(Image: Rendering of the new Blackbaud world headquarters via Business Wire)Blackbaud, a cloud software company aimed at nonprofits, foundations, and others in the social good community, announced that its new world headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina, will deliver 80% lighting energy savings compared to fluorescent.
The 172,000-square-foot headquarters has a lighting platform from GE’s Current that the software company says will enable dynamic IoT business applications for the future. Current and JLL commercial real estate management engineered a portfolio of LED fixtures for the new campus.
Current’s Daintree wireless control system will provide daylight harvesting capabilities by using natural light to offset electricity use for the space. “Energy demand will also be reduced with zonal controls and the ability to dynamically reduce Current’s LED fixture output,” according to the companies involved. “The wireless solution is helping Blackbaud reduce installation costs and will save an additional 20% in energy costs versus a standard LED solution.”
The world headquarters is designed for 1,400 Charleston-based Blackbaud employees, and allows space for incubating emerging nonprofits and teaching students to code. Employees are expected to start moving into the new space in early June, the company says.
“GE’s solution really stood out because of its compatibility with third-party sensors and software, making it easy for us to integrate other smart building devices and network architecture as needs arise,” said Jon Olson, Blackbaud’s senior vice president and general counsel.
Last month Current and Morgan Stanley began collaborating to upgrade lighting at more than 600 retail branches in a move that the companies expect could reduce lighting-related energy consumption by as much as 50% in some branches.
