The Opportunity
Located in northeast Iowa along the Mississippi River, Dubuque County’s courthouse - built in 1891 with Beaux-Arts architecture - is on the National Register of Historic Places. To reduce energy costs in the century-old building, Facilities Superintendent Chris Soeder was investigating improvements that would provide financial savings while preserving the building’s historic nature.
At a local technology conference, Soeder learned that by investing in an intelligent lighting upgrade, the courthouse could experience energy savings of between 15% and 20%. Getting wires from point A to point B is sometimes rather convoluted - walls that are 42 inches thick, runs that go up a floor and back down. And because the courthouse doesn’t close during the week, work could be done on weekends only.
The Solution
Innovative Lighting’s GENISYS lighting system - node-centric design with IntelliDrive supporting up to eight devices - was paired with Belden Small-Diameter 10GXS Category 6A cables and REVConnect connectivity. Power comes from a switch; category cables run to the IntelliDrive; fixtures, controls, and third-party devices connect from there.
Instead of conduit, junction boxes, and 12 AWG wire, the low-voltage install involved removing the existing fixture and 110V wiring, installing the new fixture and IntelliDrive, and running Belden Cat 6A. “It takes about one day for us to hang all the hardware in the ceiling. After that, it’s a matter of plug and play,” says Soeder. IT Superintendent Nathan Gilmore chose Belden because he knows the product line is rock solid - worth doing cable right so cabling can be crossed off the troubleshooting list.
