Kickstarting Connected Lighting in Energy Efficiency Programs: New DLC Playbook

With lighting at the top of its game—saving more energy than ever—it’s time for utilities and other energy efficiency program administrators to expand their strategies for hitting energy savings goals. Networked lighting controls (NLCs) and integrating controls with HVAC are two key strategies for large commercial buildings, but when are they cost effective? And how difficult is it to realize those savings?    

Pathways to Connected Lighting

At the DLC Controls Summit in October, we discussed different pathways to connected lighting and what resources would help get more people on board. We incorporated that feedback into our work. This month the DLC released our playbook “Pathways to Connected Lighting” (a member exclusive resource) that outlines how to create more opportunities and incentives for lighting controls in energy efficiency programs.  

DLC research on Technical Reference Manuals (TRMs) showed that most energy efficiency programs did not have a TRM measure for NLCs. “Pathways to Connected Lighting” starts the conversation about adding NLC to programs and a future paper will outline best practices for how to create and submit new NLC measures to a TRM.  

Playbook Objectives:  

• Help lighting incentive programs continue to deliver energy savings by promoting lighting controls and connected lighting systems  

• Share best practices from successful DLC member program models  

• Empower energy efficiency program administrators to take action 

• Facilitate the adoption of new incentives for connected lighting and HVAC integration 

Where does your program stand with connected lighting?  

Connected lighting has the potential to help programs meet target energy savings and achieve decarbonization goals. Do you know where your program stands with connected lighting? In the playbook, we guide you through assessing your progress so you can see how it can develop further. Download the free excerpt below for more details.  

The full playbook, “Pathways to Connected Lighting” is only available to DLC member energy efficiency programs and their authorized implementers. It is available for download after signing in to your MyDLC member account and navigating to “Resources and Tools”. If this playbook interests you and you are not a member yet, we encourage you to reach out to Karla Winter to discuss the benefits of membership. 

We look forward to hearing how this playbook enhances your programs and enables more energy efficiency savings. Please reach out to us with any questions or comments.    

Further Reading

To explore more about the DLC Controls Summit and what we learned about lighting controls and HVAC integration, check out our takeaways on our blog.