Page 29 - spaces4learning, Summer 2022

light levels and uniformity for televised sports while avoiding unnecessary spill into the neighboring dwellings.
The next challenge was an aerial one. In football, there are times when the ball is kicked so high that it may travel above the area that the lighting reaches given the use of visors. The team believed they needed uplights when using visors. The uplights would be installed roughly 15
feet above finished grade. Although this would fall into meeting specifications for dark sky requirements in the area, it was not a good situation for the community to have uplighting. The nature of the to- pography of the land precluded it. The grade change from the facility to the ad- jacent neighborhood would have resulted in the uplighting being in direct view by residents. At that point, the strategy of
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MCCLURE ENGINEERING
using optics and visors was nixed.
In the end, the team specified fix- tures for each pole that had a dozen LEDs each, with each diode containing a TIR (Total Internal Reflective) optic. The goal was to establish the best optical control possible while still providing for aerial sports. This control allowed the dark sky requirements to be met, and the energy/ light intensity to be completely regulat- ed. Metal halide lighting is not dimma- ble, but with the LED lights, every fix- ture can be tuned. If one is too bright, that particular fixture can be dimmed. In years past, the facility would have had to wait for all the spectators to leave be- fore shutting off the lights. Now with the control, the lights can simply be dimmed. The dimming can also be used to provide lower light levels for other activities (such as practice) without operating at 100 per-
cent—saving energy, too!
The heads were also laid out in a
specific, unbalanced way to control spill lighting. The design team determined that by putting a different number of heads on each pole (more lights on the visitors’ side to shoot light across the field away from the neighborhood, using the grandstand as a blocker), all of the light- ing goals were met.
In addition to the challenges of the lighting, the existing facility was origi- nally designed to be just above the flood plain, but could not be raised enough to completely avoid future flooding. In or- der to combat this issue, electrical com- ponents outside the building and in the flood plain were installed at a higher el- evation on the poles and exterior walls.
When the project was complete, both the school district and neighborhood were thrilled with what was ultimately delivered. It really does go to show that with the proper expertise—and, just as importantly, good communication from the start—these types of successful out- comes are regularly achievable.
Steve Dietiker and Keith Cooper are principals at McClure Engineering, a me- chanical and electrical consulting engi- neering firm dedicated to the development of innovative solutions to unique engineer- ing problems.
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