Lightolier - Green Office Furniture, LEED, Boston MA Area, Office Horizons

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70 Wilbur St. Unit 3
Lowell, MA 01851

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Lightolier

LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED®, a product of the U.S. Green Building Council, is a valuable tool for qualifying and promoting sustainable design.

LEED presents designers a menu of sustainable best practices, each of which earsn points toward certification. LEED points are available in serveral credit areas that affect lighting: minimizing energy, daylight and views, controls, and light pollution.

There are two important pre-requisites (requirements): meeting ASHRAE 2004 (or a more stringent code) and commissioning controls. Lighting equipment is specifically excluded from the recycled materials and local content credits.

LEED approches New Construction (NC), Commercial Interiors (CI), and Existing Building (EB) with different point systems. They differ a little in their lighting provisions, but the overall thrust is similar.

LEED Credits Related to Lighting
Credit	New Construction		Commercial Interiors (CI-2.0)
	Points	Action	Points	Action
Minimum Energy Requirement		ASHRAE 90.1-2004		ASHRAE 90.1-2004
Minimizing Energy	1-10	Reduce total energy consumption 15-60% (modeled)	1-3	Reduce lighting power density 15-35%
Daylight	1	Provide 25 FC from daylight to 75% of space	1-2	Provide 25 FC from daylight to 75% or 90% of space
Views	1	Provide window view to 90% of occupants	1	Provide window view to 90 % of occupants
Controls	1	Provide individually controllable lighting to 90% of occupants and shared spaces	1	Provide individually controllable lighting to 90% of occupants and shared spaces
Light Pollution	1	Reduce exterior lighting power beyond Standard 90.1 Control impact of interior lighting, sky glow and light trespass	0.5	Meet IESNA RP-33 Control impact of interior lighting, sky glow, and light trespass
Enhanced Metering			2	Lighting systems and controls (and all other systems)
Daylight Controls			1	Daylight-responsive controls within 15' of windows and under skylights

Enhanced Commissioning			1	Commissioning Authority and integrated manual

EPAct 2005 Tax Incentives

EPAct 2005 offers incentives for investments in energy conserving technologies. Projects that attain LEED certification and those that meet Standard 90.1-2004 will likely qualify for at least some incentive.

Lighting can be considered separately or together with other systems. By itself, lighting power must be 25-60% less than the Standard 90.1-2001 LPA; additionally, the lighting must meet applicable IES recommended practice and be wired for dual switching. This qualifies for a Federal income tax deduction of up to $0.60 per square foot.

Note that the 2001 LPA is the same as that in the 1999 standard and nearly 25% higher than the 2004 LPA, which makes the incentives within easy reach for many projects that are being designed to the more stringent 2004 standard.

The benefits themselves accrue to the tax-paying owner, including tenants who purchase lighting themselves (private not-for-profits are not eligible). In the case of governmental buildings, the tax deduction is available to the organization that implements the program, including the design team.

EPAct 2005 Tax Incentives for Lighting
Reduction of LPD below Std 90.1-2001	LPD¹ Watts per SF	Eligible Tax Deduction per SF²
25%	.98	$0.30
26%	.96	$0.32
27%	.95	$0.34
28%	.94	$0.36
29%	.92	$0.38
30%	.91	$0.40
31%	.90	$0.42
32%	.88	$0.44
33%	.87	$0.46
34%	.86	$0.48
35%	.85	$0.50
36%	.83	$0.52
37%	.82	$0.54
38%	.81	$0.56
39%	.79	$0.58
40%	.78	$0.60
>40%	.78	$0.60
¹Based on "Whole Building LPA of 1.3 w/SF. Qualifying LPD may be higher under the Space-by-Space method although special allowances are excluded. ²Because this is a tax deduction, the actual financial benefit depends on the tax bracket.