Sam Ski Area Management - Index

Sam Ski Area Management - stable_management - Index

34 / STABLEMANAGEMENT / stable-management.com
Each stall in this barn, designed by Blackburn Architects, takes advantage of natural light with windows and doors.
orescent wherever we can, and sometimes
use incandescent or low voltage
halogen in more of the ‘people’
spaces, such as offices, tack rooms,
work rooms and bathrooms.”
In stalls, Blackburn typically uses
a tube fluorescent, with or without a
cold-weather ballast. He provides one
of these lights along each side of the
stall to provide a good distribution of
light to all corners for good visibility.
“The one thing you want to avoid is
shadows in the stall,” he says, echoing
Ambrosiano. “The reason for this
becomes apparent if a horse is down
and you or the vet are trying to examine
it.”
In barn aisles, Blackburn uses
either compact fluorescent, metal
halide, or halogen fixtures depending
on the design, style, location or barn
use. “We rarely use mercury vapor
and metal halide in barns because of
their start-up and cool down time,” he
says. “They are more frequently used
in arenas.”
SAVING ENERGY
Besides using as much natural light as
possible, barn owners can use different
methods to help save on energy
costs. “Have both work-focused and
general ‘walk around’ lighting lev-
els,” says Ambrosiano. “You might
turn on the walk-around lights when
you enter the barn, with simple fluorescent
fixtures that are just bright
enough to light walkways and allow
feeding and watering. Then, when
you need to get serious about grooming,
stall cleaning, tack cleaning and
the like, you would have the task
lighting available to be sure you can
see clearly enough to get the job done
right.”
Blackburn points out that new
technology in barn lighting is geared
toward conserving energy, and is the
wave of the future. “Energy efficient
light bulbs are probably the most
recent technological improvements in
barn lighting,” he says. “The use of
high efficiency compact fluorescent
lighting to conserve energy has
become more popular in recent years.”
Compact florescent light bulbs
and alternative sources of electric
power such as solar power and wind
are also options for barn owners,
according to Blackburn. “Though virtually
everyone is asking to include
sustainable design elements and
sources of renewable energy into their
farm projects, at this point, few have
actually gone beyond that and
invested in the new technology other
than compact florescent bulbs,” he
says. “We are designing for the future
addition of photovoltaic (solar) electrical
power generation in a number
of our projects, but it is more often
being deferred until the cost benefit is
more competitive.”
Blackburn notes that time will
arrive soon, and so encourages all his
clients to design for it now. “There are
a lot of opportunities for photovoltaic
and wind generation in horse farm
design because of large roof areas and
rural locations that are open to wind
and sun,” he says. “We are planning
for them now.”
Motion sensors and light timers
are also great energy saving devices,
says Blackburn. “Our clients use them
frequently, especially in interior
rooms such as tool or feed rooms or
bathrooms and office areas where
lights could easily be left on,” he says.
But it’s important to place these sensors
carefully, or else the motion of
animals could cause them to activate
when not intended.
Nothing beats Mother Nature for
lighting up a room. Use of natural
light, along with ensuring that
reliance on energy-using systems is
as efficient as possible, can significantly
cut energy costs. [sm]
Photo by Maxwell MacKenzie