What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

By James R. Benya, PE, FIES, FIALD

Imagine this: you have designed the lighting for a state-of-the-art high school. The project’s goals included LEED Platinum and Zero Net Energy (ZNE), so your lighting design is perfectly integrated into an exceptionally well-daylit architectural design. To absolutely maximize energy efficiency, the lighting is controlled by a fully integrated energy management system where all light sources are perfectly controlled to provide just the right amount of light only when the space is occupied, in perfect coordination with the HVAC and latest automatic shading systems. Upon its completion, the school exceeds expectations, and the community revels in the accomplishments. What could possibly go wrong?

The Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, was built in 2012 as a state-of-the-art and exceptionally energy efficient contemporary facility. This was a very exciting time in the lighting industry because, in addition to the onset of LED lighting, significant achievements like ZNE and LEED had become realistic. It was, to many of us (me included), not just a challenge, but a chance to show off one’s green lighting design skills. I can easily imagine the expectations and functions of the lighting control system, with motion sensing, daylighting, lighting maintenance and manual tuning in every space.

But, the school gained national notoriety this past month when its lights could no longer be controlled. Meanwhile, all 7,000 light sources in the school have operated continuously over 17 months. Given the building’s age and the equipment I would have used, I estimate that the lighting load is around 150kW and, if operating 16 hours per day more than typical, the excess daily energy cost would likely be about $500, with an annual excess energy cost that I estimate to be over $150,000. Aside from the cost, imagine the embarrassment when, during a Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update,” Colin Jost reported, “The students are fine, but the classroom hamster has gone insane.” According to the school newspaper, the problem is that the highly integrated energy management system and its proprietary software were apparently corrupted. The delay in making repairs appears to be the fault of the system supplier who no longer has “access” to the software, and apparently, new hardware is needed but isn’t available due to hardware supply chain issues (“… the manufacturers aren’t making the chips needed for the software…”). Meanwhile, the school district will be paying until the problem is resolved. The repairs are promised sometime in February. And, according to the newspaper, it will cost over $2.1 million. Gulp.

So, what really happened? What could possibly have gone wrong? And worse, could it happen to one of the many projects I designed during that period…or for that matter, last week?

Prior to the energy crisis of the 1970s, very little lighting control was used in most commercial and industrial buildings. “Lights on” was a popular aesthetic, especially for high rise buildings. Circuit breakers were commonly the only controls in many buildings. For many commercial and industrial buildings, lights were turned on and off using the circuit breakers. This, of course, ended abruptly with the energy crisis. The general approach then turned to centralized lighting control relay panels to ensure timely operation by means of a time clock. Individually switched rooms became common, but large areas were controlled by relays that switched groups of luminaires at a time. Some early energy management systems tried to mate HVAC and lighting controls, but the disciplines spoke different languages (and still do).

After the energy crisis came a period of fast innovation, largely due to solid state electronics. For the following 50 years, light sources evolved to become solid-state and with them, sophisticated dimming and control abilities. The benefits have been great: concurrent increases in efficacy, sensors and communications reduced lighting energy use 90% or more since 1980 (1), and, in the process, improved lighting quality and capability. Some advances were even made in “talking” to the HVAC controls and other building systems.

And therein lies the challenge we face today.

In the history of electrification, the first 100 years of invention and application were significantly tethered by an understood need for standardization. Westinghouse and Tesla’s AC power, beating out Edison and DC, was the cornerstone of an industry that realized, among many things, that standards were profoundly important in ensuring consistent growth in the use and popularity of electricity. What followed for more than a century has been a pattern of innovation, early adoption and market testing, growing demand, competition and standardization. Standardization, in particular, is extremely relevant. Think UL standards, National Electrical Code (NEC) standards, NEMA standards, and in many cases, the standards of building industry actors such as electrical parts and ceiling system manufacturers. Serviceability was tantamount. You can go to your local hardware store and buy a receptacle or switch that will work in your 75-year-old home. It won’t burn your house down, and its forward-backward compatibility and simplicity make it easy and safe, as long as you turn off the breaker first!

However, along came MS-DOS. Apple. Windows. Networking. TCP/IP. Ethernet. Internet. Palm OS. 3G, 4G/LTE, 5G. Bluetooth. Android. DALI. And many other technology options, each having a workable level of connectivity and reliability but with a unique learning curve and nearly constant evolution. With these rapidly evolving options, standardization became temporary and increasingly complex. Constant updates and upgrades became an essential part of system management. It was forced upon the construction and building management industries that, at best, were not ready for the rate of change and not skilled in the use or management of these comparatively complex systems. Lighting controls companies took the bait and migrated quickly into adding data collection and management systems, urged on by energy codes and green initiatives like LEED. Energy savings improved and awards were given. A new high-tech industry in building commissioning and management arose, even while energy costs, especially for lighting, were plummeting thanks to LEDs.

Then, like all parts of all buildings, the systems began to age. Their maintenance and upkeep died off. Replacement parts became hard to get, or worse, the systems were discontinued and replaced by a new generation product, for which most building owners were unwilling to pay. Systems became antiques in less than 10 years, and as a result, building renovations were not properly integrated. Like it is for almost all electrical and mechanical building systems, maintenance was only performed when something broke. Or, as in the case at Minnechaug Regional High School, the control system became obsolete and maintaining it was no longer a priority…until it crashed.

We could have planned this better. Around 2010, I proposed that in Title 24, all new buildings and major remodeling would require a multiconductor cable be pulled in every lighting branch circuit. This would have forced a common system wiring approach and enabled cost-effective updates and remodeling, future-proofing buildings at very low cost because the most expensive part of adding or modifying a control system is pulling new wires through existing conduits and junction boxes. Wireless add-ons could be interfaced when desired. The idea fell on the deaf ears of industry and regulators, who were swooning over digital and wireless communications at the time.

There is some hope, though. I recently recorded a complimentary video for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Better Bricks program about luminaire level lighting controls (LLLC). By integrating a motion sensor and daylight sensor into area lighting luminaires, installation is inexpensive, commissioning simple, and maintenance inexpensive if needed at all. While I tend to prefer a fully featured lighting control system (despite its complications and faults), I had to admit that with LED luminaires using so little power today, a low-cost low-maintenance approach is a wise choice in many applications.

Finally, today we face a lighting industry that changes at all levels at record speed. New generations of leadership and, in many cases, new owners, often lack perspective and experience. As a suggestion to our readers and the current generation of manufacturers, at the top of my list is to remind you that, while the efficiency of lighting has improved in so many ways, the cost of maintenance and management is soaring. As I have written in this column before, there remain very few lighting controls companies who have the management and history to service older systems. Considering that an obsolete lighting control system today is only 10 years old, I whole-heartedly endorse emphasizing manageability and maintainability over features until we as an industry find better solutions to protecting the life cycle of the products we specify. I look forward to the day when all specification-grade lighting control systems warrant the serviceability and maintainability of their products for at least 20 years by ensuring the availability of parts, qualified service personnel in every major market, and continuous maintenance of software and key hardware to ensure communications and interoperability. ■

A Whole House Digital Lighting Control System

Early in their development, I was very keen on the idea of a computer-controlled lighting system using scenes and keypad, and I leaped at the opportunity to implement one of the first completely digital whole-house lighting control systems. After a careful evaluation, the system was specified, installed, and commissioned. Much to my relief, it worked well, and the client was happy – until 8 years later. The dimming modules were failing. I called the manufacturer, and their response was, “We don’t have spares or service that system anymore.” After some research, I found someone working out of his home, fixing these modules. Note to self: don’t specify that manufacturer anymore.

A State-of-the-Art Relay System with a Mind of Its Own

It was inevitable that computer processors and software would replace ordinary switching systems, adding basic time and logic-based functions to a commercial system. I specified such a system to control stage and loft work lights for a theater renovation at a casino. It was a simple system, but features on this particular product were appealing. But once installed, I received a panicked phone call from the facility manager – the new lighting control system was doing weird things, like not responding to commands or turning lights on and off on its own. I contacted the manufacturer who ultimately admitted that under some circumstances, their system would become unstable. No kidding. They sent me a different panel. My client and I had to eat the cost of switching the panels out.

1. LD&A, Our Work is Done Here, May 2018