Acuity Brands Buys Sunoptics to Expand in Prismatic Daylight Harvesting Products

Lighting fixture manufacturer Acuity Brands Inc., Atlanta, made a move into the market for daylighting products with the acquisition of Sunoptics, Sacramento, Calif. Financial details of the cash deal were not disclosed.

Sunoptics' prismatic skylights have been used to illuminate over one billion square feet of space worldwide since the company's founding in 1978. Retailers such as Best Buy, The Home Depot, Kroger and Wal-Mart have installed Sunoptics' products, the company said. Sunoptics will continue operations in its existing facility.

The move gives Acuity a new alternative for energy-efficient lighting using, essentially, no power. Acuity's market access promises to expand Sunoptics' reach into new markets, though the companies have partnered for years on integrating Sunoptics' products into Acuity's lighting controls.

“Nothing is more sustainable or energy-efficient than using daylight to light a space,” said Vernon Nagel, Acuity's chairman, president and CEO. “The acquisition of Sunoptics allows us to manage the visual environment using natural daylight.”

Nagel further highlighted opportunities to integrate daylight with other efficient technologies such as LED-based luminaires and intelligent lighting control.

Value Of New Construction Put In Place — January 2011

Value of Construction Put-in-Place ($ billions, seasonally adjusted annual rate) Jan '11₁ Feb '09₂ Mo. % Change Jan '10 YTY % Change Total Construction 791.8 797.6 -0.7 841.0 -5.9 Total Private Construction¹ 490.0 495.9 -1.2 547.6 -10.5 Residential 255.1 242.7 5.1 274.4 -7 New single family 108.1 107.2 0.8 113.6 -4.8 New multi-family 13.0 13.4 -2.9 16.3 -20.1 Nonresidential 536.7 554.9 -3.3 566.6 -5.3 Lodging 7.9 9.8 -20.2 14.3 -44.9 Office 32.6 34.3 -5.2 42.1 -22.6 Commercial 37.1 37.4 -0.7 44.7 -17 Health care 38.8 41.4 -6.4 39.6 -2 Educational 82.2 81.6 0.7 92.4 -11 Religious 4.8 5.0 -3.7 5.5 -12.5 Public safety 10.7 10.2 4.4 12.9 -17 Amusement and recreation 15.7 16.7 -6.2 16.2 -3.2 Transportation 40.1 39.6 1.2 37.1 8.2 Communication 17.6 18.0 -2.1 18.0 -1.8 Power 84.2 94.5 -10.9 80.0 5.2 Electric 56.9 67.4 -15.5 55.7 2.2 Highway and street 85.5 86.2 -0.8 76.9 11.3 Sewage and waste disposal 24.9 25.3 -1.6 24.8 0.5 Water supply 15.7 15.4 2.3 13.3 18 Conservation and development 6.9 6.5 5.5 6.0 14.6 Manufacturing 32.1 32.8 -2.3 43.1 -25.5 Total Public Construction² 301.8 301.6 0.1 293.4 2.9 Residential 9.5 9.4 1.3 8.2 15.8 Office 11.2 11.6 -3.7 14.1 -20.3 Commercial 3.1 2.9 7.2 3.1 -1.6 Health care 10.1 9.7 4.5 8.4 19.8 Educational 70.2 69.0 1.7 77.7 -9.7 Public safety 10.6 10.1 4.4 12.5 -15.4 Amusement and recreation 10.2 10.6 -3.6 10.6 -3.9 Transportation 30.7 30.7 -0.1 28.8 6.3 Power 13.2 14.0 -5.9 9.1 44.6 Highway and street 85.4 86.1 -0.7 76.8 11.3 Sewage and waste disposal 24.5 24.9 -1.7 24.4 0.2 Water supply 15.2 14.8 3 12.8 18.4 Conservation and development 6.8 6.5 5.2 6.0 14.3

1-Preliminary; 2-Revised

Note: The U.S. Census department changed its construction categories beginning with its May 2003 statistics.

With the changes in the project classifications, data now presented are not directly comparable with those data previously published in the regular-format press releases and tables. Direct comparisons can only be made at the total, total private, total state and local, total federal, and total public levels for annual and not seasonally adjusted monthly data. For more information, check out http://www.census.gov/const/www/c30index.html.