Individual Offices

Having one switch to turn all lights in the office on/off will not earn this credit. Adding a task light is a simple, easy way to earn this credit. I've also done it with a 3-lamp troffer in the office with two ballasts. Two switches at the door. One switch controls the 1-lamp ballast and the other controls the 2-lamp ballast. This lets you get either 0%, 33%, 67%, or 100% light levels in the space and meets the credit's requirement for multiple levels of lighting.

Hi Amy,
For an individual office with really just one occupant then you only need one light switch. I'm confused by the ruling from 2008. However, if the reviewer sees an individual office with multiple desks then they will assume that there are multiple occupants and so you'd need controllability per occupant. Or perhaps the confusion from the reviewer in 2008 was because it was a LEED-CS project without a furniture layout. It's very helpful for the reviewer to see a furniture layout so that they know how many occupants there are per room.

If you had an office that was an open office area with cubicles then you'd need to use task lights most likely to accomplish the requirements of the credit.

Yes, I am confused by this as well. Would an private office with one occupant need only 1 on/off swithc? Or do they need to have adjustable lighting such as a desk lamp, dimmer switch, or dual switch - so that they can control levels of lighting?

There seems to be alot of confusion and contridiction on this.

For many many projects that I have worked on (both recently and years ago) I have gotten credit for having one light switch for a private office space. This has worked for me assuming that it's clear to the reviewer that you have one occupant there and that they have control of their light switch.

The credit language states: "Provide individual lighting controls for 90% (minimum) of the building occupants to enable adjustments to suit individual task needs and preferences." It seems that one private office only really needs one lighting control to suit their needs.

Another important factor to consider for individual workstation lighting is the light that is often emitted from a personal computer. That light also functions like a desk light for many people. By the way, I haven't seen a reviewer accept that idea; just bringing it up as an aside.

I actually had the opposite experience as Lauren - the excerpt below came from a v2.2 project. I'm not sure if it was a rogue review comment or not because I changed my strategy for all projects that came after this one to align with these parameters. Quoting straight from the review document.....

Pending Issues: Lighitng controls for individuals (private offices and open space workstations) are described as occupancy sensors with a local switch, which does not necessarily allow the user sufficient control to adjust the lighting to meet specific task needs and that receptacles are provided to facilitate the use of task lighting; therefore the documentation does not confirm that sufficient individual lighitng controls have been provided for individual workstations.

Technical advice: Please provide a narrative that specifically indicates how the lighting can be adjusted by the individual workstation occupant to suit specific task needs. Examples include task lighting with on/off controls, dual switched lighting in private offices, or a combination of daylighting strategies that include glazing, blinds, and single on/off switches in private offices.

Interesting. I will bring this up with Tristan and the BuildingGreen team. I know that mention of occupancy sensors can be a red flag for reviewers. Reviewers want to know that you don't just have occupancy sensors in a private office but that you also have an override switch that provides the occupant the ability to turn the lights on and off. It's sounds like you had clarified that though and still had these comments.

I could see having dual switched lighting in private offices. However, the other suggestions seems extreme to me.
When do you receive this comment?

I recieved this comment the last few months of 2010 - so a while ago but post-v3. I did have projects prior to this one that had gotten through with just the on/off switches in private offices but I figured this was one of the credits where they were "tightening the screws" (or moving the goal). I am going to be really irritated if I have changed my whole approach to this credit for the 15+ projects that came after this one based on an incorrect review! Sounds like some clarification is definitely needed.

Hi Ellen,

I talked with someone else at the GBCI and they also believed that for private offices an on/off switch is a sufficient means for control but that an occupancy sensor with no override would not be acceptable. I've been told that there was some confusion on this issue a few years ago but that your reviewer comment may have been a result of those issues.

Sorry Ellen!

I wanted to share a response I received today from the GBCI:

Thank you for contacting the Green Building Certification Institute regarding the discussion of IEQc6.1 in LEEDuser.

You are correct that for private single-occupant offices an on/off switch located in the room and controlling the general lighting in the room is sufficient to meet the credit requirements for task control at an individual workstation. However, an occupancy sensor with no override would not be acceptable.

Please note for an open office, switches for the general lighting are not sufficient, unless separate controls can be provided for each individual occupant. Generally task lighting with on/off control is used to meet the credit requirements, but other forms of control could also be considered. The task lighting must be provided as part of the scope of work of the project, and simply providing receptacles for future plug-in of task lighting is not sufficient.

We hope that helps, but if you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to let Katie, know and we will be glad to assist you. Thank you for undertaking the certification of your project