THE NEW YORK
TIMES OFFICE IN A NEW LIGHT

Benefiting from the LED lighting revolution

As 2020 loomed, the Times’ building-management team sought to benefit from maturing LED lighting technology. The Times staff saw opportunities for additional energy savings and other advantages readily available with LED. But could they find a retrofit solution that would improve the appearance, flexibility, and lighting quality, without requiring expensive new fixtures and controls?

LED: A technology whose time has come

"The fluorescent technology was outdated, and The New York Times management knew it," said Attila Uysal of Lumen Architecture, who worked on both the original Newsroom/Office lighting and the 2022 refurbishment to LED. “They knew it had to be compatible with the existing light fixtures and digital control system. It was a complex retrofit with a lot of details.”

The “perfect fit” LED solution

The Times building-management team tested a variety of LED retrofit products, including T5 LED replacement lamps and off-the-shelf retrofit kits. They sought to improve energy savings and eliminate disruptive and expensive maintenance needed to replace burned out fluorescents

But the options they explored initially were just not compatible with the original Zumtobel fixture. Either they failed to improve energy efficiency, or they produced irregular beam patterns or were overly expensive to install. Evaluating all these different options, their performance, and myriad details proved daunting.

The Times staff brought in Attila Uysal, the original lighting consultant, now with Lumen Architecture in New York City. Uysal narrowed the viable solutions, introducing the Times team to an affordable, custom-developed refurbishment kit from Zumtobel.