Agua Caliente hotel goes green with Albeo LED lighting

Exactly two years and one day after officially breaking ground on its new resort hotel, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians marked a major milestone in their history with the spectacular grand opening of the new Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage, California.

Albeo Technologies’ Atmosphere™ LED cove lighting is used on 14 floors of the new $300 million resort hotel, located next to the existing Agua Caliente Casino hotel.

According to Nancy Conrad, press secretary, the tribe tries to use green technologies and building materials whenever possible. This “green” preference led to the use of Albeo’s LED lighting. ”The tribal chairman, Richard Milanovich, is keenly interested in products that offer ambiance and aesthetics, and regularly walks through the resort to be sure we are attaining the level of beauty and elegance he is after,” said Conrad. “The energy-saving benefits of LED lighting make it a natural choice,” she added.

“Environmental stewardship is important to the tribal council,” said Conrad. “If you can deliver a product that has green attributes, is of top quality, and looks spectacular, that moves you to the top of our list.”

Justin Knippel of Berg Electric was the electrical contractor on the job. Although the cove lighting specified was cold cathode or neon, he knew that Albeo Technologies produced an LED cove lighting fixture that could meet the tribe’s aesthetic requirements, and also save on energy and maintenance costs.

“Albeo’s LED cove lighting lasts about ten times longer than other lighting options, so we looked into substituting LED lighting for the neon or cold cathode. Once we got Albeo on board, they were able to recommend their Atmosphere cove lighting and we obtained approval from the architect and lighting designer to make the substitution,” explained Knippel.

“The designer had wanted a very warm feel to the hall and elevator areas and had specified an almost amber color for the lights. We worked with Albeo to select the right color temperature for their LED cove lighting - Albeo offers several color variants, from 2500K to 6000K. Albeo made a sample per our specifications and we had no trouble getting it approved,” explained Knippel.

Knippel added that another advantage to using LED cove lighting is that Agua Caliente won’t have to pay a maintenance crew to change bulbs. “And getting up into the cove areas is not an easy task. The maintenance savings, added to the energy savings of LEDs over traditional lamps, makes them cost-effective and fills the tribe’s desire to use green technologies,” said Knippel.