Portland Theatre Sees Energy Savings with ETC Selador LED Luminaires

Oregon's Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) recently upgraded the lighting system in its Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with 36 ETC Selador Classic Vivid-R LED luminaires. By installing the fixtures, the venue expanded its color capabilities, reduced its energy usage, and earned cash incentives from Energy Trust of Oregon to put toward the fixtures' purchase.

Energy Trust offers cash incentives to commercial, municipal, and institutional businesses throughout Oregon that upgrade dated equipment to energy-efficient technology. One requirement venues must meet to qualify for cash incentives is that a new lighting installation must result in at least a 25% energy savings compared to the previous system.

The Concert Hall's aging striplight system was demanding an increasingly high level of maintenance resources. Appropriate light bulbs are no longer being manufactured, and the cost of upkeep kept mounting, so the striplights were replaced by Vivid-R luminaires. While the striplights had multiple 27A circuits per color, the Selador fixtures are only 3A and produce an unmatched range of colors. Says Justin Dunlap, an ETCP-certified house electrician for the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall: "I would predict that we'll see an 85-95% consumption drop from the on-stage fixtures, not counting the front-of-house lighting. Seladors have also taken over the PAR rig work, so all of the areas that were previously PAR-lit are now all Selador."

The theatre has 288 control channels dedicated to the Selador system. "I like the idea of having so many colors possible without having to have more fixtures. I basically built a grid on stage and can block it out for different lighting looks. I can use Selador as a wash and do one big color on stage, or I can pull them apart and light a violin as blue, white, amber, etc.," adds Dunlap.

Selador LED luminaires were developed to be an invaluable tool in a hybrid theatre, seamlessly integrating with traditional theatrical fixtures. "The light from the Selador fixtures blends really, really well with our other fixtures," explains Dunlap. "The light output is beautiful and the deeper saturated colors punch so hard. Congo Blue is immaculate."

While the Selador luminaires were initially intended to replace only borderlights, they have since taken over much more of the lighting work on stage. "The lens set was a big feature," says Dunlap, "because the Seladors can be used in so many ways. The variability of functions with Selador fixtures is well thought out."

The lighting staff can also put the Vivid-R luminaires to work off the stage. The building that houses the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was built in 1928 and features stunning Italian Rococo Revival architecture that can be highlighted by the Selador luminaires, with the Vivid-R fixtures uplighting the walls to bring out the intricate details. As Dunlap says, "The Seladors let you do more for architecture than a lot of other stage fixtures would allow you to do."

In addition to the Selador Classic Vivid-R units, the Concert Hall has a full ETC lighting system that was originally designed by Theatre Projects, which includes an Obsession II lighting control console, five Sensor+ dimmer racks, SmartSwitch relays, an Emergency Lighting Transfer System (ELTS2), Unison architectural control systems for the front-of-house and backstage lighting, hundreds of Source Four ellipsoidals, and 60 Source Four PAR fixtures.

Since the Selador installation took place, many large and small shows have benefitted from the energy-efficient, rejuvenated lighting. According to Dunlap, "I can't extol the virtues of the fixtures more. They're rock stars. I can't find any other fixture that's more utilizable in so many applications, and the energy reduction is insane."