Besides being super-efficient, LED lighting stands out for its promised longevity. Well-designed LED products can last tens of thousands of hours and keep working for a decade or more.
Eventually, though, they need to be replaced.
With 15 years gone by since LED products hit the commercial market in force, the effectiveness of first-generation LEDS has finally begun to wane. It’s time to replace them with newer models that are not only more efficient but also boast improvements in lighting quality features such as color rendering and dimmability while enabling smart building functions through luminaire level lighting controls (LLLCs), networked lighting control (NLCs), and advanced controls.
Since the durability of LED products means today’s LEDs won’t be replaced for another ten years, now is the time to future-proof energy savings by installing best-in-class options that offer fresh opportunities for efficiency through LEDs themselves as well as enhanced facility functionality through integration of lighting with other building systems.
Capturing the potential of this moment, the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) this month finalized a policy aimed at promoting installation of commercial lighting products that advance energy efficiency, drive adoption of controls, support sustainability and innovation, and mitigate light pollution.
The combined Solid-State Lighting (SSL) V6.0 and Light Usage for Night Applications (LUNA) V2.0 technical requirements were released on November 3 after a 15-month-long stakeholder input process that included two public comment periods. It’s the first major revision since 2020 to specifications manufacturers must meet in order to list their products on the DLC’s SSL qualified products list (QPL) – a resource that is referenced by state procurement agencies and nearly 700 utility and energy efficiency rebate programs across North America.
Among other provisions, the revision aims to streamline the pairing of LED fixtures with controls and network lighting systems by connecting products on the DLC’s SSL and Networked Lighting Controls (NLC) QPLs. For lighting project contractors, this simplifies the process of identifying LED products and compatible network lighting controls – information that’s essential whether lighting is to be controlled at the time of installation or installed as “controls-ready” for future-proofing.
Scheduled to take effect in early January 2026, the policy increases the minimum efficacy threshold for DLC-listed products by an average of 14 percent across all product types, with some product efficacy increases as high as 19 percent. SSL V6.0 also revises the DLC Premium product classification, expanding beyond efficacy and quality to further enable incentives for advanced lighting controls. DLC Premium is a higher-performance classification for luminaires and retrofit kits that exceeds DLC standard requirements by meeting more stringent efficacy, quality of light and controllability specifications.
Other updates include eligibility for outdoor solar luminaires, a growing need for projects in parks and municipalities and for storm damage recovery efforts, and eligibility for very low correlated color temperature (CCT) and Amber LED products in indoor, outdoor and outdoor solar categories.
The new policy also includes updates to the DLC’s LUNA program, which provides a QPL and other resources to encourage selection of outdoor lighting that mitigates light pollution. By consulting the LUNA QPL, designers, contractors and others can search for and select lighting products that align with dark sky requirements and ordinances adopted by nearly 900 cities, towns and counties across North America. More product types are now eligible for LUNA, including those with very low CCT and Amber LEDs. For outdoor lighting projects near sensitive coastal ecosystems, LUNA V2.0 adds new “turtle lighting” product types to the QPL. LUNA also provides additional information related to dark sky performance, including percent blue and compliance with certain Hawai’i codes.
The DLC Technical Requirements for LED Lighting: SSL V6.0 and LUNA V2.0 facilitate selection and installation of LED products and controls that improve energy savings, quality of light, building performance, and light pollution mitigation. To learn more, register for TODAY’S (Nov. 12) webinar (3 PM EST), and see full details on the DLC’s website.
