Day-Brite Capri Omega Opens First LEED Certified Lighting Institute

TUPELO, Miss.--(Business Wire)--Day-Brite Capri Omega (DCO) has opened the world's first
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified
Lighting Institute (LEED-CI) designed to educate visitors about the
importance of good lighting and highlight the importance of energy
conservation. The 5,000-square-foot DCO Lighting Institute, located
within the company's plant in Tupelo, Miss., will utilize products and
techniques that represent the best lighting practices, balancing
functionality, controllability and energy consumption in accordance
with IESNA/ASHRAE guidelines.

"The demonstration of DCO's lighting capabilities in both product
and design configurations will be a centerpiece of the new facility.
The intended purpose is to be able to demonstrate lighting executions
that satisfy energy code requirements for a particular application or
task while improving on both the quantitative and qualitative aspects
of the overall environment," said Jim O'Hargan, VP/General Manager.
"Moreover, the Lighting Institute will itself be certified by LEED
under the Commercial Interiors category. By following the LEED
guidelines, we improved on our original design intent and therefore
want to be able to share this beneficial experience with our customers
and visitors. "

The new facility will accommodate 40 visitors at a time and will
be open to the public by mid-year. There are two main educational
spaces in this new facility: a Mock-up room and a Technology
Classroom. The Mock-up room has a ceiling that can be raised or
lowered to duplicate the look of an actual installation. The
Technology Classroom area was designed to showcase product
introductions and will allow for side-by-side comparisons to make it
easy to compare light performance in different applications.

The focus in that area will be on the aesthetics and rendered look
of the luminaire, along with installed light output and energy
consumption. The Technology Classroom includes other demonstration
areas such as color booths where the fundamentals of light source
technology is addressed; a general overhead lighting area of
approximately 1000 square feet for addressing the basic lighting
protocols in commercial lighting design with over 20 different
lighting techniques possible; and a wall lighting interactions area
where a variety of point and linear wall-washing and grazing
executions are demonstrated.

"This Training & Education Center, which we have been discussing
for years, is a very important milestone for our company," said
O'Hargan. "By having the Lighting Institute in our manufacturing
plant, we can show our guests how we manufacture DCO lighting
products. Few, if any, of our competitors can offer the same
experience."

Commissioning and Green Building Solutions (CxGBS), an
Atlanta-based consulting firm, provided design and construction phase
commissioning and LEED consulting for the DCO Lighting Institute.

CxGBS utilized its proprietary Holistic Commissioning(TM) Design
Phase Commissioning Model which integrates sustainability while making
sure that the quality-oriented process is being delivered to conform
to the owner's expectations for the facility. Holistic
Commissioning(TM) includes the building envelope and mechanical and
electrical systems, which affect greenhouse gases and indoor
environmental quality.

"Holistic Commissioning(TM) is a continuing process that goes
through the entire life of the building," said H. Jay Enck, LEED AP,
principal and founder of CxGBS. "We worked with the DCO team from the
very start in the predesign phase to establish sustainable objectives
and criteria for the facility," he said. "It was a collaborative team
effort that allowed everyone to define their expectations and
operational criteria, creating a solid foundation and ensuring that
the team knew where it was going from the beginning."

Below are some highlights:

-- 40 percent reduction of water use within the building

-- 35 percent reduction of lighting power in addition to proper
use of daylight sensors and motion sensors

-- 90 percent of equipment is Energy Star rated

-- 50 percent of materials used in the project were manufactured
within 500 miles

-- Low emitting (low VOC content) adhesive, paints, and carpets
were used

The state-of-the-art facility was designed to focus on DCO's key
competencies of innovation, manufacturing flexibility, and customer
service. Consistent with the Genlyte corporate commitment, DCO will
utilize the Lighting Institute to expand the service of the company to
it's customers through continued educational activities,
demonstrations, and information exchange.

"On top of the regular Training programs, the DCO Lighting
Institute will host Office, Retail, Sustainability and Educational
Facilities programs focusing on the application of lighting and
intended to educate owners and facility managers on how these
improvements can impact their operational and capital budgets.", said
Nick Bleeker, Business Development Director for DCO and Project Leader
of the design and construction of the DCO Lighting Institute. "
Whether it is looking at providing for a comfortable lighting
execution for office areas where computer related tasks are being
performed, or whether it is enhancing the look and appearance of
merchandise in a retail space or proving a proactive learning
environment in an educational facility. All these applications have
basic lighting design needs that can be addressed with properly
designed and integrated state-of-the-art technologies. "

About DCO

Day-Brite was founded in 1923 and moved to Tupelo in 1947 where it
currently headquarters the Day-Brite Capri Omega (DCO) Divisions of
the Genlyte Group Incorporated. Genlyte is the largest company in
North America dedicated solely to lighting. DCO is dedicated
exclusively to the design, manufacture and marketing of lighting
fixtures in the fluorescent, emergency, HID indoor, HID outdoor, track
lighting, down lighting, and commercial decorative lighting businesses
serving the commercial, industrial and niche markets through the most
recognized and respected sales organizations in the industry.

About CxGBS

Commissioning & Green Building Solutions, Inc. (CxGBS) is a
nationally recognized commissioning and green building consulting firm
that helps clients build environmentally friendly, top performing
buildings. The firm's professionals work with project teams to apply
sustainable development principles that lower the total cost of
ownership and create healthy conditions for occupants. Headquartered
in Atlanta, CxGBS offers a comprehensive suite of services including
Sustainable Design Consulting, Holistic Commissioning(TM), Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design LEED(R) Certification and Forensic
Investigation. More information is available at www.cxgbs.com

Day-Brite Capri Omega
Nick Bleeker, 662-620-6702
NBleeker@dcolighting.com
or
CxGBS
Christine Miley, 770-831-6760
cmiley@cxgbs.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008