Like many governments around the world, the governments in the United States and Canada are mandating a reduction in energy consumption for commercial businesses. One way businesses can comply with this mandate is to take advantage of new lighting technologies that are more energy efficient, such as LEDs. As an incentive, utility companies offer rebates for switching from high wattage lighting, like incandescent and halogen, to low wattage lighting, like LEDs. Unfortunately, with all the different utility and efficiency programs—each with its own standards and rebate opportunities—rebates can be complex and confusing.

Enter the Design Lighting Consortium (DLC).

 

DLC, an association created in cooperation with the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) and the Lighting Research Center (LRC), provides a central place for all lighting manufacturers to submit their products for energy efficient programs and have them evaluated for all state and utility standards across the US and Canada. Manufacturers simply submit product data—a process that only needs to be done once—and the specifications are analyzed against various utility and efficiency programs. If qualified, the product is listed on the DLC Qualified Products List (QPL) of commercial grade LED luminaires. Energy efficiency program administrators need only check the QPL to determine a product’s eligibility for their specific incentive programs.  This not only saves administrators time, as they no longer have to review individual manufacturers’ specifications, but they are assured of the quality and performance of  a DLC approved LED product.

How does DLC differ from the ENERGY STAR solid state lighting program?

ENERGY STAR does not currently cover all lighting applications. As such, energy efficiency administrators are forced to conduct independent examinations of that subset of lighting applications to assure product quality and performance.  DLC augments and expands upon the ENERGY STAR for solid state lighting program.  The qualification requirements are quite similar to ENERGY STAR—part of the application includes submission of IES LM-79 and LM-80 reports, UL 1598 reports, IES files, and product lifetime reports. You can view the Product Qualification Criteria from the DLC website, at www.designlights.org.

Which products are eligible for DLC certification?

According to the DLC website, the DLC qualifies “commercial LED luminaires, retrofit kits, and linear replacement lamps” across 30+ product categories. Click here to view all Category Definitions.

Note: Because ENERGY STAR is government-sponsored, they have the right to claim jurisdiction over a particular product. For example, if DLC currently covers a lighting category that ENERGY STAR now wants to cover under their program, DLC must drop that category.

How many products are DLC qualified?

In July 2013, the DLC, which is supported by 66 member companies throughout Canada and the US, reported that the QPL had 25,000 high efficiency products listed across 370 manufacturers. The majority of listed products (20,000) are classified as outdoor products. The DLC goes through an annual specification revision process every year, effectively removing products from the QPL that no longer meet benchmarks, to ensure product performance.

Is a DLC qualified product important to you? Is the main advantage the rebates or quality control? Let me know in the comments section below!