Interior Design Instructor Wins Award in National Cooper Lighting Design Competition

Ft. Lauderdale, FL, April 04, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Jan Merle, an instructor in The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale Interior Design program, recently won Honorable Mention in the Sustainability Award category in the Cooper Lighting 31st Annual Source Awards national lighting design competition. The Source Awards is sponsored by Cooper Lighting, focusing on further understanding, knowledge and function of lighting as a primary element of design. Merle’s project was a proposed LEED compliant 5,300 sq. ft. commercial office space on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, FL.

Merle, an instructor at the college since 2003, is a state licensed interior designer, a Professional Member of the American Society of Interior Designers, and is nationally accredited by the US Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED AP).

“This 6th floor space has an extensive west (and also south) exposure, and offered the significant environmental challenges of controlling heat and glare while providing maximum exterior views and natural daylight to offset costly artificial lighting, and of providing occupants with maximum control over their micro-environment, including lighting and HVAC,” said Merle.

The design solution involved a raised-floor system incorporating power and HVAC to maximize air circulation efficiency and overall flexibility, high performance Cooper Lighting fixtures providing direct, direct/indirect, ambient, decorative, pendant, and task lighting, Lutron’s EcoSystem controls to balance daylight and artificial light, and motorized Lutron solar window shades on rollers set to a Grafik GS scheduling system, providing protection from solar heat and glare as needed, without sacrificing exterior views.

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, established in 1968, awards Bachelor of Science degrees in Advertising, Media Arts & Animation, Culinary Management, Digital Filmmaking & Video Production, Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, Game Art & Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Photography, Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, and Web Design & Interactive Media; Associate of Science degrees in Animation Art & Design, Baking & Pastry, Broadcasting, Culinary Management, Graphic Design, Photography, Video Production, and Web Design & Interactive Media; and Diplomas in the Art of Cooking, Graphic & Desktop Design, Photography, and Residential Design. The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is approved for the training of veterans and eligible veterans’ dependents and is authorized under federal law to enroll non-immigrant alien students.

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