Released on: April 1, 2008, 11:59 am

Press Release Author: Arlene Wites / Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

Industry: Education

Press Release Summary: Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale Interior Design Instructor
Wins Honorable Mention in SOURCE awards

Press Release Body: 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, (www.artinstitute.edu/fortlauderdale),
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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Web Site: http://www.aifl.edu

Contact Details: 1799 SE 17 Street
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316