LEED lighting

[John120/240]

I am not personally involved. Can emergency lights be hooked up to a motion sensor in a warehouse setting ? The fixtures do have battery backup. These fixtures are on the same circuit as the general lighting. These would be LED fixtures. Identifying the fixtures as "Emergency" may be part of the problem, I do not know ?

 

[GoldDigger]

Would the lights turn on automatically on power failure if the main power fails, or would the motion sensor control them at all times?

There are egress lighting (emergency?) fixtures which are switch controlled during normal operation but turn on regardless when the power fails.

 

[John120/240]

These are battery backup fixtures, so on power failure these would light.

 

[James L]

These are battery backup fixtures, so on power failure these would light.

That's a little ambiguous. A motion sensor cuts power off after a time period.

Are the battery backups designed to sense switching? Like an emergency fluorescent troffer that turns on and off with the room, yet turns on during a power outage

 

[John120/240]

That's a little ambiguous. A motion sensor cuts power off after a time period.

Are the battery backups designed to sense switching? Like an emergency fluorescent troffer that turns on and off with the room, yet turns on during a power outage

Thats a good point James. Warehouse setting. During a power outage when the motion detector sense motion, fixture lights via battery back up.

 

[GoldDigger]

Thats a good point James. Warehouse setting. During a power outage when the motion detector sense motion, fixture lights via battery back up.

I am not sure that meets the requirements for backup lighting. If the presence of the backup lights is not mandated by building code or OSHA for this setting, it should be fine. If mandated, look more closely at the requirements.

 

[James L]

The requirement is that emergency lights illuminate automatically during a power outage.

If it takes motion to activate the illumination, it's not automatic

 

[James L]

....If the presence of the backup lights is not mandated.....

That's an interesting thought

 

[GoldDigger]

One very real issue is what would happen when a person is in the area, but not in a safe position to move enough in the dark to trigger the motion sensor. I would imagine that to allow the backup to work properly a dedicated motion sensor would have to be connected only to the backup lights. Probably without as complete coverage as the sensors for the normal lighting.
Too complicated to be code acceptable.
They may exist, but I have not seen a motion sensor that takes its power from the battery backup.
Isolated DC lights yes, but not AC/DC backup light fixtures.

 

[James L]

What if the power is out because of an electrical fire, and the place is filled with smoke? Will the sensors detect motion through the smoke?

 

[John120/240]

What if the power is out because of an electrical fire, and the place is filled with smoke? Will the sensors detect motion through the smoke?

Another good point James. I have not set foot on this job. Only telephone correspondence. The fact that this is a LEED building, it is an engineered job, somebody has reviewed all possibilities.

 

[mjf]

What if the power is out because of an electrical fire, and the place is filled with smoke? Will the sensors detect motion through the smoke?

The sensors won't even sense with the power out!!

 

[Fulthrotl]

Another good point James. I have not set foot on this job. Only telephone correspondence. The fact that this is a LEED building, it is an engineered job, somebody has reviewed all possibilities.

altho common sense and LEED don't sometimes fit in the same building....
you can have a motion sensor on something and control it how you want,
as long as when the power is off to the emergency portion of the fixture
it goes on and stays on till the battery runs down or the power comes back
on, all should be well.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Another good point James. I have not set foot on this job. Only telephone correspondence. The fact that this is a LEED building, it is an engineered job, somebody has reviewed all possibilities.

many times in the LEED quagmire, the "points chase" turns into a conflicted compromise.

something with LEED, the design must be approved before construction starts, if you
want the plaque on the wall..... and changes in the design usually run afoul of the
person doing the commissioning at the end for the LEED cert.

 

[James L]

The sensors won't even sense with the power out!!

He's talking about having the battery feed the motion sensor AFTER building power is off.

I'm thinking along the lines of a security system running on battery power. Motion sensors activate horns, etc. It all runs thru the circuit boards