Lutron controls can save up to 60% of lighting energy used in today’s commercial buildings compared to manual or non-automated controls. Beyond energy savings, Lutron lighting fixtures, lighting controls, and automated shading can contribute to achieving green building certifications such as LEED, WELL, and Living Building Challenge.
Light Controls for Sustainable Design
Today's innovative buildings are designed to be sustainable, flexible and energy efficient. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) administers to provide a national standard for what constitutes a green building. LEED offers scientific performance criteria and a point system for LEED project certification. Many businesses have programs to ensure all their facilities are LEED compliant, through new construction and renovation programs. Lutron offers leading-edge product solutions for integrated control of electric lighting and daylight, and unsurpassed project support.
Lutron solutions may contribute to obtaining numerous points in LEED v4 for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED v4) credit categories. To achieve LEED certification, a minimum of 40 points is required. Lutron lighting control can contribute toward attaining important LEED certification points in six of the seven credit categories. See Lutron’s LEED v4 Brochure.
Living Building ChallengeSM
Many building rating systems today are focused on reducing a building’s negative impact on the environment. The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is a certification tool managed by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) which promotes projects to become truly regenerative and leave a positive impact on the environment. The Living Building Challenge contains seven Petals, or categories comprised of multiple Imperatives, or requirements (20 in total). The Petals that make up the LBC include Place, Water, Energy, Health and Happiness, Materials, Equity and Beauty.
The Living Building Challenge contains three types of certification:
- Living Certification – meeting all imperatives assigned to the project typology: new buildings, renovations, or landscape/infrastructure.
- Petal Certification – attaining at least three of the seven Petals by meeting all Imperatives within each Petal.
- Net Zero Energy Certification – supplying 100% of a building’s net annual energy demand through on-site renewable sources, without combustion. Imperatives: 01 Limits to Growth, 06 Net Positive Energy (reduced to 100%), 19 Beauty + Spirit, and 20 Inspiration + Education must be met.
Lutron lighting and shade controls can contribute toward meeting imperatives within three of the seven Petal categories.
The Living Building Challenge standard along with each of the Petal Handbooks, detailing the requirements of each Imperative including any applicable exceptions, and detailed documentation requirements can be found on the ILFI website.
What is the WELL Building Standard?
The WELL Building Standard is a performance-based building rating system that focuses exclusively on human health and wellness as it relates to the built environment.
WELL is grounded in science and evidence-based design. WELL Certified spaces may help create a built environment that improves the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep patterns and performance of its occupants.
Lutron lighting fixtures, lighting controls, and automated shades can play an essential role in meeting many of the provisions of the standard.
WELL Certification
Certification starts with ten concepts that influence human behaviors and define a wellness-focused environment: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, community and mind. Under these concepts there are “features” or provisions which have requirements to be met. Some features are mandatory “preconditions”. Others are optional “optimizations” that are worth points. There are 110 points available and three levels of WELL Certification: Silver, Gold and Platinum. Silver level certification is achieved by meeting 100 percent of the WELL preconditions and at least 50 points with at least one point earned in each concept. Gold level certification is achieved by meeting all of the WELL preconditions, as well as at least 60 points with at least two points earned in each concept. Platinum level certification is achieved by meeting all of the WELL preconditions, as well as at least 80 points with at least three points from each concept.
Lutron Solutions Support Many Preconditions and Optimizations in the WELL Standard
Light fixture selection, lighting controls, and window shades play a role in all preconditions and optimizations in the WELL Light concept. A smart, integrated lighting and shade control solution can specifically help achieve points in features such as Circadian Lighting Design, Daylight Design Strategies, and Occupant Lighting Control. Click here to view all the Light concept features in the WELL standard. Plus, Lutron lighting and shading solutions can contribute to features in the Comfort, Mind, and Innovation concepts.
In fact, electric and daylight control can contribute toward achieving up to 22 of 110 possible points with strategies such as:
- Automated window shading
- Dimming
- White color tuning
- Adjustable light color
- High end trim
- Circadian Lighting
- Glare Control
ASID Headquarters, Washington D.C.
Achieving both WELL and LEED Platinum certifications – rising to the challenge
The ASID project set a very high bar for sustainable, wellness-oriented, energy efficient lighting design. The design helped to achieve all the lighting Features in the WELL Light Concept with the exception of daylight fenestration. By including automated shades that used a sheer, GreenScreen Evolve low VOC emitting fabric, ASID was able to use the shade fabric to help meet the mandatory preconditions for VOC reduction, Exterior Noise Intrusion (shades can help reduce the sound coming in through the windows), and Biophilia (shades can preserve the views to the outside which helps provide a connection to nature for the building occupants).
Ultimately, the ASID headquarters met the stringent requirements of both WELL and LEED certifications, with the integrated lighting and shading control system contributing to three WELL concepts and four LEED categories, including almost all the energy efficiency points.
Click here for the case study.
Lutron Global Experience Center in NYC
Lutron’s New York Global Experience Center is a 5,500 square-foot state-of-the-art lighting and controls showroom.
This facility has been awarded WELL v2 Platinum certification. An integrated system of fixtures, controls, shades, drivers and software helped to achieve most points in the Light Concept and even some Innovation points.
The Center utilizes Lutron’s Athena controls platforms combined with a Ketra color-changeable lighting system to demonstrate Lutron’s HXL philosophy.
Lutron Global Experience Center, NYC.