State options in lighting: efficiency standards for existing public buildings

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5906486· OSTI ID:5906486

Meeker, F.

This report discusses requirements and options for state lighting-efficiency standards for existing public buildings under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. EPCA, as implemented under present regulations, is found to allow great flexibility to the states in what they adopt, so long as they do adopt some standard. A wide variety of substantive standards is described, and it is recommended that states adopt a standard based on a maximum-lighting power budget with cost-effectiveness criteria. Several options for adoption and enforcement of standards are discussed. It is recommended that states adopt a requirement that owners of all public buildings submit reports of lighting energy audits and estimates of energy savings from modifications to comply with substantive standards. It is further recommended that while filing of reports should be mandatory, substantive compliance, at least initially, need not be; if it turns out that voluntary compliance is not great enought to achieve a state's desired energy savings, compliance could then be made mandatory. It is recommended that exemptions from the standards be limited to small buildings and that variances under a mandatory standard be available only when an applicant can show insufficient capital to make required modifications, even though they would soon pay for themselves in reduced operating costs. It is suggested that a lighting standard of the kind recommended could substantially reduce wasted energy in lighting, be simple enough to be easily understood and applied, be technically and economically reasonable, and allow for needed exemptions without loopholes.

• Research Organization: Environmental Law Inst., Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5906486
• Report Number(s): DOE/CS/5255-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
291000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Conservation
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320102* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Office Buildings-- (-1987)
320103 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- School
Municipal
& Other Public Buildings-- (-1987)
ACCOUNTING
BUILDINGS
COMPLIANCE
COST
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ENERGY ACCOUNTING
ENERGY ANALYSIS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY POLICY AND CONSERVATION ACT
ENFORCEMENT
EQUIPMENT
LAWS
LIGHTING SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
OFFICE BUILDINGS
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS
STANDARDS
STATE GOVERNMENT