Codes + Standards

In my June contribution to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, I describe what’s new and other major lighting requirements in the 2016 version of the ASHRAE/IES 90.1 energy standard. The new standard focuses on energy-saving opportunities with LED technology and controls. Check it out here.

ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C78, Electric Lamps, recently published ANSI C78.52-2017 American National Standard for Electric Lamps—LED (Light Emitting Diode) Direct Replacement Lamps—Method of Designation. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) serves as secretariat for the standard. ANSI C78.52 is a new lighting standard on how to designate LED lamps that are direct replacements for [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently published NEMA 77-2017 Temporal Light Artifacts: Test Methods and Guidance for Acceptance Criteria. Temporal Light Artifacts (TLA) are undesired changes in visual perception induced by a light stimulus whose luminance or spectral distribution fluctuates with time, such as flicker and stroboscopic effect. This new lighting standard makes recommendations [...]

The California Lighting Technology Center’s Nonresidential Lighting and Electrical Power Distribution Guide for the 2016 Building Energy Efficiency Standards is now available. The guide was written to help builders and lighting industry professionals navigate the nonresidential lighting and electrical power distribution portions of California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6). The updated Energy [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently published NEMA 77-2017 Temporal Light Artifacts: Test Methods and Guidance for Acceptance Criteria. Temporal Light Artifacts (TLA) are undesired changes in visual perception induced by a light stimulus whose luminance or spectral distribution fluctuates with time, such as flicker and stroboscopic effect. This new lighting standard makes recommendations [...]

The ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C81 recently revised two standards for the lighting industry: ANSI C81.61-2017 American National Standard for Electric Lamp Bases—Specifications for Bases (Caps) for Electric Lamps and ANSI C81.62-2017 American National Standard for Electric Lampholders. These standards present specifications for lamp bases and holders, and now include G6.6 designations. “The tubular LED [...]

In this article published in LEDs Magazine, Mark Rea, Director of the Lighting Research Center, and Jean Paul Freyssinier, Senior Research Scientist for the LRC, propose a new definition for the lumen. This lumen should be used in product regulations instead of CRI, as CRI arguably does not align to consumer preferences for color rendering. [...]

The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) has updated its Residential Lighting Guide for California’s 2016 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The guide assists builders and lighting industry professionals in navigating the residential lighting portion of California’s Title 24, Part 6. The updated Energy Standards take effect on January 1, 2017. The Residential Lighting Guide is sponsored [...]

Researchers at several universities have proposed a standard lamp label specifically geared to horticultural applications. From Urban AG News, which has the story: The label includes the efficacy (output of photosynthetically active radiation per unit of electric power consumed measured in micromoles per joule (μmol/J), conversion efficiency, photon flux output in key wavebands in 100 [...]