Lighting Levels & Regulations

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tryinghard

tryinghard

Senior Member
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California
I do notice IEEE standards for lighting levels but still wonder how/if lighting levels are actully regulated.
  • How does the NEC address lighting levels?

  • Are there other regulatory agencies that specify lighting levels like OSHA??
 
The NEC only cares that you provide enough power to give a minimum amount of light. It does not control how much light is needed in any given location. The standards for lighting levels are provided by the Illumination Engineering Society:
http://www.iesna.org/
 
light levels

light levels

the Life Safety Code and the International Building Code regulate light levels for EXIT and EGRESS lighting
 
raberding said:
the Life Safety Code and the International Building Code regulate light levels for EMERGENCY and EGRESS lighting
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Emergency lighting is a minimum of 0.1 fc and an average of 1.0 fc with Max:Min of 40:1.
Egress lighting is a minimum of 1.0 fc along the path of egress during normal conditions.
There is also an elevator Code that mandates 10 fc in the elevator pit.
Those are the only Code required levels I know of.

The Illumination Engineering Society is a list of suggestions. It's not Code unless someone adopts all or part of it as a building Code.

Some organizations have their own standards. I had a high school swim coach keep telling me he wanted 100 fc on the pool. That it was a requirement for all competition pools. I had designed it at 50 fc and thought it was pretty good. Doubling it would hurt my Energy Code compliance. So I looked into it and found there was a 100 fc standard, but it was only for Olympic level competition pools. So he got 50 fc and the pool looks great.

Just because someone says something is a requirement doesn't mean it's true.
 
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I will make this comment. With all the "green" (urp) incentives and energy conservation budgets that have been coming down the pike, the resultant "recommended" lighting levels - in my opinion - are way too low for the general population. Most people over 40 or so need MORE light, not LESS!!! This is a pet peeve of mine.


RC
 
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[*]Are there other regulatory agencies that specify lighting levels like OSHA…?[/list]
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I couldn't fine it right off, I know or thought there was some level of light requirement in a "construction zone"!

In the mean time you can go here for OSHA's E-Tools

Be Safe then be Sure!
 
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Thanks cadpoint, through this OSHA site I notice 1926.56 ?Illumination? it actually say?s ?General. Construction areas, ramps, runways, corridors, offices, shops, and storage areas shall be lighted to not less than the minimum illumination intensities listed in Table D-3 while any work is in progress? and then minimally lists
  • 5fc for ?General construction area lighting?
  • 5fc for ?Indoors: warehouses, corridors, hallways, and exitways?
  • 10fc for ?General construction plant and shops??
  • 30fc for ?First aid stations, infirmaries, and offices.?
Can this be the regulation for shops and offices not under construction?
 
tryinghard said:
Title 24 is adopted by California?s Energy Commission (2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards), but I understand these standards to be about lowering and minimizing the use of electricity rather than qualifying the minimum level of lighting for safety reasons in particular applications.
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Well in part, but it's also about using the light in a more efficient manner. Why put a 100w down light every eight feet in a hallway when you can get by with 15w of high efficacy lighting, or using F40T12's whe you can use T8's.

There is a standard about how much light you should have at a work station or on an assembly line, etc., but I don't remember where it is. Part of the point of Title 24 is to use the lighting correctly. Put the lights over the work stations where they'll do the most good. You can obtain the same light levels using more efficient lights now.

My point being and we come up against it every day, is that T24 in CA will dictate your light levels to a point. Never mind what the client likes or wants you are bound by state law. And again there are ways to optimize the lighting and T24 gives you these options, but it's a lot of work.
 
cowboyjwc said:
Well in part, but it's also about using the light in a more efficient manner. Why put a 100w down light every eight feet in a hallway when you can get by with 15w of high efficacy lighting, or using F40T12's whe you can use T8's.

There is a standard about how much light you should have at a work station or on an assembly line, etc., but I don't remember where it is. Part of the point of Title 24 is to use the lighting correctly. Put the lights over the work stations where they'll do the most good. You can obtain the same light levels using more efficient lights now.

My point being and we come up against it every day, is that T24 in CA will dictate your light levels to a point. Never mind what the client likes or wants you are bound by state law. And again there are ways to optimize the lighting and T24 gives you these options, but it's a lot of work.
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John, There are two distinctively different items in discussion here 1) lighting level [foot-candles/lumens] & 2) energy consumption.

Title 24 may include verbiage about foot-candles but I do not believe it exist to regulate lighting levels whatsoever. I do believe it exists exclusively to regulate energy consumption and items like air conditioning, lighting and such are only a result of Title 24?s application. I am ready to eat crow on this - I emailed my question to the Title 24 question link at their website above and will reply with their answer.

It does appear, at a glance, OSHA may regulate lighting levels though notice their link above.
 
Iesna

Iesna

the illuminating society of engineers handbook provides foot candle illumination levels based on the space and the task required, I would start there and I agree that that title 24 and ASHRAE 90.1 discuss "energy usage" and a maximum wattage for a space by space method or room-by-room method keep in mind this is not lamp wattage but luminaire wattage including the ballast etc.. The other place to look is the local officials I know here in Michigan the Department of Consumer & Industry Services for healthcare facilities has footcandle requirements for corridors, exam rooms, nurse stations, etc. sometimes above and beyond some recommendations, and strictly enfiorced. hope this helps..
 
I havent had a problem meeting FC levels as indicated by IES handbooks while following title 24 here in CA. Download an IES reader online and grab the footcandle distribution files from your favorite manuf. website so you can plot out the illumination levels.
I've also done calculations for LEED certifications here in california, where if you show certain levels of reductions (15%, 25% & 35%) from their base energy consumption standard (Watts/sq. ft.) you get a special building certification. An interesting point has been, in my experience, that if title-24 is followed, you will pretty much automatically land in a Gold LEED certification category (25% reduction).
 
tryinghard said:
John, There are two distinctively different items in discussion here 1) lighting level [foot-candles/lumens] & 2) energy consumption.

Title 24 may include verbiage about foot-candles but I do not believe it exist to regulate lighting levels whatsoever. I do believe it exists exclusively to regulate energy consumption and items like air conditioning, lighting and such are only a result of Title 24?s application. I am ready to eat crow on this - I emailed my question to the Title 24 question link at their website above and will reply with their answer.

It does appear, at a glance, OSHA may regulate lighting levels though notice their link above.
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Maybe I'm not making it clear and that's always a possiblity. I think Mikeo1 explained it a little better.

I'm just saying that if your building only allows 1000 watts of lighting per title 24, but you need / want a light level of 100 lumens on each work surface, you can get there. Lets's say that your 100 lumens comes to 1010 watts of lighting, you are going to have to find a more efficient way of doing it.

From what I have seen, following Title 24, will give you more than enough light for what you need to do. You just may have to do a different method of calulating your wattage, such as area catagory vs. whole building or maybe even visa versa.
 
foodservice

foodservice

and don't forget the local Health Departments...usually have a min of level for Food Prep worksurfaces. I seem to recall 50 fc.
 
One problem I do have with Title 24 is having to consider full rating of a transformer for LV lighting. I've had clients ask for some fancy downlighting to match their other corp. offices in bathrooms (above sink), etc. and a lot of the times there's only two of so required but the mfg. provides only 50W-100W transformers. I guess it is easy to add lights after T24 is passed since the capacity is there, but going by the logic its pretty easy to do anything you want after permits are pulled and inspections are accepted.
 
Is there a conversion from foot/candles to Fstop or EV so one can use a standard photographic light meter?
 
My question to California Energy Commission: Does the California Energy Commission and Title 24 exist in a way to control lighting levels, or does it exist to control energy usage?
  • ?Indoor lighting is one of the single largest consumers of energy (kilowatt-hours) in a commercial building, representing about a third of electricity use (Source IEQ RFP, December 2002, California Energy Commission No. 500-02-501). The objective of the Standards is the effective reduction of this energy use, without compromising the quality of lighting or task work.?
  • ?The primary mechanism for regulating indoor lighting energy under the Standards is to limit the allowed lighting power in watts installed in the building.?
These two quotes from The Calif Energy Commission website. And From Administrative Regs Calif Code of Regs ?This article contains administrative regulations relating to the energy building regulations in Title 24...?
 
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