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Intelligent Buildings

THE SINCLAIR HOTEL

FORT WORTH: PoE LIGHTING

SPARKS A DIGITAL VISION

he hospitality industry is famously con-
cerned with the customer experience, but
for building owners and operators, the
experiential aspect is only part of the story.
TSinclair Holdings is a commercial devel-
opment firm focused on utilizing technology to create
next-gen smart, networked buildings that not only enhance
user experience, but also improve costs and operations for
large commercial buildings. Under the leadership of CEO
Farukh Aslam, they have been exploring the capabilities of
LED lighting using low voltage DC power and introducing
this technology in exciting new ways. Their latest development, the Sinclair Ft. Worth (a Marriott
property adjacent to the Sanger), is at the leading edge of
Their retrofit story began with an energy and lighting over- their foray into PoE. This upscale 108,000 SF hotel that
haul of the Sanger building in Fort Worth, Texas, a multi-use caters to a sophisticated clientele is nearly 100 years old.
site built in 1923. Its diversified usage presented a perfect Renovating the hotel brought some challenges. While office
test ground for an upgrade to PoE lighting. PoE is popular lighting tends to be fairly consistent with panel lights or
because it can transmit power and data over a standard troffers, hotels may utilize 200 different types, many of them
Ethernet cable, and allows powered devices anywhere, even specialized decorative lights. Standard LEDs did not offer
locations without electrical outlets. PoE requires less mate- this variety.
rial and labor than traditional electrical systems. Aslam and
his team realized the benefits: reduced installation costs, Additionally, PoE systems often require many ports
and an almost 40% reduction in power consumption. matched to many lights on the enterprise switch,
housed traditionally in an IT closet. These can be over
“Fort Worth’s energy code for commercial office buildings 100 feet from the light fixtures; a somewhat cumber-
requires submitted plans to be under .8 watts per square some design. To take full advantage of PoE potential,
foot power consumption for lighting,” says Aslam. “We are consider that light is measured in lumens, while power
currently averaging .25-.3 and with the newest LEDs we is measured in watts. Increasing lumens per watt can
are testing now, this number will become .15 to .17 per make a building very efficient with lighting—without
square foot.” increasing power.

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