ISSUE: DS 2013-028. Petitioner seeks a Declaratory Statement on an interpretation of Section 505.2.1.3, 3, of the 2010 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation.

Petitioner in DS 2013-028 seeks clarification of the following question:

Does the code require that all lighting in sleeping units be switchable by master switch at the entry door or not (bathrooms being excluded)?

Mr. Philip Sergeant of Encoders, Inc. is currently undertaking a hotel project involving 70 guest sleeping rooms for Hotel Fairfax in Miami Beach, Florida. This is a major renovation requiring new interior walls, completely new electrical, HVAC and low voltage infrastructures. At issue is whether the plugged in lamps in the guest room that are controlled by a switch on the lamp need to be controlled by a master switch.

Background:

1. Section 505.2.1.3of the 2010 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, states: “Additional controls. Additional controls are required in the following cases: 3. Sleeping unit controls. Sleeping units in hotels, motels, boarding houses or similar buildings shall have at least one master switch at the main entry door that controls all permanently wired luminaires and switched receptacles, except those in the bathroom(s). Suites shall have a control meeting these requirements at the entry to each room or at the primary entry to the suite.” [cases 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are not at issue]

2. Petitioner states that far too many hotel guests leave the room all day with lamps burning because, by nature, it is troublesome to go around to switch off each lamp manually. They save no money by turning lamps off. Hotel developers/operators who are not concerned with the long-term benefits of energy conservation take refuge in the fact that lamps are not plugged into “switched receptacles”. Reading the code literally, only the entry light is required to be switched off at the main entry door…which saves little energy.

3. Petitioner believes that the code writers understood that, in the majority of hotel rooms, the general and task lighting is typically via plug-in lamps, bedside, desk or standing lamps.

4. The 2009 International Energy Conservation Code and Commentary (Florida’s base code) states: “One (or more) master lighting switch is required at the entry door of hotel and motel sleeping units. Master switches operate all permanently wired luminaires and switched receptacles. These switches are usually three-way devices wired in combination with local controls. In multiple-room suites, a standard control device is required at the entrance to each separate room, or a control could be placed at the entry to the suite and control the entire suite. Bathroom lighting and receptacles in hotels and motels are exempt from the master switching requirement.”

5. Section 9.4.1.4, c, of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007 states: “ Hotel and Motel Guest Room Lighting—hotel and motel guest rooms and guest suites shall have a master control device at the main room entry that controls all permanently installed luminaires and switched receptacles.”

Staff Recommendations: Based on the above facts and circumstances, staff provides the following recommendation in answer to proponent’s question:

To the question, “Does the code require that all lighting in sleeping units be switchable by master switch at the entry door or not (bathrooms being excluded)?” the answer is NO, Section 505.2.1.3, 3, of the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, and its base documents intended to require only the permanently installed luminaires and switched receptacles to be controlled by a master switch. Other lighting such as lamps used in general lighting or task lighting are not required to be controlled by a master switch if they are not hard wired or plugged into a switched receptacle.