2. Why Emergency Lighting?
Because we have to!
IBC – International Building Code.
Section 1106 Means of Egress Illumination.
“The means of egress illumination level shall
not be less than 1 foot-candle at the floor level”.
Old code was 1 footcandle average in the
egress path.
Shall be provided by the premise’s electrical
system. Shall be automatic. Shall be
immediate.
90 minutes of emergency lighting.
Emergency lighting to safely egress people
away from the building.
3. Why Emergency Lighting?
Because we have to!
NFPA 101 – Life Safety Code
Means of Egress Illumination. 1 footcandle in
the egress path
Illuminated exit signs
Testing of the emergency lighting equipment.
All battery equipment must be tested monthly,
and a full discharge test once a year. The
emergency generator must be tested monthly,
and an extensive test once a year. Testing
information must be kept for inspector use.
4. Emergency Lighting Considerations
Plans examiners and city officials have become
more stringent in enforcement. Some
municipalities ask for photometrics.
Typically we need light the space defined by the
exit signs. With large rooms it’s difficult to define
egress path. Retail stores are hard to provide
coverage due to racking.
Put yourself in the space. You may want to
include areas, and rooms that would not normally
have emergency lighting by code, i.e. restrooms,
or conference rooms.
Can be a high liability component of design. More
is better.
5. Types of Emergency Lighting – Unit Equipment
Available with various lamp types and battery types. When used in
“non-standard” applications, photometrics should be evaluated.
Available in various architectural housings. Also could be a
normally off down light.
Batteries have temperature considerations. Cannot use at
temperatures below 32 degrees.
Available in different voltages (6 volt, and 12 volt) Standard is 6 volt
system. 12 volts may be desirable when using high wattage heads,
multiple heads from 1 unit, or remote heads at some distance.
(helps with voltage drop)
Available with different battery types. Usually standard is leadcalcium. Option would be ni-cad (nickel cadmium) battery. Longer
battery life.
Newer technology now offers built in self-diagnostics at a small
premium.
Pros and Cons
Pros: inexpensive, variety of lamp distributions available, flexible
Cons: testing needs to occur at each location (labor consuming),
8-10 year life, aesthetics, hard to achieve code required footcandle
levels.
6. Types of Emergency Lighting – Emergency Ballast
available with different lumen outputs. “standard” battery pack has
roughly 50% output. Be careful with the lighting specification. We
should almost never specify standard emergency output.
http://www.bodine.com/lumen.html
Test switch still required. Usually in fixture housing. May be
separate pushbutton next to fixture (example downlights)
Can easily be use in conjunction with night lighting.
Newer technology available for compact fluorescent: integral cold
weather battery packs good for temperatures down to 0 degrees.
Helpful with requirement egress lighting away from the building.
Pros and Cons
Pros: inexpensive, much easier to achieve footcandles, available
for many different lamp types, aesthetics.
Cons: testing, 8-10 year life with replacement inside the fixture, only
available for fluourescent.
7. Types of Emergency Lighting – Inverter System
all batteries are stored in one location for ease of testing and
maintenance. May be good for hard to access emergency
lighting locations, like mall concourses.
Pros and Cons
Pros: all testing and maintenance in one location, very
flexible.
Cons: expensive, takes up space, 8-10 year battery life
8. Types of Emergency Lighting – Generator
Emergency distribution can easily be provided throughout a
building. Usually provided when emergency power is
required for additional considerations. Exception may be a
mall where the generator is provided primarily for lighting.
The building will be without lighting until generator starts (810 seconds). Supplemental immediate emergency lighting
may want or need to be provided i.e. operating rooms,
dangerous process areas, or even stairwells.
Any light fixture can be used as an emergency source. Note:
HID type sources will require quartz restrike due to the fact
the lamp will have to restrike.
Pros and Cons
Pros: the most flexible of all systems, testing occurs by
testing the generator, system is good for the life of the
generator – 30 years +
Cons: Cost, space for equipment.
9. Conclusions
Emergency lighting needs to be
addressed on every project.
Light level calculations or analysis
should be done on every project. “battery
packs on 50 foot centers” days are gone.
Lighting systems selection are often cost
driven decisions. Work with the architect
and think like an owner to determine
which system is right.
10. Conclusions
Emergency lighting needs to be
addressed on every project.
Light level calculations or analysis
should be done on every project. “battery
packs on 50 foot centers” days are gone.
Lighting systems selection are often cost
driven decisions. Work with the architect
and think like an owner to determine
which system is right.
