All,
Word on the street is that there's a new standard teams are being held to for the types of controls that are allowed in group spaces. Historically, pretty much any kind of control was allowed, including on/off switches, and the current Reference Guide seems to promote that by saying “no specific types or numbers of lighting controls are required.”
In very recent times, only more advanced controls like dimmers have been allowed. Unfortunately, there's not very much clear information about what's going to be allowed in the new lighting control world order, but I've heard that tiered lighting, dimmers, and (curiously) on/off switches + blinds to daylight window are okay.
Just a heads up, and maybe people can chime in the types of controls that seem to be getting accepted as of late.
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1979 thumbs up
March 14, 2011 - 5:35 pm
Very timely heads up, Jenny. We recently saw similar comments for this credit:
"Lighting controls must enable adjustments to suit task needs....Please provide documentation demonstrating that the group multi-occupant spaces have controls that are adjustable to suit group activities and allow flexibility in different uses. On/off controls and occupancy sensors alone are not sufficient to meet credit requirements."
Again, they're not specifying the types of controls, but this does suggest dimmers, stepped dimming, separately switched banks or zones, or bi-level switching. The BD&C Reference Guide for IEQc6.1 has a list of these controls in Figure 2 on page 524, which would seem to apply here as well.
Dan Ackerstein
PrincipalAckerstein Sustainability, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
819 thumbs up
March 16, 2011 - 4:59 pm
I've always found the occupancy sensor allowance in this credit to be odd (and inconsistent with occupant control, even if its consistent with energy savings) but I'm surprised by this kind of mid-course correction. Isn't it incumbent on USGBC/GBCI to make a formal announcement of this kind of policy change, and to exempt buildings registered before the announcement? I dare say that many projects may have elected not to change control regimes because they were considered compliant even a few weeks ago.
Andrea Marzullo
LEED SpecialistOSC/CFEEA
30 thumbs up
September 26, 2011 - 3:52 pm
I agree with Dan on the compliance issue. Anyway, this is what I have to add in this thread from my review received 9/20/2011: "Various switches for different lighting levels, dimmer switches, or a simple on/off switch accompanied by blinds on the windows are examples of acceptable lighting controls for multi-occupant spaces"