Outdoor Lighting Controls

Measure Description

The objectives of this CASE Report are to propose code changes that clarify and streamline requirements, update definitions, and broaden the existing mandatory outdoor lighting controls requirements. While the proposed code language offers simplifications, it includes all the major requirements that currently exist in the 2016 code: requirements for all outdoor lighting be off during the day; motion-based control requirements for lighting mounted lower than 24 feet in parking lots, gas station canopies, gas station hardscape, and retail sales lots; and scheduling or motion-based control requirements for all other applications. This proposal would increase energy savings while increasing flexibility for compliance. The key elements of this proposal are:

• Eliminating specific requirements for incandescent lighting systems. These systems will still be subject to all the requirements of other systems.
• Clarifying that part night controls are an acceptable method of turning lights off during daytime hours.
• Requiring that scheduling controls reduce lighting power by at least 50 percent during normally unoccupied periods, which are similar to the requirements in ASHRAE 90.1. This requirement can be met by turning all lights completely OFF during normally unoccupied periods, but the control system must be capable of reducing power between 50 percent and 90 percent. This can be accomplished by having two or more independently scheduled ON/OFF control channels or by dimming lighting according to a schedule, or some combination of the two.
• Acceptance tests will verify that control systems are reducing power appropriately during the normally occupied periods and normally unoccupied periods at night. If the normally occupied and normally unoccupied periods are not declared, the system shall be configured and tested with a default normally unoccupied period of midnight to 6 am. This default schedule is aligned with the scheduling requirements in ASHRAE 90.1.
• For luminaires mounted lower than 24 feet in parking lots, gas station canopies, gas station hardscape, and retail sales lots, bi-level motion sensing controls shall reduce lighting power of each luminaire by at least 50 percent when no motion is detected in the area for longer than 15 minutes, during normally occupied periods. This requirement is similar to the requirements in ASHRAE 90.1. In this proposal, the wattage threshold of 75 watts was dropped and the scope for general hardscape lighting was reduced to cover only parking lots. In the cost-effectiveness portion of the report, the Statewide CASE Team found that motion sensors were cost-effective if they controlled greater than 30 watts of outdoor lighting load. These lighting systems must be capable of reducing the power of each luminaire by 75 percent to 90 percent during vacancy.
• Energy savings of the bi-level control requirements are increased by requiring the total wattage of these applications must be reduced by at least 75 percent when there is no activity detected for at least 15 minutes during after-hours periods. This energy reduction target can be achieved several different ways, including:
  • Motion sensing controls dim luminaires by at least 75 percent (including off) during all nighttime hours when no activity is detected
  • Motion sensing controls dim luminaires by at least 50 percent of power within 15 minutes when no activity is detected and dim luminaires by at least 75 percent of power within 60 minutes when no activity is detected
  • Motion sensing controls dim luminaires by 50 percent of power during normally occupied periods when no activity is detected and dim luminaires by at least 75 percent of power during normally unoccupied periods when no activity is detected (i.e., scheduling control resets motion sensor minimum dimming level)
  • Turn half of the luminaires OFF with a scheduling control and the rest of the luminaires remain controlled by motion sensing controls that dim luminaires to 50 percent of power when no activity is detected
  • Various combinations of motion sensing control dimming levels and fraction of wattage dimmed or turned off by scheduling controls
• The maximum wattage that can be controlled together by a motion sensing control is dropped from 1,500 Watts to 600 Watts to reflect lower wattage densities required to light outdoor applications.
• Timed manual overrides lasting no more than two hours can be used to turn lights on at night. No more than 1,800 Watts can be controlled per manual control.
• Separate control requirements for Outdoor Sales Frontage, Building Facades, Ornamental Hardscape and Outdoor Dining are removed. This serves to streamline the code language, as the differences for these applications were not substantive enough to necessitate the added code complexity.
• Lighting retrofit language was reworded to better convey the intent.

Resources

The Statewide CASE Team 2019 Title 24, Part 6 Final CASE Report is available below. The Final CASE Report incorporates feedback received during utility-sponsored stakeholder meetings, Energy Commission Pre-Rulemaking workshops, and personal communication with stakeholders.

Presentations and Meetings

1. Presentation from September 2016 Stakeholder Meeting
2. Notes from September 2016 Stakeholder Meeting
3. Presentation from March 2017 Stakeholder Meeting
4. Notes from Stakeholder Meeting on March 30, 2017

Code Language

1. Tri-Level Draft Code Language
2. Outdoor Lighting Controls Draft Code Language

Reports

1. Needs Assessment Report
2. CASE Study Results Report
3. Final CASE Report
4. Draft CASE Report