the high intensity discharge (HID) lighting with light emitting diode (LED) lighting at the entrance roadway, parking lot, fueling station, apron, and terminal building.

Working with the airport owner, Becher-Hoppe Associates, and Wisconsin Focus on Energy, the project became the “first in State” for custom outdoor lighting incentives offered through Wisconsin Focus on Energy. Upon project completion, this design actually illuminated a larger area while reducing the overall lighting system wattage of the original system. The new LED technology offers an “instant on” benefit to the traditional delayed warm-up time of 10 to 15 minutes for HID lighting. Additionally, the outdoor rated motion sensors automatically turn off fixtures of unoccupied areas for further energy savings. Based on the estimated 75% unoccupied periods (from dusk to dawn), it is projected this project will reduce energy consumption by 83%.

This project also offers an incredible benefit to the environment. LED lights are a more environmentally friendly technology as they don’t contain mercury and their lamp life is rated at approximately 20 years vs. the traditional 4-5 years of an HID lamp. By utilizing LED technology, the airport is preserving the earth’s resources by reducing hazardous waste from our landfills, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing light pollution.