Residential Lighting Efficacy

Residential Lighting Eﬃcacy

IECC: R404.1, 202

Pro po nent : Eric Makela, Ne w Buildings Ins titute, repre s e nting Ne w Buildings Ins titute (ericM@newbuildings.org)

2018 International Energy Conservation Code

Revise as f o llo ws:

R40 4.1 Light ing equipment (Mandat o ry). Not le s s than 90 pe rcent of the permane ntly installe d lighting ﬁxture s shall

contain only high-eﬃcacy lamps .lighting sources.

HIGH-EFFICACY LAMPS.LIGHT SOURCES. Compact ﬂuore s ce nt lamps , light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, T-8 or s malle r

diameter linear ﬂuore s ce nt lamps , or other lamps with an eﬃcacy of not le s s than the following:65 lume ns pe r watt, or

luminaire s with an e ﬃcacy of not le s s than 45 lume ns per watt.

1. 1.60 lume ns pe r watt for lamps over 40 watts .

2. 2.50 lumens pe r watt for lamps over 15 watts to 40 watts .

3. 3.40 lumens pe r watt for lamps 15 watts or le s s .

Reaso n St at ement : The lighting s e ction includes a require me nt for a minimum perce ntage of "high e ﬃciency lamps ."

Howe ver, the de ﬁnition of "high eﬃcacy lamps " has not be e n updated to re ﬂe ct the change s in the market due to

incre as e d fe de ral minimums and greater availability/aﬀordability of LED lighting. Becaus e of this , the code is actually

be coming les s stringent as the bas e line for lighting e quipme nt is rais e d.

The proposal solves this proble m by updating the de ﬁnitions with lighting re quire me nts that reﬂe ct what is actually "high-

eﬃcacy" in today's market. The propos al als o s impliﬁe s the de ﬁnition by re ducing the numbe r of wattage categories. The

categorie s in the re s ide ntial code are an artifact of incande s ce nt and early compact ﬂuore s ce nt lamp wattage s . As lamps

have gotten more e ﬃcie nt, the highe r wattage categories have become les s meaningful. As lamps have gotte n more

eﬃcie nt, the highe r wattage categorie s have be come le s s me aningful. Eve n a “100W e quivale nt” LED lamp and “60W

equivale nt” CFL lamps ge ne rally us e s 15W or le s s , which is the lowe r category in the e xisting deﬁnition. As a result, the

categorie s have be come largely meaningle s s .

The proposal als o accommodates high e ﬃcacy luminaires . Many luminaires on the marke t do not include lamps and

include integrated LEDs ins tead. The way the current code language is writte n, the s e e ﬃcie nt lighting products cannot be

us e d to me e t the lighting e ﬃcie ncy require me nts in the code . The propos al change s the te rm in the de ﬁnition to be more

inclus ive , adds an eﬃcacy re quireme nt for integrated luminaire s , and updates the code language to reﬂe ct this update.

Co st Impact : The code change propos al will incre as e the cos t of cons truction

This change could potentially incre as e the cos t of cons truction be caus e it re quire s highe r eﬃcacy lighting (lamps and/or

ﬁxture s ), which will like ly eliminate s ome lowe r-end CFL options and/or pus h builde rs to newer LED technologie s . Howe ver,

the cos t of LEDs has be en s teadily de clining over the las t s e veral years and is e xpe cted to continue to de cline . Bas e d on

an analysis by the U.S. Departme nt of Ene rgy’s Building Ene rgy Codes Program conducted during the 20 18 IECC Code

De velopme nt cycle, the estimated and proje cted prices for LEDs were $4.84 pe r lamp compare d to CFLs at $3.10 pe r

lamp. Howe ver, the rapid expans ion of the LED lighting marke t has change d the e conomics. A s pot che ck of Home Depot

in e arly 2019 s howe d that a warm white, 60W equivale nt A-lamp is as low as $1.24 for both CFL and LED whe n purchas e d

in packs. And, LEDs are actually che ape r than CFLs at s ome source s . At 1000bulbs .com, on online retaile r, the s ame

lamps are $1.79/bulb for CFL and $0.99 for LED. The refore , this code change may actually re duce the cos t of construction.

Residential Lighting Eﬃcacy