While Hubbell Lighting’s new 175,000-square-foot headquarters in Greenville, S.C., houses its Lighting Solutions Center, the entire building is actually a lighting classroom where lighting professionals can learn about energy-efficient lighting products.
The facility is lit by lighting fixtures from the company’s 16 brands and is up for LEED Silver certification from the U.S Green Building Council, Washington, D.C. for its energy-efficient design. Along with utilizing the latest in energy-efficient lighting, the building saves energy with a state-of-the-art HVAC system, the use of recycled building products wherever possible and a massive, four-story “glass curtain” wall that allows for the use of daylighting systems.
Scott Muse, group vice president, Hubbell Lighting, is justifiably proud of his group’s $41 million dollar investment in the building, and on July 10-11 he entertained more than 20 business journalists at the company’s new training center, which will offer reps, specifying engineers, contractors, distributors and other industry professionals a new lighting resource. Muse hopes to eventually educate 6,000 to 10,000 lighting professionals annually at the facility.
Earlier this year, Mark Lien, a 30-year lighting educator with 17 years of experience managing lighting educations centers, came to Hubbell Lighting to manage the Lighting Solutions Center. Prior to accepting his new position, Lien taught in and managed Cooper Lighting’s industry education facility. He helped design the new Hubbell facility so it would offer students the opportunity to do side-by-side comparisons of different lighting systems and utilize customizable kiosks to highlight the design opportunities in several hot areas in the lighting market: life safety, light pollution, daylighting and solid-state lighting.