Wilshire High Rise Luxury Condominiums Case Study

Luxury High-Rise Condos Achieve Required Ambiance & 7-Month ROI with LED Lighting

Built in 1986 as an office building, the 38-story tower at 1100 Wilshire was later converted into 228 luxury condo units in downtown Los Angeles. Despite the building upgrade, the 1100 Wilshire Property Owners Association through its Board of Directors and managing agent Action Property Management (“Action”), observed there were areas for improvement in regards to building efficiencies.  

Maintaining a High Standard

“The common areas are lit 24-hours a day, 7-days a week for safety and security,” said David Komonosky of Performance Lighting Systems. “The building had more than 700 MR16 50-watt incandescent lamps installed in downlight cans. The lamp life of these incandescent lamps is approximately 2,000 hours, which meant maintenance crews were meticulously changing burned out lamps on a routine basis.” 

Though Action, based on previous research, felt the LEDs would alter the look and feel they wanted to achieve, they decided to give LEDs another try due to new advances in technology. 

Would LEDs Pass the Test?

Performance Lighting Systems worked with Action to create a mock-up of lighting solutions for the homeowners association. “We installed an Acculamp 6W MR16, which has a 36-degree beam spread, in a typical corridor for the HOA to see,” said Komonosky. “After reviewing the mock-up, everyone agreed it was the right lamp for the job.”

Action ordered more than 500 Acculamp ALSMR16 lamps from Acuity Brands. Since the initial installation, Action ordered approximately 200 more bulbs. More than 700 ALSMR16 lamps are installed throughout the building in the fitness area, media room, conference center, lobby, hallways and ancillary spaces.

Look, Performance, Confidence

The lighting renovation was completed in early 2012. Throughout this process, Action met and exceeded its criteria for the job; it was able to maintain the same aesthetic of the interior common spaces, while benefiting from the energy savings of LED lamps. 

Action anticipates approximately $17,000 in annual energy savings as a result of the new lamps. “Our return on investment was approximately seven months,” said Action building manager Gregg Evangelho. “We spent $10,000 for the new lamps and have already recouped the money in energy savings.”

Also, because the wattage was reduced to 6-watts from 50-watts, the LED lamps also helped decrease the HVAC load. As a next step, Action plans to continue its building efficiency upgrade through investigating new stairwell lighting solutions.