Energy efficient lighting systems are moving into the market at a rapid pace. These systems utilize technologies that have been well tested and proven in the marketplace. In fact, many of these systems have been referenced in building codes and standards at the state and national level. Examples include T-8 lamps, electronic ballasts and occupancy sensors.

As energy-efficient lighting systems become current practice, new opportunities for lighting savings are emerging. Increasingly, these opportunities demand higher performance and the targeted development of technologies and practices to capture these opportunities.

Without technologies targeted at energy-efficiency gaps in the market, these opportunities will be lost.

Specific issues that will be addressed in the Lighting Performance Metrics, Codes & Standards Element are:

• Providing full lighting levels for stairwells and other low or sporadically used spaces is unnecessary and uses significant energy and peak electric demand. Few options for optimizing energy use in these types of spaces are available and there are safety, building and energy code issues related to lighting products used in these spaces. Yet, there is significant potential to eliminate the waste of lighting spaces when no one is occupying that space.

• Newly introduced electronic HID ballast/lamp systems have a significant potential for energy savings through improved efficiency and dimming control. Both performance characteristics and application specific analyses needs to be determined to enable fixture manufacturers, customers, and California energy codes to adopt these emerging technologies.

• Current outdoor luminaires contribute to night sky pollution due to non-optimized configurations. The first California outdoor lighting codes are being developed, and optimized outdoor fixtures are needed for California customers to improve energy performance and limit night sky pollution.

• One of the most significant barriers to improved and more cost effective lighting control systems is the lack of standard protocols. Industry consensus and adoption of standard and open protocols would enable many new products and control systems that could reduce energy and peak demand in California.