We have a traditional dormitory project, where each 170 sf room will house two students, each with a bed, desk and built in cabinet-type closet. Our lighting scheme consists of two types of LED lights - near the outside of the room there is a 2x4 fixture, and closer to the door (near the desks and closet) there is a can light on either side of the room. The can lights are switched together, and the 2x4 is switched separately. Both circuits are fully dimmable, allowing the students many different lighting levels without the use of separate task lights.
Is this level of control sufficient to meet the credit requirements, or will the school be required to provide task lighting at each student desk?
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 5:24 pm
LEED review team H just gave me this comment on a dorm project: Bedrooms (as well as beds or desks within dormitory rooms) are considered individual type spaces. Note that each bed included in each dorm room must be considered an individual workstation (e.g., two beds in one dorm room should be considered as two individual workstations). Task lighting must be provided as part of the scope of work of the project; providing receptacles only, for the future plug-in of task lighting, is not sufficient.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 5:25 pm
If they require them for each bed I'd think they'd require them for each desk. This credit is way too unclear. The IEQ space type matrix leaves a lot of gray area. I find it very difficult to design to meet this credit since there is so much gray area.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 5:26 pm
I emailed leedinfo@usgbc.org in November 2014 about this exact question but they never answered me.
Laura Brandt
Mechanical EngineerLuckett & Farley
6 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 5:31 pm
There is definitely a lot of gray area. I was/am hoping that providing one zone of lighting over the beds and another over the desks/dressing areas would qualify. The school does not want to purchase task lights because the students typically take them home at the end of the year. I would think that in a 170 sf room three fixtures and two fully dimmable zones for two occupants would meet the intent of the credit, but everything I can find is specifically referencing task lighting.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 5:43 pm
Yeah. 170 sf is so small too. Having four task lights in a two- person "double" dorm room seems kind of excessive to me but hey, I guess all the task lights would be nice if you really didn't get along with your roommate and wanted to control your own personal space. You wouldn't have to fight over who controls the dimmer. I stayed at a hostel in the pacific northwest once and they had really cool task lights integrated into the bunk beds. It was definitely nice. I don't think it was an off-the-shelf product though. At some point when the credit becomes too nitpicky you don't really cause people to design a better lighting strategy, you just cause people to just abandon the credit!
Samuel Nation
PE, LEED AP B D + CDVPE
3 thumbs up
January 8, 2015 - 6:36 pm
In my opinion, the space matrix requires these desks to be individual workstations. Therefore, you are required to have task lighting/desk lamp at the desk unless each occupant has control of the lights in their station (e.g. switch for a fixture over desk). Dimming lights in the whole space doesn't give the individual control of their space. Desk lamps are an accepted fix but not the only one.
Kathryn West
LEED AP BD+C, O+M, Green Globes ProfessionalJLL
154 thumbs up
January 12, 2015 - 1:55 pm
I just got some useful feedback from the GBCI that made sense to me. They said that a double dorm room with two desks would comply if you had a desk light at each desk. No requirement for task lights at the beds (phew!).
If you want to provide it as design feature, it would definitely be nice for the task lights to be movable so a student could use the same task light at their desk and potentially move it to their bed.
I don't think overhead dimming would count because it is a general illumination strategy and not specific enough to the individual occupants.
Larissa Oaks
Specialist, LEEDUSGBC
LEEDuser Expert
67 thumbs up
February 2, 2015 - 11:46 am
Hi Laura,
yes, your lighting approach is reasonable and meets the intent of the credit.
Laura Brandt
Mechanical EngineerLuckett & Farley
6 thumbs up
February 2, 2015 - 11:49 am
Thanks for the feedback!
Laura Brandt
Mechanical EngineerLuckett & Farley
6 thumbs up
September 25, 2015 - 12:58 pm
We just received feedback from the reviewer on our approach, which was not accepted. Our narrative read:
"As you can see on the dormitory lighting plans provided, There are two can lights and one 2x4 light fixture in each dorm room, which are approximately 170 SF each. All three lights are LED. The two can lights are located over the desks and are switched together. The 2x4 is centered over the beds and is on an individual circuit. (refer to uploaded file "Dormitory Furniture Plan - A1.1.pdf" Both circuits are fully dimmable, giving both residents a large control range over the lighting levels in the room, whether they are studying at their desks or are at their beds. We believe this is an extensive amount of lighting control for the dorm occupants in a small, 170 SF space. This lighting scheme meets the requirements and intent of this credit without the need for additional school-provided task lighting. Switched outlets are also provided if students desire to add desk lamps."
The response of the reviewer was:
"The narrative states that there is one 2x4 fixture on its own dimmer switch and that there are two can lights, one over each of the two desks in the double-occupancy dorm rooms, switched together on a single dimmer switch. The narrative asserts that sufficient individual lighting controllability has been provided. However, since both can lights are on the same switch and cannot be controlled separately, there is only a single lighting control provided for two individual workstations, which does not meet the intent or requirements of this credit. Note that general illumination controls in shared spaces with multiple individual workstations (such as these dorm rooms with two desks) cannot be considered individual lighting controls. Although there are two lighting zones on dimmers (2x4 fixture and can lights) for the general illumination, this combination of fixtures and switches does not allow the individual occupants of the two individual desks to have individual lighting control independent of the other desk and does not meet the requirement of the credit to provide individual lighting controls to enable adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences."
It seems to me from the response that the approach may have been accepted if the two can lights were on individual dimming switches, so that there was individual control at each desk. However, it is possible they may still have considered this a "general illumination strategy."
I know we are getting down to semantics, but we truly feel as a team that the level of control through two dimmable circuits in a 170 sf room is sufficient. If the students were to rearrange their furniture, they could in fact have one desk under a can light and one under the 2x4, at which point they would have individual control at each workstation.
My question here is regarding the switched outlets. Are the outlets which allow students to provide their own task lighting at their desks ever sufficient to meet the credit requirements?
Our project certification is not riding on this credit, so we will not appeal, but I am trying to better understand if anything meets the requirements of this credit other than dedicated school-provided task lighting at the desks.
Sorry for the novel, and thanks for any feedback in advance!