In this episode of the Lighting Controls Podcast produced by NAILD and the Lighting Controls Association, hosts Ron Kuszmar and C. Webster Marsh talk to Chris O’Shea, the Head of Marketing and Business Development at Control Force, a new company specializing in startup services, fine-tuning systems, and ensuring long-term maintenance of lighting control systems.

Interested in learning more about The Commissioning Process as it applies to lighting and control systems? Check out this webinar based on a popular course in the Lighting Controls Association’s Education Express program.

In this guest post by Steve Mesh, he argues that while networked lighting control systems are getting far easier to set up and operate, they are still inherently complex, and that’s a good thing.

Check out these excellent publications covering lighting controls by the Illuminating Engineering Society.

“Maybe you are on a rushed project with barely enough time to finalize the drawings. Perhaps you’re being onboarded years after the project began. Maybe you just have a client who won’t respond to your requests for more information. No matter the reason, a project without an Owner Project Requirements (OPR) can present one of the most common and difficult challenges modern designers face today.”

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recently introduced four new standards: standardizing iterations of lighting controls intent, navigating near-field photometry, the importance of UV lighting, and promoting a balanced outdoor environment.

Actually – this isn’t just for electrical contractors!  Just about anyone can learn how to commission a networked lighting control system (NLC), writes Steve Mesh.

“Delivering lighting controls is the work of the membership of the Lighting Controls Association. But who is responsible for commissioning them?” writes Thomas Paterson, Director of Lux Populi.

McGuire Engineers’ John Yoon, PE, LEED AP ID+C recently contributed an article to CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER citing 10 reasons why lighting controls commissioning may fail. It’s an excellent piece with plenty of helpful observations and guidance.

Several Education Express online courses offered by the Lighting Controls Association are now required as prerequisites for National Lighting Contractors Association of America (NLCAA) certification and training of Acceptance Test Technicians in the State of California.

The Lighting Controls Association (LCA), a council of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), has re-released EE110: Commissioning and Lighting Controls, a course in its popular Education Express program.

Lighting controls are now required by energy codes in the large majority of new commercial buildings. As demand for controls continues to increase, so does demand for commissioning as a quality assurance process. This process helps ensure that installed controls satisfy both the design intent and owner requirements by minimizing error across the construction process. [...]

BUILDING OPERATING MANAGEMENT Magazine recently published an article about recommissioning lighting control systems. I was happy to be interviewed and contribute to the article. Research suggests retroactive commissioning can generate real energy savings and maximize the performance and value of installed equipment. Check it out here.

The Illuminating Engineering Society, in partnership with the Lighting Controls Association, has published LEM-7, Lighting Controls for Energy Management, a detailed guide to energy-saving lighting controls. The publication was written by Craig DiLouie, LC in support of the IES Energy Management Committee. The 48-page 8.5×11 guide, which is available for $35 (IES members) and $50 [...]

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process. The commissioning process as detailed in Standard 202 applies to all construction projects and systems and [...]

In an ideal world, clients state clear project requirements. The design team unites around a concept. The design documents clearly express the design intent. The contractor installs and starts the system without errors. And users benefit from quality lighting and control. In reality, any number of things can go wrong. The client may have unclear [...]

As demand for lighting controls continues to grow, advanced solutions are becoming increasingly specified while also becoming increasingly sophisticated. This increasing sophistication translates to greater owner benefit but can also pose greater risk of design and installation mistakes. In a perfect world, designers create clear and detailed lighting control requirements that are easily installed by [...]