This credit promotes efficient, high-performance lighting systems through increased controllability for building occupants. Allowing individuals control over the lighting levels in their workspaces can enhance their comfort, productivity, satisfaction, and overall wellbeing.

Better lighting controls can also increase the efficiency of your lighting system by focusing on task lighting rather than unnecessary ambient lighting, and can reduce energy use due to cooling loads by allowing occupants to turn off lights when leaving their space or when daylight is sufficient.

Straightforward requirements

The credit requires that you provide individual lighting controls for a minimum of 90% of building occupants, and that all shared, multi-occupant spaces be equipped with lighting controls.

In most buildings, you can satisfy the majority of credit requirements simply by providing either multi-circuit lighting or daylight harvesting with a manual override switch and some ability to control glare (like blinds or light shelves).

Optimize your design

It’s strongly recommended that you optimize the lighting system design. This could mean a combination of dimmers, occupancy and daylight sensors for multi-occupant spaces, and adjustable task lighting for individually occupied spaces. Take note, however, that dimmers, occupancy sensors and daylight sensors alone do not meet the credit requirements unless they have an override switch.

Special considerations for schools

Schools must provide individual lighting controls for 90% of administrative offices and other individual spaces that are regularly occupied. All learning spaces―such as classrooms, laboratories, and gyms―must provide lighting controls to meet group needs. In addition, all classrooms must provide two lighting levels: one for general classroom activities and another for A/V activities.