Open Office Solutions
USGBC Headquarters

Task Light & Controlled Plug Loads
Ambient Lighting
Nighttime Operation
Lighting Energy Use
Power Use Throughout Day
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Task Light & Controlled Plug Loads
Each workstation has a controlled outlet and a non-controlled outlet. Task lights, lap-top computers, and other personal electronics can be plugged into the controlled outlet which will automatically turn off when the occupancy sensors time-out in each Open Office cluster. The task lights also have an on-board switch to allow local control for each workstation.
» Download the full USGBC case study
Ambient Lighting
Daytime Operation (activated at 30 minutes after sunrise): During the day, Ambient
Lighting must be turned on manually using the switch located on a nearby column. This
manual operation is to encourage users to keep the ambient lighting turned off if there
is enough daylight in the space. Each switch has two buttons, and each button has two
functions.
Wall Switches
- Click once: turns lights on & activates daylight dimming
- Push and hold: brightens lights & disables daylight dimming
- Click once: turns lights off
- Push & hold: Dims lights & disables daylight dimming
Occupancy Sensors
- When an Open Office Area has been vacated for a certain time perios, the lights will turn off automatically.
- Day: Manual-On/Auto-Off
- Night: Auto-On/Auto-Off
Daylight Dimming
- When daylight dimming is activated, the dimmers respond to input from a photo sensor to maintain 25 footcandles.
» Download the full USGBC case study
Nighttime Operation
(Activated 30 minutes before sunset.) At night, the Ambient Lighting will automatically turn on when motion is sensed by the occupancy sensors. This automatic operation will allow users to walk through the space to their office without having to manually turn lights on. Once a person settles into their workspace, the occupancy sensors in their area will maintain a low level of lighting in an adjacent Open Office. This provides a more comfortable setting for working at night than localized occupancy sensors that would leave the surrounding areas dark.
» Download the full USGBC case study
Lighting Energy Use
- ASHRAE 90.1 204 Allows: 1.10 W/SF
- Installed Lighting Power Density: 0.62 W/SF (44% below ASHRAE)
- Open Office Square Footage: 17,650 SF
- Connected Lighting Load: 10,950 Watts
- Predicted Annual Lighting Energy: (Both Baseline & Convia are based on installed lighting loads.)
- Baseline Controls: 36,700 kWh/hr (Assumes occupancy sensors with Auto-On/Auto-Off control)
- Convia Controls: 14,800 kWh/yr (60% below Baseline Controls)
» Download the full USGBC case study
Power Use Throughout Day
» Download the full USGBC case study
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