Codes + Standards

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published ANSI C82.77-10-2014 American National Standard for Lighting Equipment—Harmonic Emission Limits—Related Power Quality Requirements. This standard specifies harmonic limits, their methods of measurement, and power factor for lighting equipment. With the increased use of sensitive electronic equipment, harmonic distortion on power lines is an ever-increasing issue for residential, [...]

In November 2014, ASHRAE published ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The standard, which updates the previous 2011 version, covers site sustainability, water use, energy, indoor environmental quality, and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials and resources. The standard provides states and other jurisdictions a [...]

New requirements to further reduce energy and environmental impacts of buildings are contained in the 2014 version of the green building standard from ASHRAE, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society. ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2014, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, addresses the areas of site sustainability; [...]

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recently announced the publication of Recommended Practice for Roadway Lighting, RP-8-14, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved standard. The IES, as an accredited ANSI standards developer, revised RP-8-14 in accordance with ANSI consensus-based procedures. The primary purpose of this Recommended Practice is to serve as the basis for design [...]

Following preliminary analysis that ASHRAE/IES’s 2013 energy efficiency standard contains energy savings over the 2010 standard – 8.5% source energy savings and 7.6% energy savings – the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a ruling that establishes the 2013 standard as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes. In an announcement [...]

In what is surely a sign of the times, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently announced the new ASC 137 Lighting Systems Committee. This committee has received approval from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Executive Standards Council as an Accredited Standards Committee (ASC). This approval is the culmination of a multimonth process and [...]

The Illuminating Engineering Society has published two new testing procedures standards for LEDs: * IES Approved Method for Measuring Luminous Flux and Color Maintenance of LED Lamps, Light Engines, and Luminaires (LM-84-14) * Approved Method for Electrical & Photometric Measurements of High Power LEDs (LM-85-14) LM-84-14 is written to develop standard operating procedures for laboratories [...]

Preliminary analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that the ASHRAE/IES’s 2013 energy efficiency standard contains energy savings over the 2010 standard of 8.5% source energy and 7.6% site energy. This is the first step by the DOE in issuing a ruling that could establish the 2013 standard as the commercial building reference standard [...]

The Lighting Controls Association (LCA) has updated EE203: Lighting & Commercial Energy Codes, a course in its popular Education Express program. Residing at the Association’s website, Education Express provides in-depth education about lighting controls and controllable ballast technology, application, system design and commissioning. Commercial building energy codes regulate the designed energy efficiency of nonresidential buildings. [...]