Networked lighting controls (NLCs) can cut new lighting loads in half. When integrated with HVAC systems, NLCs can help save up to an additional 30% of HVAC energy use and 20% of total energy consumed in large commercial buildings.

So says the DesignLights Consortium (DLC), a nonprofit organization that provides data and resources on lighting controls and integrated building systems to help reduce energy use, carbon emissions and light pollution.

To promote strategies to achieve these energy savings, the DLC recently introduced the NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit and a related webinar.

“In North America, it’s still the case that very few HVAC systems have occupancy sensors or CO₂ sensors, which need power to operate,” said Levin Nock, DLC senior technical manager. “Light fixtures are perfect places to put occupancy sensors because they’re already wired for power and evenly distributed across ceilings, with clear line-of-sight to most spaces below. The wireless communication network of a lighting control system can easily collect digital occupancy data, which can be transferred through a gateway to an HVAC system using Wi-Fi or BACnet [building automation and control network].

Levin Nock, senior technical manager for the Design Lights Consortium, introduces the NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit. Photo provided by the Design Lights Consortium.

The year promises to make NLC-HVAC integration easier in smaller buildings, Nock said, thanks to the introduction of “new thermostats that will be able to receive occupancy data directly from lighting fixtures over a ‘Bluetooth NLC’ mesh network, without using a gateway for Wi-Fi or BACnet.”

Still another sign the time has come for systems integration is that many lighting fixtures feature wirelessly networked occupancy sensors preinstalled at the factory.

“For these, it only takes a phone app to configure the system, after normal installation like any regular lighting fixture.” Nock said, adding that incentive programs offered by many states and utilities cover $30 to $50 per fixture of the upgrade to luminaire-level lighting controls.

Even so, not all buildings benefit from systems integration.

The DLC’s NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit offers guidance for determining which buildings may be the best candidates for systems integration. Larger commercial buildings with variable occupancy patterns and variable air volume systems tend to reap the greatest rewards, Nock said, but any building with variable occupancy patterns could achieve significant gains under the right circumstances.

In 2023, the DLC commissioned research that found significant savings potential in systems integration. In 2024, Nock learned from representatives of the lighting, HVAC, integration and utility industries that success with systems integration hinges upon overcoming communication barriers among those working with lighting controls and HVAC systems. For that reason, the toolkit includes a handbook that clarifies necessary understanding of key industry standards and terminology.

Inconsistent naming and labeling of lighting and HVAC zones in large buildings is one example of a communication barrier, Nock said, which is why the video and handbook address this challenge specifically.

The toolkit includes the following documents:

• A decision tree to help determine projects that are good candidates for systems integration
• A summary of case studies searchable by building type with lessons learned, energy saved and benefits of integration
• A responsibility matrix that takes the form of a sample spreadsheet, breaking down projects according to tasks and parties responsible for those tasks
• A handbook with a glossary, introductory overviews of networked lighting controls and building management systems, recommended best practices for integration, and references to relevant standards for lighting, HVAC and construction specification.