Controls, Energy + Environment, Research

Controls Friday: Typical Energy Savings for Using Advanced Lighting Controls

Craig DiLouie November 5, 2010

How much energy is saved when a building uses lighting controls? The typical answer is the ever-present lighting term, “It depends.” Research, however, is suggestive:

Space Type	Controls Type	Lighting Energy Savings Demonstrated in Research or Estimated as Potential	Study Reference
Private Office	Occupancy sensor	38%	An Analysis of the Energy and Cost Savings Potential of Occupancy Sensors for Commercial Lighting Systems, Lighting Research Center/EPA, August 2000.
	Multilevel switching	22%	Lighting Controls Effectiveness Assessment, ADM Associates for Heschong Mahone Group, May 2002.
	Manual dimming	6-9%	Occupant Use of Manual Lighting Controls in Private Offices, IESNA Paper #34, Lighting Research Center.
	Daylight harvesting (sidelighting)	50% (manual blinds) to 70% (optimally used manual blinds or automatic shading system)	“Effect of interior design on the daylight availability in open plan offices”, by Reinhart, CF, National Research Council of Canada, Internal Report NRCC-45374, 2002.
Open Office	Occupancy sensors	35%	National Research Council study on integrated lighting controls in open office, 2007.
	Multilevel switching	16%	Lighting Controls Effectiveness Assessment, ADM Associates for Heschong Mahone Group, May 2002.
	Daylight harvesting (sidelighting	40%	“Effect of interior design on the daylight availability in open plan offices”, by Reinhart, CF, National Research Council of Canada, Internal Report NRCC-45374, 2002.
	Personal dimming control	11%	National Research Council study on integrated lighting controls in open office, 2007.
Classroom	Occupancy sensor	55%	An Analysis of the Energy and Cost Savings Potential of Occupancy Sensors for Commercial Lighting Systems, Lighting Research Center/EPA, August 2000.
	Multilevel switching	8%	Lighting Controls Effectiveness Assessment, ADM Associates for Heschong Mahone Group, May 2002.
	Daylight harvesting (sidelighting)	50%	Sidelighting Photocontrols Field Study, Heschong Mahone Group, 2003.