The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Commercial Lighting Solutions (CLS) program, a component of Commercial Building Energy Alliances, seeks to stimulate adoption of advanced lighting technologies and design practices by making them available to the broader lighting specification community, not just the leaders in the field. The result is an extraordinary interactive web tool that enables any lighting decision-maker to save 30% more energy than the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 standard energy code without sacrificing lighting quality that users need from lighting systems.
CLTC Study Demonstrates Major Energy Savings for Bilevel Occupancy Sensors
All energy codes require that general lighting be automatically turned OFF when it’s not used. Further, IECC says that if an occupancy sensor is used in an enclosed space such as a private office, light level reduction controls are not needed, suggesting an either/or choice. What if bilevel switching was combined with occupancy sensor functionality? Would this produce higher energy savings in a private office than bilevel switching or occupancy sensing alone. And: What combination of manual initiative and automation would produce the highest energy savings while also satisfying workers? The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) organized a study in eight private offices at the University of California – Davis in 2008 to attempt to generate useful data related to these questions.
Department of Energy Names ASHRAE 90.1-2004 as New National Energy Standard
ASHRAE/IES 90.1 Energy-Efficient Design of New Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings was first published in 1975 and updated in 1980, 1989, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2007. After 2001, the intention is to update the Standard every three years. Applicability: Today, most states have adopted either 90.1 or the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as their […]
What’s New for Lighting in the IECC 2009 Model Energy Code
IECC 2009 contains a number of changes impacting lighting for commercial buildings, including:
• Forced choice of compliance with entirety of IECC or 90.1
• Required circuiting for independent control of lighting in “daylight zones”
• Revision of additional retail display allowances
• Added exemptions to interior lighting wattage that must be counted for compliance
• Splitting the exterior power allowance using a system of outdoor lighting zones
• Clarifications and practical application language changes
2007 Energy Law Eliminates Sale of Probe-Start Metal Halide Fixtures
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 contains significant provisions affecting the sale of metal halide lighting fixtures. Starting in 2009, 150-500W metal halide lighting fixtures must contain ballasts that operate at a certain level of efficiency, virtually eliminating probe-start lamps and ballasts from new fixtures. This provision of the 2007 Energy Act essentially makes a Federal standard of efficiency requirements already enacted in California, New York, Arizona, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
Congress Extends Commercial Buildings Deduction to 2013
The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 created the Commercial Buildings Deduction (CBD), which established an accelerated tax deduction rewarding investment in energy-efficient interior lighting, HVAC/hot water systems and building envelope. Initially set to expire December 31, 2007 and then December 31, 2008, the CBD was recently extended by Congress to expire in five years: December 31, 2013.
Load Shedding Ballasts Enable Demand Response Retrofits
Demand is the sum of all electric power required to run a building’s equipment currently in operation. As equipment is turned on and off, demand rises and falls. Peak demand is the highest level of demand recorded by a demand meter during a given time period. This is the most expensive power the utility has […]
Research Demonstrates Controls Can Help Reduce School Average Power Density to About Half of ASHRAE 2004/2007
NYSERDA sponsored a demonstration project featuring a new Integrated Classroom Lighting System (ICLS) created by Finelite, Inc., a fixture manufacturer, installed as a retrofit into 28 existing classrooms at seven schools and universities. The Lighting Research Center (LRC) assessed teacher and student satisfaction. The result is a design template demonstrated to satisfy audio-visual needs and improve teacher and student satisfaction while reducing lighting power density to an average 0.73W/sq.ft., nearly 50% less than ASHRAE 90.1-2004/2007. Although Finelite optimized the design into an engineered system integrating the company’s light fixtures with state-of-the-art lighting control strategies, the template, if properly designed, can be treated as open source with suitable products from a wide range of manufacturers.
What’s New for Lighting in ASHRAE 90.1-2007
In terms of lighting, ASHRAE 90.1-2007 clarifies the Standard’s intent and enacts several refinements but otherwise doesn’t revise the lighting power density (W/sq.ft.) limits from the 2004 version, which itself was 20-25 percent more stringent than the 1991/2001 versions.
New Energy Law to Phase Out Today’s Common Incandescent Lamps, Probe-Start Metal Halide Magnetic Ballasted Fixtures
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR6) does not include many provisions directly related to lighting. Two of its provisions, however, are nonetheless highly significant. One virtually eliminates the manufacture of today’s >150W to <500W probe-start metal halide magnetic ballasted fixtures starting in 2009 (replacement ballasts are not affected). Another virtually eliminates the manufacture of most common general-service incandescent lamps, putting billions of sockets up for grabs. The Act also has its eye on a possible LED general-service lamp in the future, establishing incentives to develop an LED product that can take on the 60W incandescent. The Act also distinguishes itself in two other ways. One is what it does not contain, such as encouragement of more-efficient residential energy codes and any tax provisions such as an anticipated extension of the Commercial Buildings Deduction to December 31, 2013. Another is its provisions that may indirectly affect lighting, such as its tough new energy reduction requirements for Federal buildings and the establishment and funding of a Director and Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings, which will work with a private-public partnership to realize a goal of all newly constructed commercial buildings being “net zero energy” by 2030.