Parking Garage Lighting

Lighting within a parking garage depends on a number of factors such as the height of the ceiling, the volume of vehicle versus pedestrian traffic, potential obstacles such as support beams, and the angles of corners and ramps that can potentially create problem areas of shadow. Ideally, parking lot lights should create five foot candles per square foot both horizontally and within the vertical cube itself. While many developers pay close attention to horizontal foot candle levels, vertical lighting is actually more critical. A person looking at a poorly lit column, wall, or oncoming vehicle will not be able to clearly distinguish its boundaries and may also have problems judging its distance from his or her location. Lighting commercial outdoor parking spaces is also important because it eliminates shadows that could hide intruders or criminals.

Calculating these measurements often takes a great deal of time. Sometimes, it even requires special software that smaller companies may not have access to, or be able to afford. This is where RLLD Commercial Lighting specialists can offer an added value. With basic information such as parking garage dimensions, total square footage, and general usage statistics, we can help the contractor save a step by calculating the levels of light that a parking garage or lighting automotive dealership needs for optimal safety and functionality.

Once the quantity of light needed has been determined, it is necessary to also calculate the quality of light needed.
There are two major obstacles to overcome when lighting parking garages: glare and the “cavern effect.” The term refers to a phenomenon where the garage actually looks darker than it really is, contributing to distorted depth perception and affecting the judgment of drivers and pedestrians. Glare is a major obstacle as well to clear visibility and occurs when the lighting in a particular area is noticeably brighter than surrounding general lighting. Both glare and the cavern effect represent safety hazards that must be preempted.

The most common parking garage lighting fixtures are HID lights.
RLLD Commercial Lighting recommends using Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium HID parking lot light fixtures in semi cutoff or refractor designs. Cut off fixtures are very good at keeping glare to a minimum, but they actually magnify the cavern effect and render very poor vertical lighting. Semi cutoffs do a good job of eliminating the cavern effect altogether, and with the proper fixture, will also do a very good job of lighting basic vertical surfaces such as walls and thick columns. For optimal vertical lighting and clear visibility, however, you should use refractor parking lot lighting fixtures. These keep the ceiling areas, vertical cube, and mall parking lot areas consistently lit throughout the facility.

Business building lights and parking garage lights can house Metal Halide lamps, High Pressure Sodium lamps, or fluorescent lamps. Selecting a lamp type is just as much a matter of preference as it is of practical function and operating budget. HPS lamps last much longer, but they render color very poorly. Industrial facilities with little concern for aesthetics might want to go with HPS simply because it will help minimize replacement costs. Metal Halide lamps are superb for corporate parking garage lighting because they give off a clear, bright light and can actually create an upbeat atmosphere with a light source nearly equivalent to daylight in quality. Because of their short lamp life (7,500 hours), however, MH lamps may not be the best choices for smaller companies who are feeling the bite of the recession. These organizations may want to consider fluorescent lamps instead. Fluorescent lamps have the best color rendering, the longest lamp life, and the highest lumens per watt efficiency.

Commercial parking garage lighting is complex, and because no two facilities are exactly alike, RLLD Commercial Lighting offers free commercial lighting information and consultation services to clients and serious inquirers, and reasonable fee-based advisory services to casual inquiries. With access to software tools that many smaller contractor firms may not have, and with vendor relationships with the world’s top fixture manufacturers, we can offer the small architect or builder the resources of a larger company at no additional cost.

Because commercial parking garage lighting and commercial landscape lighting fixtures are so complex, and because no two facilities are exactly alike, RLLD Commercial Lighting offers free consultation services to clients and serious inquirers, and reasonable fee-based advisory services to casual inquiries. With access to software tools that many smaller contractor firms may not have, and with vendor relationships with the world’s top energy efficient fixture lighting, we can offer the small architect or builder the resources of a larger company at no additional cost.

RLLD Commercial Lighting carries a wide variety of industrial & commercial lighting fixtures. If you can not find what you are looking for call us toll free at 1-866-654-3961 and we will find it for you.

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