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WAC GROUP Joins the Light and Health Research Center’s Lighting Education Partnership

William Attardi on June 12, 2025

The Light and Health Research Center (LHRC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is pleased to announce that WAC Group, an innovative lighting manufacturer located in Port Washington, New York, has joined the LHRC’s Lighting Education Partnership. The Partnership is a collaboration among businesses, organizations, government agencies and other entities interested in promoting meaningful and effective education in lighting. Beginning in August of this year, the LHRC will be partnering with WAC Group to deliver a series of webinars providing education on how light impacts the health and well-being of people in a range of residential and commercial spaces. Contact: Christopher Pica at Christopher@cpmediarelations.com

Revolutionary Colorscaping System Introduced by WAC GROUP

William Attardi on January 28, 2025

On the cutting edge of landscape lighting technology, WAC Group introduces the groundbreaking Colorscaping Smart Landscape Lighting System. This innovative, patented line of exterior LED luminaires is designed and engineered to illuminate landscapes with tunable white light and an unlimited color palette. Colorscaping integrates a full selection of WAC Landscape Lighting fixtures, including adjustable accent, wall wash and path lights, hardscape, tape light, and with existing landscape lighting fixtures, too. New and existing landscape fixtures are installed quickly using the innovative Smart Transformer Control Panel, which connects fixtures directly for immediate testing while cycling through preset tunable white and primary colors at various intensity levels. Offered with 150-watt and 300-watt capacities, the smart transformer enables robust wiring, a shielded ethernet cable, and a surge protector against power surges and voltage spikes. Colorscaping | WAC Lighting

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.