Coopersburg, PA (March 27, 2014) – Lutron Electronics, maker of energy-saving wireless lighting and shade controls, is helping contractors comply with state and national building codes designed to automatically reduce electricity use in unoccupied spaces by requiring automatic control for 50% of the receptacles in commercial buildings.

The new code-compliant Lutron solutions – 20 A PowPak® relay module, 20 A Energi Savr Node™ with SoftSwitch®, and the XP switching module –provide receptacle control (and in some cases lighting control) from a single device, offering a convenient way to save energy and meet code.

Plug loads are now the third highest contributor to electricity usage in most office buildings, and this is expected to increase as more occupants use personal computers and other electronics.¹

As such, two energy codes are now in effect to reduce the waste:

1. California Title 24 2013 – requires circuit control for 125 V receptacles (15 and 20 A) in rooms like private offices, open office areas, reception areas/lobbies, conference rooms, kitchenettes in office areas and copy rooms.
   
2. ASHRAE 90.1-2010 – requires automatic receptacle control for 125 V receptacles (15 and 20 A) in rooms like private offices, open office areas (including modular partition receptacles), and computer classrooms. 50% of all receptacles must be controlled.

“Contractors need a simple solution for meeting code and reducing energy consumption,” said Brian Donlon, Vice-President of Sales, U.S.A., at Lutron. “Lutron offers three unique solutions for any size space that will not only control receptacles, but comply with state and local energy codes making it an even stronger value for the client. We are pleased to provide such a robust suite of solutions to help our customers tackle this very real issue of plug loads wasting energy,” he said.

To comply with the ASHRAE 90.1 and Title 24 Codes, Lutron offers the following solutions:

1. Single circuit solution — 20 A PowPak relay module offers wireless control with simple, button-press programming. Can be used as a standalone solution for receptacle control or incorporated into a Lutron Energi TriPak® lighting control system. The module communicates wirelessly with Lutron Radio Powr Savr wireless occupancy sensors, turning off power to the receptacles when the room is unoccupied. The module can also receive inputs from Pico® wireless controls for manual switching.
   
2. Multi-circuit solution — 20 A Energi Savr Node with SoftSwitch controls up to four 20 A receptacle or lighting (120 V/277 V) circuits from the same module with no additional equipment required. Can be used as a standalone, single-area solution, or integrated into a Quantum® Total Light Management™ system. Receptacles are controlled via wired or wireless occupancy/vacancy sensors or personal controls, or via timeclock scheduling. A 0-10V version is also available and provides 0-10V dimming, switching, and receptacle control from one device.
   
3. Panel-based Solution — XP switching module controls up to 48 receptacle or lighting (120V/277V) circuits with new 20 A XP switching modules. Modules are available for use in standalone XPS or LCP128 systems or as part of XP or CCP utilized in a Quantum total light management system. Receptacles are controlled via wired or wireless occupancy/vacancy sensors or personal controls, or via timeclock scheduling.

All three solutions will be available in April.