BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Nov 7, 2012) - Digital Lumens today announced that Vector Aerospace, an industry-leading provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft operators around the globe, has upgraded a 158,000-square-foot helicopter maintenance facility to the Digital Lumens Intelligent LED Lighting System. Replacing 400 Watt Metal Halide lamps, the System is saving 72% of lighting energy costs annually, driven by integrated controls that manage lighting behavior, while delivering the high light levels required in the facility.

Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services ("Vector") in Richmond, BC, Canada has reduced lighting-related energy costs from $80,665 to $22,630, or from 51.1 to 14.3 per square foot annually. In addition to flexibility and efficiency savings, Vector management chose the Digital Lumens system for its ability to concentrate high light levels on critical work surfaces without producing glare, integrated daylight harvesting capabilities that save energy by assessing the amount of ambient light and smoothly increasing or decreasing lumen output to meet target light levels, longer life span, and quiet, buzz-free operation. The maintenance-free LED high bay fixtures also eliminate the re-lamping and re-ballasting costs associated with traditional industrial lighting alternatives.

"Before choosing the Digital Lumens system, we looked at a variety of fluorescent and LED alternatives with add-on sensors, but the quality and flexibility just were not there. It looked like sensors were an afterthought," said John Mellas, Facility Manager for Vector. "The Digital Lumens system -- with fully integrated controls and sensors -- is generations ahead of competitors. The savings are already adding up, and are increased by our ability to fine tune fixture settings to meet our ongoing operational needs."

The Vector management team evaluated a variety of lighting alternatives. They found that fluorescents and many LED fixtures disperse light at too high a level, forcing facilities to over-lamp in order to get enough light to critical work surfaces, and producing unacceptable levels of glare. Vector doesn't have any of these problems with the Digital Lumens system. Instead, Vector can direct lighting to where it is needed and modify output settings through the LightRules lighting management software.

"The aerospace industry has been wrestling with high utility bills and the difficulty of getting quality lighting to critical work surfaces for decades," said Michael Feinstein, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Digital Lumens. "We've been able to solve these challenges for the Vector facility, while improving illumination levels, maximizing energy savings, and offering a rapid project payback."

With daylight harvesting and occupancy sensors built into every fixture, the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting system provides Vector with light precisely where and when needed. The fixtures are wirelessly networked, and collect detailed operational data, which they share with the LightRules management software. LightRules also enables the facilities management team to modify lighting settings wirelessly, eliminating the need to touch light fixtures to change settings and behaviors. Vector is achieving lighting savings of more than 707,735 kWh annually at their facility.

About Vector Aerospace Corporation ("Vector")

Vector is a global independent provider of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul services. Through facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Africa and Australia it provides services to commercial and military customers for various types of gas turbine engines, components and helicopter airframes.

A comprehensive overview of Vector's capabilities can be viewed at http://www.vectoraerospace.com.

About Digital Lumens

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Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services' Maintenance Facility Reduces Annual Lighting Costs by 72% Using Intelligent LED ...