System approach to commercial lighting

The authors investigated the cause of the significant disparity between efficient lighting system savings potential in commercial buildings and prevailing experience in utility lighting programs. That investigation required a careful review of the actual practices of utilities in implementing a commercial lighting program. It became clear that the root of the problem could be traced to lack of comprehensive lighting system specification by the utility field representative to the participating customer. Instead, the primary source of customer information regarding appropriate efficient lighting components was being provided by the lighting vendors. Based on the premise that vendor-driven utility lighting programs were resulting in the installation of suboptimal lighting systems, a training course and a standard survey procedure were developed for utility field representatives. This training curriculum and survey method is called the system approach to commercial lighting. The system approach was designed around the primary principle that the task requirement dictates the quality and quantity of illumination necessary to adequately perform the specific function at hand