The Cleveland Botanical Garden is one of the many jewels of University Circle in Cleveland, and now it sparkles again! Tec Inc. completed electrical engineering to support Tec Studio’s lighting design and control system design for the 18,000 square foot Glasshouse originally constructed in 2003. An initial assessment of the electrical system was completed to determine if any components could be reused in the renovation.

Challenges included careful fixture selection that could withstand the corrosive reverse osmosis system built into the Costa Rican habitat. Finally, the landscape lighting didn’t always get placed in the intended location due to the tree roots, but alternate locations worked just as well. The existing lighting within the Glasshouse was replaced with new low maintenance energy efficient LED lighting.

To enhance the experience, three levels of lighting were designed for the space. The first level is low voltage landscape lighting which was specifically aimed to highlight the unique plants and features in the garden. The new system has a connected load of only 0.41 watts/sq. ft., far below the allowed 1.06 watts/ sq. ft. per the current energy standard in the State of Ohio. The project was not without a few challenges to plan for and work around. The extreme environmental conditions in the Glasshouse do not play well with electrical devices. All of the lighting products used are weather tight and made of anti-corrosive material to help with longevity.

In addition, the flying birds and butterflies in the Glasshouse needed to be safe from the heat produced by the light fixtures. The external temperature of the new light fixtures when operating was specifically selected to prevent damage to the unique animals that inhabit the Glasshouse habitats. The project was completed within a 6-month time frame to allow continuing operation within the space and completion by the holiday GLOW event in 2017.