Adopted on October 1, 2005, California's Title 24 mandates building energy efficiency standards for residential and non-residential buildings. Even for those living outside of California, the act makes a compelling argument in favor of compliance by reducing costs and energy consumption. By 2007, the energy standards of California have saved 56 billion dollars in electricity and are estimated to save another 23 billion by 2013.
The code will only apply to renovations, new construction, and additions begun after the date passed. As is expected with lengthy, state-mandated codes, the specifics merit personal inspection to ensure compliance. But this general introduction should get you on your way to understanding the basic concepts of the new standards with respects to outdoor lighting.
How Does It Affect Outdoor Lighting?
All exterior lighting mounted to the building or other buildings on the same lot are to be high-efficiency lighting or attached to a photocontrol or motion-sensor combination. For those unfamiliar with what exactly "high efficiency" is, primarily it excludes conventional, screw-based sockets. Your high-efficiency luminaires (read "fixtures") include pin-based sockets and some screw sockets (like metal halide lamps). If you are trying to be clever by converting a screw-based to a pin-based socket without changing the actual wiring or luminaire, you are in violation.
Parameters for "High Efficiency"
What passes for high efficiency under Title 24 is a simple baseline of lumens (unit of visible light) per watt. As wattage increases, the required amount of lumens per watt does also. So lamps (this means bulb) under 15 watts should be designed to radiate 40 lumens per watt, or 600 total lumens for a 15-watt lamp. Between 15 and 40 watts, the ratio should be 50 lumens per watt. And finally, those lamps exceeding 40 watts are to produce 60 lumens per watt. If this is all too confusing, remember that metal halide and compact fluorescent lamps usually make the mark. Mercury vapor lamps tend to fall short. If you are in doubt, you'll have to check with the manufacturer.
