Nov 5, 2021
By Philippe Perreault
The Montreal Casino's major enhancement project consisted of replacing some 300 existing High Pressure Sodium (HPS) luminaires with new Light Emitting Diode (LED) luminaires with the ability to replicate the existing lighting that has shaped the Casino's iconic image since its inception; A Diamond That Shines In The Night.
The design team at Pageau Morel and Associates, led by Mr. Mathieu Leclerc, P.Eng. LEED BD+C PA, Vice President and Senior Associate, in collaboration with éclairage HITECH specification team faced a multitude of challenges to overcome.
The first challenge was to be able to recreate the special colour produced by a special HPS lamp using an LED luminaire. To do this, RGBA (Red Green Blue Amber) and RGBW (Red Green Blue White) luminaires were tested on site to find the right lighting solution. Contrary to our initial idea, the RGBW fixture produced the best result.
The use of 4-channel colour changers led our team to their second challenge; the compatibility of our digital multiplex - remote device management (DMX-RDM) control protocol with similar luminaires from other manufacturers. The unique feature of our Lumascape luminaires, which we recommended for this project, is the use of a 4-conductor cable to provide power and control to the luminaires, whereas the competition usually uses a cable with an additional conductor. As the performance specification stipulated the use of control boxes that could accommodate 5-conductor cable, we demonstrated to the professionals and the client that we were meeting the requirement with this technology and furthermore that we were able to receive and control third party fixtures that use 5-conductor cables.
Many of the luminaires had to be installed in difficult to access locations. The designer and client wanted the power supplies for the fixtures to be remote for ease of maintenance. Our third challenge was to design the power supply with some constraints as the power supply at the output was 48Vdc. When normal AC power is used in our standard luminaires with integrated power supply, it is possible to cover wiring distances of up to 500’. However, with a 48Vdc power supply, the maximum voltage drop for proper operation of our luminaires, as recommended by the manufacturer, could be as low as 42Vdc. This constraint drastically reduced the capacity and limited the cable runs to more or less 100'. We adapted our wiring diagrams accordingly and rethought our approach to find the ideal solution.
In conclusion, the Montréal Casino can now enjoy a special visibility in the Montreal sky at night as well as having a powerful marketing tool for a personalized event signature. Unlike their previous monochromatic solution, this technology - addressable colour-changing luminaires - offers an infinite number of possibilities.
Philippe Perreault is a lighting consultant at Eclairage HITECH
