Craig DiLouie, LC wrote this article for the June issue of tED Magazine. Reprinted with permission. In November 2014, ASHRAE published ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. This green building standard—picture something like LEED in mandatory code language—covers energy efficiency, site sustainability, water use, indoor environmental […]


What’s New for Lighting in LEED v4
The U.S. Green Building Council recently released the fourth generation of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. Projects can register for LEED 2009 or LEED v4 until June 1, 2015, after which LEED v4 will be required. The new LEED covers new construction, commercial interiors and existing buildings, with […]

Advanced Control Options for LEED v.4
Version 4 of the popular Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system is expected to be released at Greenbuild in November 2013. Final balloting to approve the new LEED version is expected to occur in June, so we don’t know exactly what will be contained in the new rating system. One […]

Schneider Electric Offers Whitepaper on Measurement and Verification
Schneider Electric offers a free whitepaper addressing measurement and verification of lighting systems. Measurement and verification (M&V) defines a process used to track energy performance of equipment, systems and buildings, enabling evaluation and comparison. M&V plans have become an essential element in many LEED Projects as well as many public projects. The whitepaper, authored by […]

Lighting and the International Green Construction Code
In March 2012, the International Code Council announced availability of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC), a model code for constructing and remodeling buildings to a higher sustainability standard. The IgCC establishes a baseline for new and existing construction regarding energy efficiency, water efficiency, site impacts, building waste, material source efficiency and other sustainability measures, […]

New Schneider Electric Brochure Breaks Down Energy, Cost-Saving Benefits by Meeting LEED Certification Requirements
A free brochure now available from Schneider Electric details lighting control requirements within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System™, and lighting control’s energy and cost-savings potential in the certification process. The brochure, titled “Lighting control solutions for LEED certification,” is geared to commercial building facility managers, including those in industrial, retail, healthcare and education settings, and is available online.

New DOE Web Tool Lights the Way Beyond 90.1 for Retail Buildings
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.

NEMA Premium Brand Now Includes High-Efficiency Fluorescent Electronic Ballasts for 4-Ft. T8 Lamps
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) launched the Premium Ballast program to identify the industry’s most efficient fluorescent fixed-output and dimmable electronic T8 ballasts, thereby providing a mechanism for market recognition and specification of these products.