Title-24 Question of the Week
Question:
I’m adding six new lighting fixtures in a remodeled enclosed office in an existing commercial tenant space. I’m also replaced five out of twenty existing lighting fixtures in the existing portion of the tenant space. Will all of the lighting fixtures, existing & new, be required to be included in the Title-24 compliance report?
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Answer:
In this situation the answer hinges on the 50% rule.
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Within the Title-24 Standards alterations or renovations to existing conditioned spaces have their own set of rules for energy compliance.
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In summary, the alterations rules are:
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1. The Standards apply only to those portions of the systems being altered; untouched portions need not comply with the Standards.
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2. If an indoor lighting alteration increases the energy use of the altered systems, the alteration must comply with the current Standards.
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3. Any altered lighting in an existing space must meet mandatory measures for the changed lighting component
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4. Alterations that increase the connected lighting load or replace more than 50% of the lighting fixtures (counting existing and new fixtures only in the enclosed spaces where light fixtures are proposed) must meet the current Standards.
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Since the six new lighting fixtures being installed are in a separate, enclosed office and you are replacing five of the twenty existing lighting fixtures, which is less than 50% of the existing lighting fixtures, then the Title-24 Standards will only apply only to the new lighting fixtures in the enclosed office and the five new lighting fixtures in the adjacent existing area. The fifteen remaining existing lighting fixtures do not need to be included in the Title-24 compliance calculations.
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These rules and definitions can be found in the 2008 Non-Residential Manual on pages 1-20, 5-113 thru 5-118
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Upcoming Title-24 training webinar: Thursday, February 11, 2010.
