Commercial Outdoor Lighting Codes
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Commercial buildings are major energy users and lighting forms the largest part of their electricity usage. There are a set of building codes that provide guidelines designed to minimize indoor and outdoor lighting. Making reductions in unnecessary lighting usage will lead to a matching reduction in electricity consumption.
The relevant codes are ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2010. The 2010 version has the objective of producing buildings that are 30% more efficient than those designed according to the 2004 version of these standards.
For exterior lighting controls, the updates include these rules:
- Exterior lighting must be automatically turned off when there is sufficient daylight
- The facade and landscape lighting of commercial buildings must be shut off between the later of midnight, or business closing and the earlier of 6am, or business opening.
- All lighting that is not for the building facade or landscape lighting must have the lighting power automatically reduced by at least 30% between the later of midnight or one hour after business closing and the earlier of 6am or business opening or after no longer than 15 minutes of inactivity.
It is now more difficult to obtain exceptions from codes such ASHRAE 90.1 LPD so more alteration projects will have to meet at least some of the requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-2010.
The 2010 code only grants exception for alterations that involve less than 10% of the connected lighting load. Any alterations of more than 10% of the lighting load must now comply with LPD and automatic lighting shut-off requirements on 90.1-2010.
