Success with lighting controls depends on establishing clearly defined objectives and taking a disciplined approach to design and implementation. This practical guide describes four common use cases for lighting controls and outlines the implementation process, from planning through maintenance. These recommended best practices reflect the experience of practitioners and serve to reduce complexity and the likelihood of problems when installing and using lighting controls.

United States Office of Personnel Management Headquarters-Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building

Denver Water is recognized for implementing Integrated Controls for HVAC and Lighting Systems.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has more than 1,075 buildings with 137 truck station campuses across the state. MnDOT’s Cedar Avenue truck station, located in Richfield, Minnesota, provides critical roadway snow removal support within the Minneapolis metro area. It includes administrative offices, a training room, and a large breakroom, along with truck maintenance and service facilities.

The focus of this case study is to highlight the strategies used at Cedar Avenue truck station for integrating plug load and lighting systems. An integrated controls pilot project with retrofit installation was conducted from October 2019 to April 2020 and has been recognized by the Integrated Lighting Campaign in the following categories:

• Integrated Controls for Plug Loads & Lighting Systems
• Integrated Controls for HVAC & Lighting Systems

With a large portfolio of buildings, college campuses present a unique opportunity to adopt connected lighting systems for the benefit of the students, professors, administrative staff, and the public. And that’s just what both California State University, Dominguez Hills (Cal State Dominguez Hills) and the University of Minnesota did. Cal State Dominguez Hills wanted to decrease energy costs at James L. Welch Hall (Cal State), a four-story building housing multiple functions, including administrative and admission offices, classrooms, tech support, server rooms, and a police station. The University of Minnesota had similar goals for Jones Hall (UMN), one of their mixed-use buildings on campus with a combination of offices, classrooms, and public space.

This is a case study for the Tinker Air Force Base. By replacing the existing lighting with LED fixtures, this project saved more than 60% energy compared to the existing technology. This is consistent with savings of converting either fluorescent or high-intensity discharge fixtures with either new LED fixtures or retrofit kits, which typically result in at least 45% savings. The lighting controls saved between 8-23% compared to the LED baseline. Because LEDs are very efficient, the new LED baseline uses less energy. As a result, the 20%+ savings does not result in sufficient savings for a reasonable payback. However, using lighting controls to control other building systems can make the lighting and control system more cost effective.

The Integrated Lighting Campaign (ILC) confers recognition each year to organizations that are helping drive the adoption of advanced lighting systems and the integration of lighting with other buildings and business systems. Supporters (e.g., utilities, designers, ESCOs, energy efficiency organizations, and manufacturers) help the campaign identify and recruit exemplary projects that may be eligible for recognition from DOE. Learn about the new recognition categories for Participants and opportunities available to Supporters, including recognition available as an Exemplary Supporter or DEI Champion and how your products and/or services may be featured in a future case study. For more please visit Better Buildings.

This presentation from Michael Myer, Lighting Researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, covers energy savings potential for lighting systems integrated with HVAC and plug loads, reviewing findings from several field project case studies conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

This presentation from Kandice Cohen, Director of Lighting Strategy at Trane Technologies, covers the reasons integrating lighting systems is beneficial, using a “Baker’s Dozen” commercial kitchen as a case study.  Kandice discusses the integration of the connected lighting control system with the building automation system and how it meets the customer’s needs.