What is the impact of the new maintenance study on the lighting design profession – and on commercial buildings?
The study indicates that in a typical commercial environment, the extent of dirt depreciation on light fixtures is not as high as the accepted norms used by the lighting community for more than 50 years. In the timeframe of a two- to three-year cleaning cycle, for example, the new findings recommend an approximate 10-percent loss, for many areas, vs. present lighting standards, which recommend allowing for light loss on the order of 20 percent. “Test results indicate that in very clean locations, about 8-10 percent fewer fixtures are required to provide a specific light level compared to using design calculations with earlier LDD values,” says Norma Frank, CLMC, chair of the IESNA Maintenance Committee and vice president of Colorado Lighting. “Renovation projects in older facilities would result in the order of 15-20 percent fewer fixtures if this new data is utilized.” “With more states mandating specific watts-per-square-foot limitations for new and renovated facilities, more accurat
