Heather Lion • Redifer Commons • University Park, PA

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During the upcoming spring semester I will be investigating and redesigning some of the systems in Redifer

Commons. This thesis study will be composed of three sections, which will all end up intertwining. My main

focus will be to redesign the lighting system and supporting electrical system. Breadth work will be conducted

within two of the following disciplines: structural, mechanical, acoustics, and construction management. The

disciplines which seem to work well with my lighting and electrical studies are mechanical and construction

management. I hope by the end of the spring semester I have created systems which work in harmony, and at the

same time prove to be feasible.

Depth Work Part 1: Lighting Design Redifer Commons, which is located on the Pennsylvania State University campus within South Halls, serves as a

place for students to enjoy meals, relax and study. The commons has existed as long as South Halls, but has

recently been renovated. Along with this renovation, many additions have also been made. Numerous intriguing

spaces lie within this building, but there are four which I have chosen to redesign the electric lighting for. The first

space is the main dining room. This large space consists of four sections: the large dining room, the small dining

room, the food kiosks, and the “A La Board” dining room. The second space will be the convenience store, called

Louie’s. Next, I will be redesigning the lighting for the main circulation spaces. This area includes the entrance

vestibule, main lobby, and the main corridor in front of the mailroom. Finally, I will work with the exterior front

façade of Louie's. Characteristics of these spaces can be found in Technical Assignment 1: Existing Lighting Conditions,

while pictures can be found in Technical Assignment 3: Schematic Lighting Design.

Originally, I had proposed to redesign the lighting in the kitchen as well, but have decided not to based on the type

of lighting generally used in kitchens. The system used in the kitchen is common in most kitchen applications, and

a new system, especially one with artistic characteristics, would not prove to make the system any better.

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Lighting design always begins with schematic design. A presentation was prepared with the intentions of

presenting it to lighting designers at Lutron last week. The presentation has been postponed, which gave us the

opportunity to present our ideas to our faculty advisor and allow them to give us their input as to how we could

improve our work. The schematic design ideas which I presented to Dr. Moeck first started with applying design

criteria which was appropriate for my spaces. I then came up with an appropriate lighting scheme which adhered

to the design criteria, while also attempting to create a comfortable environment for students to enjoy meals, relax

and study. To produce this comfortable atmosphere I decided I would use the common theme of the outdoors on

the interior spaces. I plan to mock daylight using T5 fluorescent color mixing within the ceiling cavity. Suitable

accent lighting will also be used. On the exterior, the main issues at hand are to provide a lighting scheme which

will help to make students feel safe walking around the commons and to highlight the entrances and architectural

features.

There were a few changes which Dr. Moeck felt would improve my presentation. He felt as if more hand sketches

should be included to supplement the computer generated images I created in Adobe Photoshop. He also

suggested I add floorplans of the entire building, instead of just the floorplans of the individual spaces. This will

help to give the designers a better understanding of my building as a whole. There were also a few sections which

specified products that were too specific. These slides will be removed. Finally, Dr. Moeck recommended I reword

some sections and to be sure the entire presentation was very organized and created a flow.

The next part of the lighting design will be to reduce, or at a minimum maintain, the energy consumption used by

the lighting system. ASHRAE has changed their codes reducing the allowable power densities for various spaces.

I plan on using these new codes in my design. I will also be studying the daylit conditions in the dining room and

Louie’s to see where dimming and controls can be used to reduce the lighting load and the power consumed by the

system. This will directly correlate with the electrical section of my thesis. By choosing the most efficient fixtures

and appropriate wattages that work with my applications, lower power densities can be achieved. A combination

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of these efforts should greatly decrease the power consumption used in my building, and will most greatly impact

the lighting system in the dining room.

The final section of my lighting redesign will be to study the daylit conditions of the main dining room and Louie’s.

These spaces contain many large windows which allow for large amounts of daylight to enter. I had noticed

during a visit that many fixtures were on, even though the space was completely filled with daylight. I would like

to work with these conditions to see where fixtures can be dimmed or completely turned off. To conduct these studies

I will be using AGI32.

Once appropriate fixtures have been selected for the electric lighting I will conduct an analysis of the system using

AGI32 and/or Lightscape. I am much more familiar with AGI32, but am interested in working with Lightscape.

The models used in these programs will be completed in AutoCAD. The renderings I generate will be used to be

sure and to prove I achieved the effects I was trying to create. Luminaire location and spacing will need to be

altered throughout this process as well, and the lighting software will help me to do so. In the end, I hope to create

the desired effects originally proposed in the schematic stage of this process.

Depth Work Part 2: Electrical Design Electrical redesign is absolutely necessary to fulfill my lighting design goals. First, controls will be explored for

daytime dimming purposes. I would like to find a control system which will automatically adjust certain zones for

times when electric light is barely needed or not needed at all. I would also like to use a dimming system for

dinnertime to create a more intimate atmosphere. A different set of controls may need to be used for the T5

fluorescent color mixing in the ceiling cavity of the dining room. This will depend on whether I chose to use an

RGB system or a mixture of white and blue light. If I decide that the white and blue light works best, controls will

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not need to be used. Finally, I would like to replace the current normal/emergency lighting system with a new

system which uses battery packs. This system will also help to reduce the amount of lights on during non-

operational hours.

Once a new lighting layout has been decided on, the lighting and power loads will not work with the existing

panelboards. The new heating and cooling loads created by lighting system and the glazing will also be affecting

the system. This in turn means the panelboards, overcurrent protection, branch circuits and main distribution

panels will need to be resized. Appropriate tables will be used from the 2002 National Electric Code to help with

this design.

Breadth Work Part 1: Mechanical Design

Considering daylight and possible glazing options potentially will impact the mechanical system in Redifer

Commons. Using glazing to reduce the amount of solar gain will affect the heating and cooling loads a great deal.

Once the new loads have been found I will re-evaluate the current system and, if necessary, resize the equipment.

This new equipment will impact the panelboard layouts which will be worked with as a part of my electrical

studies.

Breadth Work Part 2: Construction Management Once the entire lighting and electrical system has been designed I would like to determine if the system will save

the owner money in energy costs. I would also like to perform an assemblies estimate using RS Means to gain a

better understanding of the feasibility of my lighting design by comparing the cost of the fixtures used in the design.

This will help me to assess whether my proposed solutions are worth putting into action for aesthetic purposes or

whether the existing systems work fine the way it is.