Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

Ready, set, here we go again. A new set of Title 24 restrictions go into effect January 1, 2020. This time, there are some big changes.

We've been diving head-first into Title 24 for years now, and one of the updates caught our eye. For the first time, healthcare facilities have to comply with California building code.

Keeping up with lighting standards and building codes can be exhausting. If you’re in California, you already have to worry about Title 24. Now, new appliance efficiency standards (also called Title 20) are in effect.

Unlike fluorescents, some linear LEDs do not need a ballast to power up and produce light. So, a lot of our customers have been asking us about the safety of just bypassing the ballast and direct-wiring their LED tubes.

Energy rebates can be a big boost for building improvement projects, like a lighting retrofit. But is the reward even worth the hassle? 

In January 2017, the most recent update of Title 24 went into effect. Since these standards were drafted in 2016, they are referred to as the 2016 standards, which can be confusing, since they actually go into effect in 2017. 

The changes may end up being pretty important to a lot of our California customers, especially those eyeing retrofit projects on the horizon.

There's a lot of confusion surrounding California's Energy Code, commonly known as Title 24. Just what is it and what kind of effect will it have on your lighting?

As you'd see published in Section 6 of the California Code of Regulations, Title 24 is a broad set of requirements for “energy conservation, green design, construction and maintenance, fire and life safety, and accessibility” that apply to the “structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems” in a building. The code applies to all buildings in California, not just state-owned buildings.

In recent years, legislatures outside of California have begun to put similar sets of code into place in their respective areas, especially when it comes to lighting.

As of Sept. 1, 2016 lighting manufacturers are required to submit all applicable products under a new set of DLC requirement updates which will go into effect for consumers on Jan. 1, 2017. Now, I don’t pretend to think that all of you reading this article know what DLC stands for and why it exists, but it will have an impact on the lighting you purchase. Let’s break that down before we dive into how these changes may impact your lighting.

We wish we could tell you that LEDs will never fail – that they will last an eternity. But we'd be liars if we spread such rumors. That is just not the case. 

Although LEDs are extremely efficient and carry very long average rated life ratings, there is nevertheless always a chance they may fail. The smartest thing you can do when looking to make an LED buy is to align yourself with a reputable LED manufacturer, so if and when something does fail, you're covered by a company that will back you with warranty and customer support – not one that recently went out of business.

We speak with clients all the time who have ruled out LED as a viable lighting option due to budgetary restraints. And we tell them all the same thing, or something similar. . . Something like: "Whoa, whoa, whoa – not so fast!" 

Let's cut to the chase. Repeat after me: I can upgrade to LED on a tight budget.

Overall, there are two main concerns that our clients tend to bring when interest in an LED project begins to form: 1) “Most LEDs look like they belong on an X-Files episode” (or something to that effect) and 2) It’s hard to get the same look of light that I currently have.