Codes + Standards

The Public Comment Draft #1 of the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code Commercial Provisions was released on September 6, 2022. With buildings currently representing 39% of U.S. carbon emissions, leading jurisdictions recognize the importance of using building codes and performance policies to respond to the effects of climate change and reduce future risks.

A new model code from the New Buildings Institute (NBI) is designed to help cities tackle emissions, specifically from the large stock of existing buildings. The model code Existing Building Decarbonization Code was published on Sept. 19, 2022. It is considered an overlay to the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and an addition to the Building Decarbonization Code published by NBI in 2020.

A British emergency lighting manufacturer, Mackwell, shared the following information with LightNOW on how the emergency lighting industry in England is contributing to the evolving circular economy.

The Technical Committee TC2-80 of the CIE has prepared a new technical report on the spectroradiometric measurement of optical radiation sources. The document, published as CIE 250:2022, supersedes the almost 40-year-old report CIE 063-1984.

In February, 2022, Zhaga approved Book 25 “NFC Readers with Bluetooth Interface for In-Field Programming”. This new Zhaga specification defines a Bluetooth Low Energy communication protocol for the communication between the field-maintenance application on a smart device and the Near Field Communication (NFC) reader.

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recently introduced four new standards documents addressing current challenges that face the lighting industry – navigating near-field photometry, standardizing iterations of lighting controls intent, the importance of UV lighting, and promoting a balanced outdoor environment.

IES has released the latest version of its ANSI/IES RP-8-21: Roadway and Parking Facility Lighting Standard. This standard covers all aspects of roadway lighting, including streets and roadways, parking lots, intersections, toll plazas, tunnels, and work zones.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published a new white paper NEMA LS 20003-2021 Standby Power Measurements for LED Drivers—Recommended Allowances for Feature Sets Other Than Lighting, for LED driver manufacturers and testing laboratories.

A variety of new and updated ANSI standards address topics as diverse as sky glow, UV-LED Performance, expanded digital lighting control, and tunable-white SSL products. Below are quick summaries of each one, with links to more information.