Lighting commissioning -- A neglected opportunity

When people have the courage to measure energy savings, they often find that the actual performance does not match the design calculations. This can occur if systems are not installed or operated as assumed by the designer and engineer who made the pre-construction energy use estimates. This performance gap can be dramatic. Energy-efficient lighting improvements are particularly vulnerable to this problem. Actual and predicted lighting energy savings can differ significantly. One solution is commissioning--to check that the systems are installed and operated as intended.