I'm working on a CI 2009 platinum-seeking restaurant, shooting for all three points in this credit. Here's the catch: it doesn't make sense for us to put occupancy sensors in the dining room, bar, and kitchen, as these areas will be occupied during all business hours, and even if a space cleared out we would not want the lights to turn off for business purposes. Can we interpret the 75% requirement to apply only to non regularly occupied spaces, or is this point only attainable if we add unusable sensors? Thanks very much!
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James Weiner
PrincipalCollaborative Project Consulting
52 thumbs up
February 1, 2011 - 1:32 am
Hi Max,
I've designed plenty of restaurants where there would have been purpose to occupancy sensors in both the front and back of the house. There are times when it would be an energy efficiency measure to have an occupancy triggered control to turn off some lighting. Restaurant spaces are occupied by light staff during plenty of hours when the restaurant isn't open to the public. It would be useful to assure that lighting is controlled to a service scene that might use less power than the full show for the public.
Occupancy sensors are inexpensive and have a pretty quick payback even in spaces that see little use. If your project is in certain jurisdictions, incentives and tax deductions cut the cost for occupancy sensors to something pretty nominal. I believe you're in the Pacific Northwest - you might check out Seattle City Light's program - http://www.seattle.gov/light/conserve/business/cv5_fi.htm.
Remind your client that the most expensive thing in a restaurant isn't an energy efficiency measure - it's an empty seat. So put in a few basic controls and focus on the food!
Good luck!