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In a typical hospital or school, lighting is often the single-largest consumer of electric power, often accounting for more than 30% of a building’s total energy cost. That should not be a surprise–lights are critical to facilitate learning in a school, and in a hospital, lighting can literally mean the difference between life and death. In both environments, lighting also plays a major role in maintaining safety.

Today’s advanced lighting control systems have transformed this common gray box into the hub of an intelligent system that provides a connection between the lighting system, lighting control input devices and the facility’s power management system.

There are many ways to improve a building’s energy efficiency, and some are more costly than others. For example, boiler or chiller upgrades can be a major capital investment. However, technological advances in lighting control made in recent years can help a facility manager easily and cost-effectively manage lighting loads, while improving lighting levels and, of course, safety. The Internet is fast becoming a preferred means of achieving this, by offering the facility manager the ability to optimize the performance of the system, matching light levels to the needs of individual classrooms, conference rooms, offices or exterior lights.

Incentives Abound
Because lighting control can play a crucial role in reducing energy consumption and cost, it makes sense that new legislative and program requirements would both include and encourage lighting control. One of the most prominent is the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), which contains a variety of tax incentives for commercial buildings. For example, a deduction can be gained by adding energy-efficient measures like lighting control within the period of 12/31/05 to 12/31/07, though Congress recently extended that deadline by one year.

Another example is the state of California’s Title 24 energy code, the latest incarnation of which requires not only automatic shut-off controls, but also daylight control. Still another is the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program, administered by the U.S. Green Buildings Council. There are several LEED® certification programs available, including those for new construction (LEED-NC) and existing buildings (LEED-EB). Various certification levels within both are achieved by meeting prerequisites and accruing supplemental credit points in several areas.

Thus, there are external incentives to increase energy efficiency through lighting control, but it bears mentioning that school and hospital buildings are unique environments that can reduce the effectiveness of lighting efficiency strategies that are used in other commercial buildings. Schedule-based lighting control is effective in a retail store or industrial facility because it automatically turns lights on during normal business hours and off at the end of the day. Occupancy sensors and override switches allow for flexibility for those who have to come in early or work late.

But it is different in a hospital. A whole-building lighting schedule will not work as well due to the variety of areas in a hospital and their individual lighting needs. For example, surgical areas and the emergency room have different lighting requirements than administrative areas or the cafeteria. Obviously, lights cannot go off during a life-saving procedure. Additionally, hospitals also deal with the same “human factors” that every other commercial building faces. Who has not forgotten to turn the lights off when they have left a room? But in a large facility like a hospital, depending on busy nurses or support staff to turn off lights in a wing or other areas in an attempt to save energy simply is not feasible.

School buildings face similar challenges, due to the very nature of the academic environment, particularly at the collegiate level. Research goes on at all hours of the day, and the resultant breakthroughs can alter the course medicine, science and hundreds of other pursuits. But in order for that to occur, the lights must be on, or looked at another way, colleges and universities cannot assume that students will complete their day’s work at a given hour. It is also impractical to expect students (and professors, for that matter) to hit the lights on their way out of a lab or a wing.

Enabled Through the Internet
This does not imply, however, that hospitals and schools are so unique that any attempt to increase lighting efficiency to save money or meet code or LEED requirements would be in vain. In reality, the opportunity for energy savings realized through control of lighting is often available at the fingertips of a facility manager, and facilitated through the ubiquitous lighting panelboard.

Historically, a panelboard has been viewed as a gray box that was installed and forgotten. However, today’s advanced lighting control systems have transformed this common gray box into the hub of an intelligent system that provides a connection between the lighting system, lighting control input devices and the facility’s power management system. Some panelboards now contain Web-enabled controllers which initiate commands made through the facility’s Local Area Network (LAN) and remotely operate circuit breakers, relays and dimming modules, turning lights on and off according to occupancy, schedules or load shed commands. Intelligent panelboards are even being used in conjunction with critical power systems to shed non-essential loads in the event of a power outage.

That is just the beginning. Another feature is the ability to integrate the lighting control system with other building systems. Sub-metering equipment is often connected to the intelligent lighting control panelboard through the panelboard’s RS-485 serial port. Access to these meters is subsequently available via a Web browser, with the controller acting as a gateway and converting serial data into IP data available at the control module’s Ethernet port. In addition to providing the ability to adjust schedules remotely, facility managers can view operational status, power consumption and demand at any time–on site or at home, during the work week or on the weekend. Some systems are also savvy enough to automatically send an e- mail to the facility manager when a breaker trips, a re-lamping project should be instituted, an unauthorized override occurs or any one of multiple pre-set parameters.

What are the implications of Webenabled lighting control for hospitals and schools? First, occupancy can be predicted in some areas, such as in cafeterias, office spaces and retail kiosks. In these spaces, a schedule can be used to shut off lights during non- occupied periods. Should schedules evolve, the facility manager can quickly make the corresponding changes to the lighting schedule from the convenience of a standard Web browser. Parking garages are another area where substantial energy savings can be achieved by switching off perimeter lighting when sufficient daylight exists. By using a photo control in conjunction with these intelligent panelboards, lighting automatically switches off when the ambient footcandles exceed a preset level.

A similar tact is often used for hallway and lobby lighting where windows are present and the abundance of natural light is more than sufficient.

The Web-enabled lighting control trend is growing because hospitals and schools typically already have a sophisticated LAN, due to evolving data requirements. The healthcare industry has been moving toward paperless charting, for example, so with a robust LAN already in place, it does not make sense to have a dedicated network for lighting, with proprietary software and cable, along with the need to find room for another workstation in the facility manager’s office. With multiple buildings on a school or hospital campus, it is faster for a facility manager to be able to make changes from one central point–any computer connected to the Internet–instead of running from building to building to manually alter lighting schedules in control modules...particularly if the facilities budget precludes hiring of extra staff.

Multiple Options
Web-enabled lighting control can be the flagship technology for energy and cost savings for a hospital or school that wishes to increase its energy efficiency and cost savings, meet code requirements, secure EPAct 2005 tax deductions or qualify for LEED certification. However, it is not the only technology that should be considered. Localized daylighting panels used in conference rooms, suites or foyers integrate natural light with artificial light in those and similarly confined areas. These panels can be configured to allow in only a certain amount of daylight before artificial lights turn on, thus reducing heat gain but capitalizing on the natural light. Plus, they can be integrated into a Webenabled lighting control system, so they can be controlled via the Internet.

Both hospitals and schools can be considered critical power environments, and while it might seem challenging to conserve energy and reduce cost, it does not have to be. The first step for a facility manager should be to work with their local electrical contractor or consulting engineer, as appropriate, to investigate suppliers that  have a diversified portfolio of product, including Web-enabled lighting panelboards, building automation and power management systems, and electrical distribution equipment. In addition to becoming one- stop shopping, such suppliers can provide individualized feedback on what solutions best fit the facility manager’s needs.

Scott Jordan joined Square D/Schneider Electric in 1978 and has worked in the company’s lighting control business since 1992. He can be reached at scott.jordan@us.schneider-electric.com.

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