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Business & Tech

TechLeandro: Borden Brings Lighting Into the Future

San Leandro design company blends style and sustainability with high-tech replicas of old-fashioned light fixtures.

 

 

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The last few years have been challenging for of San Leandro, but owner Randy Borden said he thinks a brighter future lies ahead.

He purchased the company with family and friends in 2006. It began with 13 employees and has grown to 26. 

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"We had to lay three people off last year but they have since been hired back," Borden said. "And we have added two more. Orders have picked up in the last six months and we hope that’s a good sign.”

Borden Lighting, located at 999 Montague Street, was formerly Nova Industries. The company develops and manufactures stylish and sustainable lighting.

In the 1990s lighting fixtures for commercial and industrial customers shifted from energy-wasting incandescents to more efficient compact fluorescents.

Now compact fluorescents are making way for LED lights that create illumination using energy-efficient silicon chip technolgy.

LED lights use between 22 and 40 percent less electricity than compact fluorescents and compact fluorescents use one third less energy than incandescents.

LED lights still cost more than compact fluorescents.

But Borden predicts that LED lights now costing $25 to $35 per item will come down to $10 a piece a year from now. He said the government is promoting LEDs as a way to save energy and that they will become much more common. 

“Most outdoor products are LED now and they’re getting ready to introduce more interior lights with LED," he said.

High-profile clients seek out the San Leandro company

Borden recently designed a unique type of LED lighting for the Presidio of San Francisco’s walkways to improve the safety and energy efficiency of the national park without compromising its beauty.

The Borden luminaire was developed to conform to "Dark Sky" lighting design concepts that effectively illuminate the pathway while preventing glare and light pollution.

The firm has also designed lighting projects for Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, several projects at Stanford University and numerous others at schools, hospitals and other commercial venues. 

It is currently involved in the Market Square Project underway in San Francisco, the North Berkeley Library Branch and will be working on a project for San Francisco’s Exploratorium.  It is involved in a lighting renovation project at the Watergate Community in Emeryville.

Firm's background and services

Randy Borden is a licensed architect and entered the custom lighting industry in 1983 when he purchased Shaper Lighting in Richmond, which he owned for 20 years. Many Shaper employees ultimately followed him to Borden Lighting in San Leandro. Borden’s workforce lives scattered around the Bay Area.  Borden, himself, is an Alameda resident.

Clients come to Borden Lighting for an array of services. It sells standard commercial grade high-quality fixtures from its on-line catalogue of products.  Customers can pick and choose various finishes and other features from the line of offerings.  The company can also modify those products or provide completely made-to-order fixtures, driven by the needs of a client's specific project.

The company has expertise in electrical engineering, commercial and residential architecture, lighting design and landscape architecture. It has qualified as an Alameda County Green Business and is a union shop affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Sustainability and cost savings drive some projects

Energy efficiency and cost savings is a consideration of Borden’s clients along with good design. According to Randy Borden, an estimated 22 percent of energy costs come from lighting.  The company has been involved with several LEED projects.

A number of Borden's light fixtures have a high recycled content and are made with natural metals. For instance, one of its outdoor wall mounted fixtures is composed from 90 percent recycled brass and 100 percent recycled cast aluminum.

Historical preservation is a segment of its business

Borden also has some clients eager to preserve the historic elements of their buildings. They hire the company to renovate and replicate their existing lighting fixtures to make them energy-efficient.  

Borden cleaned and refurbished the Pleasanton Veteran’s Memorial Building light fixtures and installed compact fluorescent fixtures in them.  At another job site in San Francisco the company was asked to fabricate fixtures from scratch based upon old photos depicting the building’s original lights.

San Leandro's location and business climate appreciated

Borden said he is very satisfied with his company’s location in San Leandro, citing its proximity to San Francisco where he often meets with other architects about projects and its short distance from the Oakland International Airport.  When he took over the company from its previous owners he obtained a permit to build out some office space on the company’s site and found the City of San Leandro helpful in that effort.  

To learn more about the company you can visit its website here. http://www.bordenlighting.com/

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