1. RTL Design, LLC is the architectural lighting design practice established by Renée Thomas,
RA, IESNA to provide consulting services to the AED community in the areas the Architectural
Lighting Design, Daylighting Design and Architectural Sustainability. The firm’s design practice
is based upon the premise that thoughtfully designed lighted environments highlight great
architecture, enhance end-user comfort and productivity and do so with an eye towards good
stewardship of the natural environment. RTL Design's methodology is to define the seeing
tasks to be performed by the building end-users and explore to what extent those tasks can be
facilitated by the creative shaping of both artificial light and “borrowed natural light”. Appropriate
lighting design must always achieve supportive seeing environments while working to reduce
the project’s energy footprint to the largest extent possible.
Daylight harvesting is one of the primary methods used by architects to enhance the quality of
the lighted environment while at the same time reducing the connected loads associated with
artificial lighting. As a licensed architect, Renée Thomas approaches lighting design as a
synergistic problem solving process in which she examines urban and site context, building
siting, architectural envelope design, glazing location and specification, HVAC system design
and appropriate lighting design strategies to facilitate the creation of the most energy efficient
design practicable.
In working out the design solution RTL Design employs several software tools that permit a
high degree of sophistication in the study of artificial lighting and contributed daylight. This
predictive modeling, on going throughout the design process, allows the Owner and the Design
Team to have confidence both in the anticipated quality of the lighted environment as well as
the projected unit power density as expressed in watts per square foot.
Professional Affiliations:
Registered Architect (Arizona) #48025
Professional Member - Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) #029121
Professional Member - National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) certified
#013518
College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
(FIDER & NAAB accredited) 1994 Bachelor of Science in Design, Cum Laude

2. Current projects include:
RTL Design is currently contracted to Catalyst Architecture, LLC to provide architectural lighting
design, daylight design and lighting energy optimization to the San Luis National Wildlife
Refuge Visitor Center. This project is funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
This 15,000 facility is being designed to meet LEED Platinum certification standards and will
operate at a “Net-Zero” facility with respect to energy consumption. The building design
incorporates an energy producing poly-crystalline photo-voltaic array, super-insulated SIPS
(structural insulated panel) envelope system, high-performance, spectrally selective Low-E
glazing and a highly energy efficient LED lighting system. The entire facility is designed to
operate on a total unit power density for lighting of .75 watts of electrical power per square foot
with 65% of the building’s usable square footage designed to be illuminated by means of
“borrowed” daylight.
View from Northeast
View from Northwest

3. Conceptual Site Analysis

4. Conceptual Site Plan
Programmatic Analysis

5. Image courtesy of Catalyst Architecture, LLC
Design Development Lighting Floor Plan
Image courtesy of Catalyst Architecture, LLC
Design Development Switching Plan – Designed per ASHRAE 90.1-2009 and LEED
Platinum certification standards

6. RTL Design has been as a consultant to DFD CornoyerHedrick was engaged with SunCor
Development in the design of Hayden Ferry Lakeside Mixed Use Commercial Campus. The
project comprises over 17 acres on the shores of Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona. At full
build out the project will include 950,000 square feet of Class ‘A’ office space in three mid rise
towers and 438 luxury condominiums and a European luxury hotel. RTL Design’s specific role
in the project is to design interior and exterior architectural and ‘special events’ lighting features
and systems to support DFD CornoyerHedrick’s master plan design.
Image courtesy of DAVIS

7. Images courtesy of DAVIS

8. Images courtesy of DAVIS

9. RTL Design was contracted to provide architectural lighting design and daylighting design in
support of Catalyst Architecture’s new Highlands Center for Natural History - James
Learning Center - achieved LEED Gold rating. Built in the Prescott National Forest adjacent
to Prescott, Arizona, the design encompasses a 4,000 square foot building that is utilized by the
Highlands Center for Natural History to house its offices, educational program workshops and
multi-media interpretive center. The building achieved LEED Gold certification by the USGBC
and is designed to operate entirely “off-grid” with respect to electrical power. Daylight
harvesting, use of energy producing photovoltaic solar panels and high efficiency lighting and
glazing technologies are some of the strategies to minimize the environmental impacts of this
project on the Prescott National Forest adjacent to Prescott, Arizona.
Images courtesy of Catalyst Architecture, LLC

10. Construction Photos courtesy of Catalyst Architecture, LLC

11. RTL Design provided lighting and daylighting consulting services in support of Carter&Burgess /
BOORA Architects design of the new 110,000 square foot College of Business
Administration Building for Northern Arizona University - Achieved LEED Gold
certification.
Image courtesy of Carter&Burgess

12. Images courtesy of Carter&Burgess

13. Images courtesy of Carter&Burgess
RTL Design was also contracted to provide site lighting, interior lighting and daylighting Design and
consulting services in support of Carter&Burgess’s design of the new 76,000 square foot Northern
Arizona University - Applied Research and Development Laboratory – Achieved LEED
Platinum certification.

14. Images courtesy of Carter&Burgess

16. Schematic Window Section Studies

17. In 2005 RTL Design was contracted with Pearson Engineering to provide lighting and
daylighting design and electrical engineering services to the City of Scottsdale in support of its
efforts to renovate its 100,000 square foot Primary Fleet Maintenance Facility. The specific
challenge was to design and engineer a cost effective system of high performance skylights
and T5HO Fluorescent ‘high-bay’ fixtures that would deliver high quality lumens to the shop
floor with no increase in connected load over the previously installed system of 400-watt metal
halide high bay fixtures. The new lighting system was additionally designed to dim in response
to available daylight by means of photocell and motion sensor control systems. The result was
a lighted environment that achieved an increase in average shop floor illuminance from the
previous 35 foot-candles to a new minimum of 75 foot-candles with nearly 2:1 uniformity.
Photographs by RTL Design
Past projects include:
The Scottsdale Senior Center at Granite Reef - achieved LEED Gold certification
While employed by Gabor Lorant Architects, Renée Thomas served as Project Manager and
Lighting Designer for The Scottsdale Senior Center. This 40,000 square foot multi-use facility
was built for the City of Scottsdale and was completed in 2005. This project includes a super-
insulated envelope, a significant quantity of high performance glazing to facilitate daylight
harvesting and reduce heat load transfer, a high performance HVAC central plant to provide
district cooling and a roof mounted 50 kW poly-crystalline photo-voltaic array.

18. Photograph by RTL Design

19. Photographs by RTL Design

20. Photograph by RTL Design

21. Photograph by RTL Design
While employed with DLR Group:
Identified as a corporate consulting resource for Lighting and Daylighting Design.
Past projects included:
Amazon.com Union Station Corporate Headquarters 460,000 square feet – Interior
Designer / Lighting Designer In conjunction with DLR Group-Seattle – Architect of Record.
Recognized among all DLR Projects in 2002 as one of two Outstanding Projects
For Client Responsiveness and Outstanding Design.
The Amazon.com project was completed in full compliance with Seattle’s rigorous design
guidelines for maximum unit power density and daylight utilization. The project solution also

22. addressed the complex illuminance and uniformity requirements of Amazon.com’s software
engineers. The lighting design successfully addressed the goal, as articulated by Jeff Bezos,
CEO of Amazon.com, that all employees should enjoy the “democracy of daylight”. The lighting
designer worked closely with the design team to “borrow” daylight from the curtain wall and
spread it deeply throughout the interior spaces on each floor. The artificial lighting system was
designed to balance the available daylight so that each space was properly lighted but well
within the requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-1999 for total allowable unit power density.
Photographs courtesy of DLR Group
Schematic Phase Programming Exercises

23. Schematic Phase Programming Exercises
Images courtesy of DLR Group

24. Photographs courtesy of DLR Group
Clark County (Nevada) School District Daylighting Design Consultant
Clark County 2-Story Prototype Elementary School Project – in conjunction with
DLR Group-Chicago and Friedmutter Group (Architect of Record), Las Vegas, NV.
Image courtesy of Friedmutter Group

26. Typical 24’ x 24’ Classroom Module
The lighting design goals included developing daylighting and glazing design strategies to
address daylight harvesting as a methodology to reduce total connected electrical load and
increase user satisfaction and student academic performance. Studies conducted by the
Heschong Mahone Group and peer reviewed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(1999) established a strong statistical correlation between daylighted classrooms and
significant increases in student performance in standardized tests. Prototypical elementary
school was designed to provide optimum building performance and connected lighting load
reduction despite variable future siting configurations. Generally, the classroom spaces were
arrayed around the periphery of the building. This architectural programming decision coupled
with the use of high performance glazing, internal and external reflective lightshelves and
shaded rooftop light wells achieved significant reductions in connected electrical load
approaching 40% during peak daylight hours. At the same time, maintaining average
illuminance levels 50 foot-candles and 3:1 luminance uniformity ratios on the horizontal and
adjacent vertical task surfaces of the classrooms.
Saint Thomas More Catholic Community
Glendale, Arizona – 1600 seat church – Lighting/Daylighting Designer.
DLR Group-Phoenix
Recognized by Southwest Contractors Magazine 2003 Best of Awards – Masonry Building
Category.
Recognized by DLR Group Corporate as a 2003 Outstanding Project for
Client Responsiveness and Outstanding Design
The design of the main sanctuary at Saint Thomas More is strongly influenced by the unity and
equanimity of the circle. It was the intent of the designers to incorporate daylight to give form
and depth to the architecture as well as reinforce a sense of spaciousness and openness. Both
the siting of the building and design of the fenestration was explored using both scale model
studies and complex computer modeling using the lighting design software Lumen
Designer/Lumen Micro. This powerful suite of software tools allowed the design team to explore
the best balance between daylight and artificial light entering and exiting the sanctuary. The
result is a environment in which carefully directed natural light softly suffuses the interior of the
space during the daylight hours and interior light celebrates the spiritual life of the congregation
and it’s place within the larger community context at night.

27. Photographs courtesy of DLR Group

28. Images courtesy of DLR Group