This article, based on the Lighting Controls Association’s new Education Express course EE202: Automatic Plug Load Control, provides an overview of approaches used to automatically control plug loads in commercial buildings.
Integrated Lighting Campaign Launches in June
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Interior Lighting Campaign is undergoing a fresh launch as the Integrated Lighting Campaign in June 2020. The program’s core goal of market transformation is the same, with many of the same services and benefits to participants, but the promoted suite of technologies is now going beyond LED adoption toward integrated systems. The Lighting Controls Association is proud to support this program as a member of its Organizing Committee and an inaugural Supporter.
Lighting Controls Association’s Spring 2020 Product Guide
The Lighting Controls Association is proud to announce the latest offerings in lighting controls from industry-leading manufacturers. Check them out!
Get Educated on Lighting Control
Current stay-at-home regimes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on how the construction industry works, including education, with online distance-education becoming more popular. The Lighting Controls Association is proud to offer Education Express, a free, robust series of courses covering all aspects of lighting control, including technology, application, design, and commissioning.
2020 Rebate Outlook
Reducing initial cost by an estimated 20-25 percent, rebates remain a strong incentive for investing in energy-efficient lighting and controls. In 2020, significant rebate opportunities are widely available for LED lighting and controls, including growing availability of rebates for networked controls.
2020 Nonresidential Construction Forecast: Slowdown But No Downturn
The U.S. economy grew by 2.2% in 2019 and is expected to slow to 2% in 2020, according to the most recent forecast released by the Federal Open Market Committee Meeting on December 11, 2019. The slowdown in 2019-20 is considered a byproduct of the trade war. A major contributor to the economy is construction, and the outlook for construction spending in 2020-21 is positive but lower than 2019. The AIA’s semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters, is projecting 1.5% growth in nonresidential construction spending in 2020 and 1% in 2021.
ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2016 Takes Effect as National Standard
Next month, the 2016 version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, takes effect as the national energy reference standard, based on a 2018 Department of Energy (DOE) ruling. By February 2020, all states must adopt a commercial building energy code at least as stringent as the standard, or justify why they cannot comply.
ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2019 Decoded
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recently published ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2019, Energy Efficiency Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. This edition includes more than 100 changes from the 2016 version, covering administrative and enforcement, commissioning, mechanical, and lighting. For lighting, the new version adjusts interior power allowances, updates several control requirements, and introduces a simplified compliance method for office, school, and retail buildings.
Guidance for Net-Zero K-12 and Office Buildings
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently published guides on how to design buildings that achieve net-zero energy consumption without compromising quality.
Building upon previous guides targeting deep energy savings, the first two new guides were developed in partnership with the American Institute of Architects, Illuminating Engineering Society, and U.S. Green Building Council, and target K-12 and small to medium office buildings.
Here Comes BACnet Secure Connect
By early 2020, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is expected to release a new version of the BACnet building automation system protocol. BACnet Secure Connect, or BACnet/SC, brings this popular open industry standard into the Internet of Things (IoT) age by enabling the easy and secure transfer of large volumes of data.
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