Introduction

The lighting-only accelerated tax deduction offered via EPAct 2005’s Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction is based on achieving lower lighting power densities than the minimum required by ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2001 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, the national energy standard for all commercial construction in the United States.

Standard 90.1 is also the standard for all Federal building construction, and was adopted for the 2001 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (ICC).

As of July 15, 2004, all states in the United States were required to certify that they had an energy code in place at least as stringent as Standard 90.1-1999. Standard 90.1-2001 contains the same lighting power allowance values as Standard 90.1-1999. The latest version of the standard, Standard 90.1-2004, has been adopted by some states.

Standard 90.1-2001’s Section 9 details mandatory provisions related to lighting controls, tandem wiring and exit signs, then turns prescriptive, providing a choice of methods to calculate interior lighting power allowances.

In this guide, we will examine the relevant portions of Standard 90.1-2001 as they relate to interior lighting and achieving the Commercial Buildings Deduction. For example, while exterior lighting is covered by 90.1, it is not covered by the Deduction, and so it is not included. The Standard is presented in graphic format as a series of process maps.

Note that if the lighting project activity activates local or state codes, then these codes must be complied with in addition to exceeding the requirements of Standard 90.1-2001 for the purposes of the tax deduction.

 

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