Filamento has announced details of its participation in a lighting retrofit of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Bayside Ballrooms. Working through partner Roth Lighting, Filamento has supplied its LED-based Valto high-intensity discharge (HID)-replacement lamps for installation in recessed cans in the ballrooms. The retrofit strategy enabled Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to add wireless controls to each lamp while also realizing energy and maintenance savings in its convention center ballrooms.
Mandalay Bay was familiar with the advantages of LED lighting and controls. Back in 2018, the resort worked with GE Current to install LED lighting and controls in the exhibit areas of its convention center. That project covered more than 1,000,000 ft2.
The solid-state lighting (SSL) retrofit project in the ballrooms involved retrofitting 880 12-in. downlight can fixtures with LED technology. The legacy HID lamps were a constant maintenance problem and even caused issues such as carpet damage when they occasionally fell to the floor. Moreover, the legacy-lamp light quality was poor.
Mandalay Bay approached Roth Lighting about an upgrade of the lighting and Roth recommended the Filamento approach. The retrofit lamps allowed the Mandalay Bay to leave ballasts in place and simply by replacing a lamp enabled the use of wireless controls. The control modules are puck like devices that attach to the center hub of the Valto lamp in the middle of the light-emitting surface and include Bluetooth Mesh technology supplied by Avi-on Controls.
“We recommended the Valto by Filamento for several reasons.” said Zac Tschillard, owner of Roth Lighting. “The light sources are low maintenance, upgradeable, 15,000 to 20,000 lumens, with no glare. Additionally, this lightweight fixture is factory integrated with the Avi-on control solution. The combination of the direct screw-in high efficiency lamp, the wireless lighting controls, and the ease of installation, all contributed to the success of the project.”
Another key element in the decision to use the Valto retrofit lamps was the light quality and specifically the beam control. Valto lamps (shown nearby) look decidedly unlike a lamp with a flat circular light-emitting surface comprised of concentric circles of LED sources, each with a custom-designed secondary optic. Filamento refers to the design as “integral optics with micro-baffles.” The benefits are very low glare and sharp cutoff at 50°.
The beam control allows very granular control of accent lighting in the ballroom space. Light levels can be controlled on a grid as small as 10 ft2. Moreover, the inclusion of Bluetooth Mesh controls means that the Mandalay Bay can supply its convention clients with a controller dedicated to lights in the client’s specific space. Alternative lamps can be grouped in zones for simple controls of levels and dimming over larger areas.
The result for the Mandalay Bay is energy savings on the order of 80%. Meanwhile, the lamps deliver maximum light levels on the order of triple the legacy HID lighting.
The Filamento Valto lamps won finalists status in the 2018 LEDs Magazine Sapphire Awards. The unconventional design simplifies mounting and the modular approach to controls impressed the judges. We have recently opened the Sapphire 2021 Awards program after a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The portal is available now and the entry deadline is March 31. We will award the Sapphire trophies during Strategies in Light in August.
*Updated Jan. 26, 2021 4:49 PM for product photo replacement.
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