Lighting Power Density-Multiple Bldg Types within one building

Our Multipurpose Building is a new NCAA Division II, national broadcast basketball, academic, and exercise center for the campus. The athletic events are student-run from A/V systems to catering to lighting, and more. Not only does the basketball facility function as an NCAA game arena, but also is a live learning center for students in the department of Mass Communications. The entire building is used for educational puposes. Students also will be using the catering kitchen for classes. The practice gym is connected to the campus exercise center and may be used for intramural sports as well as physical education classes. For the reasons presented, the whole building was assigned as a “School/University” according to ASHRAE/ANSI/IES Standard 90.1 definitions. As a single building type of “School/University,” the project is under the lighting power density energy budget by 7%. This classification was deemed not appropriate in our first review by USGBC, so an alternate compliance method was examined. The whole building can be broken down into four types according to ASHRAE/ANSI/IES Standard 90.1: Exercise Center, School/University, Gymnasium, and Sports Arena. Each building area type is able to be separated by locked doors within the facility. This approach poses a new question – do each of those building areas have to meet the lighting power density energy code individually, or can it be combined as a weighted average? If the total lighting power for the four building types is combined, the building is under the total allowable power density by 6%. However, if you look at each building area individually, the “Exercise Center” and “Gymnasium” classifications are over budget, but the “Sports Arena” and “School/University” are under budget. Reasons for being over budget in the “Exercise Center” include having a high lighting level requirement coupled with high ceiling heights. The “Gymnasium” is over budget because it is designed to replicate the NCAA-required light levels (over 100fc instead of 70fc) for university basketball practice.