Federal Government Now Requires Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Products at Thousands of Government Sites and Facilities
From Maine to California and everywhere in between, the federal government is the nation’s largest property owner, maintaining a portfolio of nearly 9,600 buildings that span over 375 million square feet. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s the nation’s largest energy consumer, as well.
As federal agencies strive for energy savings in pursuit of a goal of net-zero emissions by 2045, several strategies are in play. Installers might not be aware of a facility standards update that took effect this summer when the US General Services Administration (GSA) began requiring that specific types of exterior lighting be qualified by the DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) LUNA program.
The GSA’s 2024 P100 Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service — a key document guiding building design and the purchase of products for federal and other public entities — now points project actors to the DLC’s LUNA Technical Requirements and Qualified Projects List for certain types of outdoor lighting at public facilities. The requirement applies except when specific product types needed for a project aren’t covered by LUNA. Designed to reduce both light pollution and energy usage, LUNA-listed products also meet the DLC thresholds for efficacy, quality, controllability, and reliability, making them eligible for rebates and incentives from three-quarters of North American utilities and energy efficiency programs. By requiring products on the LUNA Qualified Products List (QPL), the GSA is leveraging a practical tool to ensure that the outdoor spaces in its portfolio are illuminated only where, when and to the extent needed.
Even before last summer’s update, the GSA P100 standard called for using DLC Solid-State Lighting (SSL)-listed products to ensure energy efficient indoor and outdoor lighting systems. In addition, the GSA and the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) have for several years required public entities to use LED products that are on the DLC’s SSL QPL or that meet our technical requirements. Both the GSA and FEMP publish guidance documents outlining energy efficiency benchmarks federal agencies must meet when purchasing and installing lighting products, efforts that have enabled a nearly 27% reduction in energy intensity by federal agencies since 2003.
At the DLC, we are pleased that our QPLs and technical performance specifications meet government agencies’ needs for high-performing, energy efficient lighting products. Specifiers, designers and installers wishing to identify outdoor lighting products for use in federal and other public buildings can find and compare LUNA-listed luminaires by creating a free myDLC account and then searching the LUNA QPL.
