Codes + Standards

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium recently published guidelines for converting to LED roadway lighting. The Model Specification for LED Roadway Luminaires is for cities, utilities, and other local agencies interested in saving money and energy by switching from traditional lighting technologies to solid-state lighting (SSL), which uses LEDs instead of [...]

It is estimated that about 10,000 lighting ordinances are in effect in the United States alone. Many are easy to understand but difficult to comply with because they are often not written by lighting people. Ordinances may vary considerably from one to the next. The Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO), produced jointly by the Illuminating Engineering [...]

On August 10, 2011, the Utah Uniform Building Codes Commission voted to adopt the 2011 National Electrical Code. Only a single amendment was approved by the Commission: to revert to the wording in the 2005 Edition of the National Electrical Code for ampacity of service conductors and main power feeders for individual dwelling units. On [...]

Earlier this year, LightNOW reported that in July, the Department of Energy recognized the ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2007 standard as the new national energy standard, superseding the 2004 version. In a bold move, on October 19, 2011, DOE recognized the 2010 version of 90.1 as the new national energy standard. By October 18, 2013, all states in [...]

The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) has announced a new document, Projecting Long Term Lumen Maintenance of LED Light Sources (TM-21-11). The document recommends a method for projecting the lumen maintenance of LED light sources from the data obtained by the procedures found in IES document Approved Method for Measuring Lumen Maintenance of [...]

Commercial and high-rise residential buildings, including federal buildings, must now meet requirements in the ASHRAE/IES 2007 energy standard after rulings issued by the Department of Energy. Prior to the new rules, federal and commercial buildings had to meet requirements in the 2004 standard. ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, has [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it has relaunched its website, Energy.gov. The new website makes it easier for visitors to get localized information specific to their cities, counties and states on tax credits, rebates, energy saving tips and grant opportunities. The new platform utilizes the latest technologies in information visualization, bringing updated [...]

Guest post by Jim Brodrick, Department of Energy Because solid-state lighting has the potential to last longer than traditional lighting technologies, addressing product reliability or lifetime has been a key issue for SSL. So it’s not surprising that lifetime was one of the topics under discussion at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) sixth annual [...]

Following a six-month delay in implementation, Washington finally began enforcement of its 2009 energy code on January 1, 2011. The Vermont Commissioner of Public Safety and the Electricians Licensing Board announced the adoption of the Vermont Electrical Safety Rules 2011, effective June 1, 2011. On June 23, 2011, the Rhode Island Building Code Legislative Oversight [...]