Case Study: Canadian Tennis Court Lighting Project
Earlier this year, we were contacted by a Canadian tennis club whose lighting system was proving grossly inadequate for their luminance requirements. The existing court lighting system consisted of sports lighting fixtures that had been installed in a perimeter layout around three adjacent courts. Prior to contacting RLLD Commercial Lighting, the client had already taken footcandle readings of the facility and found them to be as low as 30-40 fps in most parts of the court. The club asked us to recommend a new court lighting system, along with new lighting poles and luminaires specifically designed for tennis court lighting.

By entering the dimensions and foot candle levels of their facility into our photometric software, we were able to calculate new foot candle levels using equipment from top US tennis court lighting manufacturers. Using the rendering feature of our photometric analysis software, we were able to propose two different options to the client and render a visual of each for their review.

The custom tennis court lighting kit that the client ultimately chose consisted of a total of 12 poles, each measuring 25’ in height. We installed 1000W metal halide luminaires, two on either side of each pole, installed on curved mounting brackets. Poles between the tennis courts required digging into the ground to install. Because the club was already in the process of refinishing the surface of all three courts, they decided that this option that best fit their current renovations and offered the maximum luminance improvements overall.

However, the proposed layout and equipment recommendations alone were not the determining factors in earning this client’s business. Several other factors weighed in on the club’s decision to work with RLLD Commercial Lighting. As an equipment vendor of lighting fixtures and poles made exclusively in the USA, our proposed equipment falls under NAFTA tax laws and offers Canadian clients like this tennis club tremendous savings on international shipping. Other American designers that this organization had contacted either did not have all the equipment needed for a new tennis court lighting system, or they offered only imported fixtures that carried with them higher import taxes.

Local Canadian vendors also found it difficult to compete with our pricing, either because they too were using imported fixtures brought into Canada in a higher tax bracket, or because they had to rely upon third party distributors to actually sell them equipment they recommended. Our process was much more efficient at the end of the day. After developing a proposed tennis court lighting system, we could then immediately populate the proposed design with hardware, matching poles, brackets, and luminaires to the exact specifications of the photometric report. When we sent this data to the tennis club, they in turn handed it over to a local electrical contractor previously hired for the installation. Working in direct partnership with US lighting manufacturers, we then had this equipment shipped directly to the location so the contractor could install it.

Placing the specifications and the equipment in the hands of the contractor ahead of time saved this client a great deal of time and money on their new tennis court lighting system, because they paid only for the labor associated with installing the equipment they had already paid for.

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. Our home office is located in Houston, Texas with warehouses located throughout the United States that enable us to service all 50 states including New York NY, Los Angeles CA, Miami, FL. Chicago, IL. Denver CO., New Orleans, La., Cleveland, Ohio, Kansas City, Mo., Mesa, Arizona, Virginia Beach, Va., Omaha, Nebraska, Oakland, California, Miami, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Arlington, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, Denton, TX, McKinney, Texas, Midland, TX, Killeen, Texas, Dallas TX, San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX, ALBQ, NYC, LA, MPLS, HOU, DAL, DFW.