The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) recently unveiled the first draft of a new policy that puts new and significant emphasis on quality of light as a bar products must clear for inclusion on the DLC’s Qualified Products List (QPL).
The DLC is a central resource for the lighting industry, utilities and others seeking to glean more efficiency from LED technologies, informing the design of energy efficient lighting incentive programs offered by scores of utility companies across North America. Scheduled to take effect in 2020, the DLC’s new V5.0 performance specification takes a fresh tack on LEDs, underscoring the significance of “quality of light” – defined as aspects of light that impact people’s productivity, performance, comfort, mood, safety, health, wellbeing and more.
Under the policy, a product’s listing on the QPL will require reporting on attributes such as color quality, glare, flicker, and optical distribution, giving lighting decisionmakers the tools they need to identify high performing products for applications where quality of light is important.
The first draft of V5.0 is at a conceptual level and does not include detailed product requirements that will appear in the final version. As it develops the final policy, the DLC is seeking stakeholder input. Comments on the first draft are due by March 12.
The new specification will also point the LED market in a more controls-friendly direction. Since LEDs installed now may run for a decade or more, ignoring controls (such as the ability to dim, at minimum) at the time of installation could strand potential energy and cost savings for years to come.
In keeping with past practice, V5.0 will again increase minimum efficacy requirements for QPL listing. The DLC is currently conducting research to determine what level of efficacy is realistic by January 2020 without sacrificing quality of light or product reliability.
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