Dimmable Electronic Ballast California Market Assessment

Transcription

1 Design & Engineering Services Dimmable Electronic Ballast California Market Assessment Demand Response DR and Codes & Standards CS Report Prepared by: Design & Engineering Services Customer Service Business Unit Southern California Edison December 2008

2 Acknowledgements Southern California Edison (SCE) Design & Engineering Services (D&ES) group is responsible for this project in collaboration with the Tariff & Program Services (T&PS) group. It was developed as part of SCE Demand Response, Emerging Markets and Technology program under internal project number DR and D&ES Codes & Standards (C&S) program under internal project number CS D&ES project manager Doug Avery conducted this technology evaluation with overall guidance and management from Carlos Haiad and Randall Higa of D&ES and Jeremy Laundergan of TP&S. For more information on this project, contact Disclaimer This report was prepared by Southern California Edison (SCE) and funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. Reproduction or distribution of the whole or any part of the contents of this document without the express written permission of SCE is prohibited. This work was performed with reasonable care and in accordance with professional standards. However, neither SCE nor any entity performing the work pursuant to SCE s authority make any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with regard to this report, the merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose of the results of the work, or any analyses, or conclusions contained in this report. The results reflected in the work are generally representative of operating conditions; however, the results in any other situation may vary depending upon particular operating conditions. Southern California Edison

3 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Summary of the Dimmable Electronic Ballast Market Assessment..1 Goals of the Study...1 Study Methodology...1 Selected Findings and Conclusions...2 INTRODUCTION 3 Approach...3 Background...4 Project Goals and Objectives...4 RESEARCH PROCEDURES 5 Manufacturers...5 Manufacturer Survey Instrument Design...5 Manufacturer Respondent Pool...5 Lighting Designers...5 Designer Survey Instrument Design...5 Designer Respondent Pool...5 Onsites Surveys...6 Onsite Survey Instrument Design...6 Onsite Respondent Pool...6 RESULTS 6 Manufacturers...6 Background...7 Marketing...7 Target Audience...8 Products...9 Messages...9 Pricing Lighting Designers Respondent Background Experience Barriers Results by Ratio of Projects On-site Visits Facility Description System Description System Performance Southern California Edison Page i

4 System Use Installation Process Future Study Recommendations Focus on the correct respondent pool Address compatibility issues with manufacturers Attempt to establish market volume with manufacturer surveys CONCLUSIONS 26 Primary Findings Summary APPENDIX A. SURVEY INSTRUMENTS 29 Phone Survey Onsite Survey FIGURES Figure 1. Manufacturer's Target Audience...8 Figure 2. Customer Demand Figure 3. Lack of Customer Awareness as a Barrier Figure 4. Dimmable Electronic Ballasts in Existing Buildings Figure 5. Energy Savings aid Dimmable Electronic Ballast Market Figure 6. Facility Types Visited During on-sites Figure 7. Area types Using Dimming Ballasts at On-sites Figure 8. Percent of Dimmable Fixtures at each Site TABLES Table 1. Responding Manufacturers...7 Table 2. Location of Marketing Efforts...7 Table 3. Manufacturer Reported Barriers...8 Table 4. Customer Reasoning for Product Purchase as Perceived by Manufacturers...9 Table 5. Respondent Type Table 6. Facility Type Table 7. Control Type Table 8. Motivations to Install Dimming Ballasts Table 9. Barriers to Dimming Ballast Installation Southern California Edison Page ii

5 Table 10. Perceptions of Dimmable Electronic Ballasts and Marketplace Table 11. Perceived Value of Dimmable Ballasts Table 12. Importance of Price in Dimming Ballast Installation Table 13. Size and the Ranges of Dimmable Electronic Ballast Project Percentages Table 14. Onsite Building Types Table 15. Ballast Manufacturers Table 16. Ballast Control Type by Facility Type Table 17. Control Operators Table 18. Wiring Architecture Table 19. Satisfaction with Aspects of Dimming System Table 20. System Use ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS HID LED LPD Mfg SCE High Intensity Discharge Light Emitting Diode Lighting Power Density Manufacturer Southern California Edison Southern California Edison Page iii

6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SUMMARY OF THE DIMMABLE ELECTRONIC BALLAST MARKET ASSESSMENT Southern California Edison (SCE) is seeking a better understanding of the application of dimmable electronic ballasts, their installation and operation in non-residential buildings in California. Dimmable electronic ballasts have the potential, if properly deployed and installed, to achieve significant energy savings in the day-to-day use of the building s lighting systems. Additionally, dimming ballasts permit the building operator to schedule the lighting system s operation based on the building s operating hours and also enable the lighting system to react to utility demand response signals. Lastly, these smart ballasts offer individual and personal zone control options that affect occupant satisfaction in a positive fashion. This research explores market perceptions and identifies barriers to the implementation of dimmable electronic ballasts in non-residential buildings. The ultimate goal of this research is to characterize the market for dimming electronic ballasts in California, identify to whom are they being sold, and to discover the barriers that are preventing wide-spread adoption of this technology. GOALS OF THE STUDY The key study goals were identified through discussions with SCE. The primary goal of this research was to determine the extent of the current market in California for electronic dimming ballasts and also to identify the barriers that exist to the widespread implementation of these smart ballasts. SCE ultimately hopes to influence Title 24 to include the use of controllable electronic ballasts as a code requirement. This will allow occupants to directly reduce energy usage and also provide the utilities with another demand control strategy. STUDY METHODOLOGY Market barrier research typically focuses on feedback from a variety of market actors. The goal is to gain an understanding of where the market currently stands and what factors are preventing it from growing further. The research procedure for this study follows this approach. Feedback regarding the technology, its acceptance, and its limitations was collected from manufacturers, lighting system designers and specifiers, and from the end users. The phone survey portion of this study used satisfaction and open ended questions to obtain a variety of information. The survey instrument is provided in Appendix A. The manufacturer survey incorporated mostly open ended questions to allow the manufacturers to provide as much detail as possible about their perceptions of the marketplace. The lighting designer surveys focused on quantitative questions. Quantitative questioning allows for comparison and analysis of data across large numbers of respondents. This is typically achieved with yes/no or 1 through 5 ranking questions. Southern California Edison Page 1

7 The onsite visits relied on a combination of question types. This allows the engineers who conducted the site visits to collect qualitative data and still engage the respondents in exploratory conversations that get to the root of the barriers for this technology. SELECTED FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The additional cost of dimmable systems is a large barrier. The increased cost of these types of systems is a barrier to the installation of dimmable lighting. Once construction costs begin to run higher than expected, expensive, easy to swap measures such as advanced lighting systems and controls are often the first items to be replaced with cheaper and less robust lighting products. Many market actors feel more education would help the industry. Education regarding the benefits and proper design of dimmable lighting systems needs to be given to architects, engineers, designers, contractors, and end users. Educational efforts should showcase findings that reinforce the reliability of the technology and prove the savings that these systems provide. Incompatibility between manufactured components has had a detrimental impact on the acceptance of this technology. During the interviews system specifiers and designers repeatedly said that dimmable electronic ballasts and controllers often have compatibility issues. It is very difficult to gain widespread acceptance of a product people think will be difficult to implement. The industry has to work to address the compatibility issues in order to further this technology. The stigma regarding the failure rate of the components needed for these systems, whether real or perceived, is inhibiting dimming system use. Many system specifiers and designers feel the components are not reliable. The perception is that dimming fluorescent lights reduces the life of the system components, especially the ballasts. Published studies by reputable sources would help to dispel any misconceptions. Many of the respondents to the designer surveys felt that the industry alone could not drive dimmable electronic ballast installations. When respondents were asked to either agree or disagree with the statement Industry efforts, by themselves, are not enough to increase the adoption of dimmable systems. External drivers such as codes and incentives are needed, 56% agreed. This supports the goal of this assessment that code requirements are necessary to increase the implementation of dimmable ballasts. The increased complexity of this type of system is too much for many installers and users to overcome. People expect lighting to work, with limited complexity. The ease of a standard light switch is something the public is used to. Any new system needs to have a similar ease of use to be accepted without meeting resistance. Complex lighting systems are often not operated optimally and that leads to lost energy savings. The complexity of correctly operating a dimmable system needs to be reduced in order to ease acceptance and foster a market perception that dimmable systems reliably save energy. Southern California Edison Page 2

8 INTRODUCTION This report presents of findings resulting from research for Southern California Edison s (SCE) Dimmable Electronic Ballast California Market assessment. The assessment was managed by SCE s Design and Engineering Services Group. Southern California Edison (SCE) is seeking to better understand the application of dimmable electronic ballasts, their installations, and how they are operated in nonresidential buildings in California. Dimmable electronic ballasts have the potential, if properly deployed and installed, to achieve significant energy savings in the day-to-day use of the building s lighting systems. Additionally, these dimming ballasts permit the building operator to schedule the lighting system s operation based on the building s operating hours and also enables the lighting system to react to utility demand response signals. Lastly, these smart ballasts offer individual and personal zone control options that affect occupant satisfaction in a positive fashion. This research explores market perceptions and identifies barriers to the implementation of dimmable electronic ballasts in non-residential buildings. The ultimate goal of this research is to characterize the market for dimming electronic ballasts in California, identify to whom they are being sold, and to discover the barriers that prevent wide-spread adoption of this technology. The data presented in this report is the culmination of interviews with a variety of participants in the dimmable electronic ballast industry. Dimmable electronic ballast manufacturers, architects, lighting designers, electrical engineers, and facilities staff all contributed valuable feedback to the findings of this study. APPROACH The approach for this market study was to conduct interviews with two groups of key market actors, and to conduct site visits to: a) talk with facilities staff about their everyday experiences with the technology, and b) verify that the systems are in place and operating. Surveyors were able to identify nine manufacturers of dimmable ballasts. The manufacturers were asked open ended questions with the intent of gaining an overall understanding of their position in the market, their target audience, products, messages, pricing, and the current and future marketplace for dimmable ballasts. Phone surveyors developed a list of over 1,600 names to identify appropriate respondents. Since not all architects and electrical engineers are involved with lighting design, the list had to be screened for professionals that specify lighting and work with dimmable technology. Since this is still an emerging technology, these criteria greatly reduced the number of possible respondents. In the end, the list was reduced to 120 respondents who we determined to have familiarity with dimmable ballasts. Respondents were asked questions about their perceptions of the technology, heir clients perceptions, their experiences, and their recommendations. The goal of these questions was ultimately to characterize perceptions in the marketplace and identify what barriers exist to further market penetration. Surveyors conducted visits to 30 facilities that had dimmable lighting systems installed. Engineers engaged site contacts in conversations about the installation and operation of the lighting systems. The engineers reviewed the controls and lighting hardware installed at the facility and they reviewed the control strategies used by facilities staff. The sites visits helped develop an understanding of how these systems perform once they are installed and operating. Southern California Edison Page 3

9 BACKGROUND SCE s Design and Engineering Services group is currently performing several studies aimed at understanding the impact of incorporating dimming capabilities into nonresidential space lighting. In order to best establish the feasibility of this concept a firm understanding of the marketplace is needed. Standard commercial lighting typically uses linear fluorescent lighting with a fixed output. While the lighting industry continually adopts more efficient technologies lighting standards still require lighting to be installed at a given Lighting Power Density (LPD) based on the space type. While this approach often provides appropriate lighting, it can lead to spaces being over lit. Often times the occupants of a space would prefer a lower light level than specified by the lighting standards one size fits all approach. Dimmable electronic ballasts allow building facilities engineers, individual offices, and space occupants to vary the light output and ultimately reduce power consumption. This variable output provides several benefits to the occupant, the building owner, and the utility. In an office space, with many occupants in open floor, or cubicle configurations, employees rarely all prefer the same light level. Dimmable lighting allows each employee to set their preferred light level. Providing occupant control increases worker satisfaction. In other building applications, day-lighting controls coupled with dimming electronic ballasts continually adjust the light output to keep a pre-set light level throughout the day. Dimming lighting output benefits a building owner through reduced energy costs and increased worker productivity. The utility also benefits from reduced peak demand, but, more importantly, they may also gain a powerful new demand reduction tool. PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Study goals were identified through discussions with SCE. The primary goal of this research was to determine the extent of the current electronic dimming ballast market in California and to identify the barriers that exist to the widespread implementation of these smart ballasts. SCE ultimately hopes to influence Title 24 to include the use of controllable electronic ballasts as a code requirement. This will allow occupants to directly reduce energy usage and also provide the utilities with another demand control strategy. These research points are addressed in this assessment: What barriers exist to greater installation rates of dimmable electronic ballasts? What perceptions of dimmable electronic ballasts exist/do people understand the technology? Are dimmable electronic ballast systems being specified and/or installed? Are systems installed as specified? Do installed systems continue to operate properly/does staff understand proper operation? This assessment informs the current market acceptance of dimmable electronic ballasts, and the barriers that need to be addressed in order to increase the adoption and implementation of this technology. Southern California Edison Page 4

10 RESEARCH PROCEDURES Market barrier research typically focuses on feedback from a variety of market actors. The goal is to understand where the market currently stands and what factors are preventing it from growing further. The research procedure for this study followed this approach. Feedback regarding the technology, its acceptance, and its limitations was collected from manufacturers, architects, engineers, lighting system designers and specifiers, and from the end-users. The phone survey portion of this study used satisfaction and open ended questions to obtain information. The manufacturer survey incorporated many open ended questions to allow the manufacturers to provide as much detail as possible about their perceptions of the marketplace. The lighting designer surveys focused on quantitative questions. This allows for comparison and analysis of data across large numbers of respondents. This is typically achieved with yes/no or 1 through 5 ranking questions. The onsite visits relied on a combination of question types. This allows the engineers who conducted the site visits to collect qualitative data and still engage the respondents in exploratory conversations that get to the root of the barriers for this technology. MANUFACTURERS MANUFACTURER SURVEY INSTRUMENT DESIGN The surveys are composed primarily of open ended questions which covered major issues, such as market barriers and trends, products and availability, processes for getting products to market, and marketing and pricing. MANUFACTURER RESPONDENT POOL A list of 58 manufacturers was compiled and nine manufacturers were contacted to complete the surveys. LIGHTING DESIGNERS DESIGNER SURVEY INSTRUMENT DESIGN The lighting designer survey attempted to characterize the current market, identify the products with the largest market share, and gain an understanding of barriers to adoption of the technology. Additionally the survey assessed the respondent s experience and project volume. The surveys were designed to assess both qualitative and quantitative data. DESIGNER RESPONDENT POOL The respondent pool was developed through a variety of sources. Internet searches were conducted to collect member information for industry organizations and trade groups that included lighting designers, architects, and engineers. Data services provided contact information for certain professional codes including electrical engineers. An internet search of web-based phone books was performed. Word-of- Southern California Edison Page 5

11 mouth references were noted and added to the call list as interviews were conducted. It was originally thought that it would be relatively easy to compile a call list of eligible respondents in the state of California. As the task progressed it was quickly understood that gathering a list of respondents was much more difficult than previously believed. The search for respondents began by gathering lists of lighting designers, but after initial surveys were completed with a few designers it was clear that designers often outsource the lighting specification to electrical engineers. The survey approach was adjusted and electrical engineers were added to the call list. The list of possible respondents grew to over 1,600 names, but even with the expansion of the call list to include lighting designers, architects, contractors, and electrical engineers only 120 qualified respondents were contacted. ONSITES SURVEYS ONSITE SURVEY INSTRUMENT DESIGN The content of the data collection instrument was developed using the preliminary findings from the designer surveys. Issues with the acceptance of this technology that were identified early on were added to the onsite survey to attempt to further explore barriers. The onsite survey is provided in Appendix A. ONSITE RESPONDENT POOL In order to develop the list of sites for on-site inspection, phone survey respondents were asked to provide contact information for any site where they had installed dimmable ballasts. In addition, manufacturers were asked to provide lists of sites where their products had been installed. This task was much more difficult than anticipated. Many respondents were not willing to provide client contact information, and manufacturers were too far removed from actual projects to know that information. As a result, the total contacts provided only numbered 30. Realizing 100% response from onsite contacts was not likely, survey respondents were recontacted. After extensive conversations with several of the respondents with high project volume the number of contacts was increased to 70 sites with dimmable electronic ballasts installed. RESULTS The findings are discussed by manufacturer, lighting designer, and onsite survey responses. The discussion highlights the interesting and significant findings from each of the survey efforts, and is focused toward identifying characteristics of the marketplace and barriers to dimmable electronic ballast adoption. MANUFACTURERS The information distilled below is the interpretation of the data resulting from the nine surveys that were completed. Table 1 below lists manufacturers that responded to the survey. Southern California Edison Page 6

12 TABLE 1. RESPONDING MANUFACTURERS Axis Technology ELB Electronics Liton Lighting Lutron Prudential Lighting Products Universal Lighting Ushio America Watt-Stopper Metrolite Inc. BACKGROUND The responding manufacturers produced a variety of products including controls, sensors, ballasts, and fixtures for all types of fluorescent and HID lighting. Companies ranged from 60 year old industry pioneers to brand new start-ups, and they manufacture their products all over the world. Every respondent stated they target both new construction and retrofit markets. MARKETING The respondents markets varied from California to worldwide. Every respondent reported some activity in the California marketplace; only one focused on California exclusively. Table 2 shows the distribution of manufacturer s marketing efforts. TABLE 2. LOCATION OF MARKETING EFFORTS LOCATION TOTAL Statewide 1 United States 3 North America 3 Worldwide 2 Grand Total 9 Respondents were asked if they had identified any market cycle or seasonality. Most stated the market was fairly constant. It was expressed that the market did follow construction cycles somewhat and did experience an increase in projects at academic sites in the summer when fewer classes are traditionally held. During the survey the question was asked; What do you perceive as the primary barrier to sales of the product? Price? Complexity? Respondents gave a variety of replies to this question but there were recurring responses. The verbatim responses were grouped into similar themes for interpretation and are presented in Table 3. Price, or first cost, was mentioned by seven of the respondents as a barrier to the market. Nearly half (4) of the respondents mentioned that consumers were lacking education or understanding of the technology. Several manufacturers also expressed that since the technology has not been widely accepted it remains an unfamiliar or unproven technology. Other barriers mentioned by manufacturers included the complexity of the system, the incompatibility of components, the reliability of components, and the limits of the system s functionality or dimming range. Southern California Edison Page 7

13 TABLE 3. MANUFACTURER REPORTED BARRIERS BARRIER TOTAL Cost/Price 7 Lack of Understanding 4 Unfamiliar Technology 3 Complexity of Systems 1 Component Compatibility 1 Component Reliability 1 Capability of System to meet Customer Needs 1 Manufacturers were asked if they perceived positive industry trends. All of the positive comments suggested that current green attitudes were helping to expand the industry. The negative comments referred to the added costs of dimmable systems and the systems being unfamiliar. It seems that adoption may increase as these systems are proven in successful installations. All manufacturers report they provide training and education to engineers and contractors. The methods include webinars, seminars, presentations, and direct sales calls. Many manufacturers actively perform these tasks providing several to dozens of presentations each week. Respondents were asked if they provided technical or engineering design support. It is common to provide technical support, but engineering design support only seems to be done on special situations and large jobs. The technical support offered ranged from field support to phone support using staff engineers. TARGET AUDIENCE Specific targeting of market segments doesn t seem to be a practice heavily employed by manufacturers. They have markets they work with on a regular basis, as shown in Figure 1, but most manufacturers continue to explore a wide variety of options for potential customers. Frequency of Responses Offices Retail Industrial Warehouse Educational Total n = FIGURE 1. MANUFACTURER'S TARGET AUDIENCE Southern California Edison Page 8

14 In order to get a better understanding of the perceptions in the marketplace, respondents were asked what they felt were the reasons that influenced customers to buy their products. Their answers were given in open ended responses. In order to identify trends in manufacturer responses, key words were identified and coded from each response. The results are shown in Table 4. TABLE 4. CUSTOMER REASONING FOR PRODUCT PURCHASE AS PERCEIVED BY MANUFACTURERS CUSTOMER DRIVERS AS PERCEIVED BY MANUFACTURER TOTAL N=6 Cost/Value 3 Energy Savings 3 Quality of Product 3 Develop Daylighting 2 Product Support/Service 2 Ease of Product Use 1 Reduce Maintenance Costs 1 Quality of Light 1 Green Image 1 PRODUCTS Manufacturers were asked what they felt could be done to improve the products to better meet customer needs. They responded by stating that bringing the cost of the products down would be one way to better meet the needs of the marketplace. Other comments included developing better solutions for the use of dimmable lighting in small areas, improving compatibility and standardization of products, providing more product education, and increasing product reliability. Future assessments should explore how much of a priority these issues are for each manufacturer. They were also asked if they provided commissioning services to their customers. Five manufacturers responded to the question. Four of them said they did provide commissioning and one said they did not. Of the four that do provide the service, three charge for commissioning, and one does not. MESSAGES Several questions were asked to understand what manufacturers believe to be the perceptions of their companies and the important messages to be conveyed about their products. Those that responded felt their customers viewed their products as having high levels of quality, reliability, performance, and their company as delivering a high level of service. Only one manufacturer stated their customers often viewed their product as being the highest priced option, and they included the caveat that that perception was not always accurate. Manufacturers try to convey to their customers that their company and their products are of high quality, affordable, and they are reliable. They also try to convince customers that using this technology is cost effective and that they will realize savings by incorporating these measures. Southern California Edison Page 9

15 When asked how they wanted to portray their companies to their customers, the most common answer was that they wanted their company to be seen was knowledgeable and their technology is reliable. Other messages that were expressed by multiple companies were their professionalism, that they were easy to work with, and that their image was associated with saving energy. Some firms also tried to convey that they were trustworthy, green, helpful, and that they had strong customer satisfaction. PRICING Most manufacturers stated that price was a major factor in the customer s decision process regarding the use of dimmable ballasts. They expressed the need to shift perceptions away from first costs and toward payback and return on investment. Similar to most other types of projects, cutting costs up-front typically leads to lower satisfaction and a reduced realized benefit. Factors that will reduce price without sacrificing quality appear to be typical market factors. An increase in volume will drive costs down as a result of manufacturing efficiencies. Furthermore, a reduction in manufacturing and material costs will lead to lower prices. Many manufacturers feel that customers sacrifice value, or quality, for price. Most customers purchase a cheaper product and end up being unhappy with it. According to manufacturers, the perceived value of dimmable products compared to the cost of these products is low. Manufacturers feel the customers do not value the systems enough to justify the extra cost. The typical customer involved with dimmable lighting has been able to understand the payback on this technology. The services included with the price of the product were discussed to identify what additional value the manufacturers were providing. Most manufacturers have differing levels of service depending on whether a customer is buying individual products or a whole system. Services ranged from full turn-key systems to 24-hour tech support. Audits, testing, training, design assistance, and service contracts are all available depending on the volume of product purchased. The question was asked if any competitive price changes were anticipated in the near future. A couple manufacturers said they felt increased competition would lead to reduced costs, but an equal number of manufacturers stated they were not anticipating any price changes. Perceptions of market pricing were discussed with the manufacturers. They were asked what industry trends they felt would drive prices down. The following factors were cited: Improvements to the manufacturing process Economies of scale resulting from higher volume Competition from products, such as induction and LED lighting Price competition spawned by lower cost ballast manufacturers Legislation mandating energy efficiency technology Speculation on industry trends responsible for driving prices up included: Increases in raw materials General cost of business (overhead) Overseas markets becoming more expensive as the dollar weakens Southern California Edison Page 10

16 LIGHTING DESIGNERS In order to ensure that the results of the survey were meaningful, respondents needed to answer two screener questions before proceeding with the survey interview. The first screener required that the respondent belong to a firm that designed non-residential lighting systems. The second screener was that the respondent needed to have knowledge of dimming ballast applications and controls. If either of these qualifications were not met then the survey was concluded. The 119 qualifying respondents were contacted and included in the survey analysis. Only two designers were identified that specified non-residential lighting systems but did possess a working knowledge of dimming electronic ballasts, they expressed that dimming ballasts were not appropriate for their specific areas of design. There were 476 contacts that did not pass the question Does your firm design non-residential lighting systems. In addition to the two screener questions at the beginning of the survey, the respondents were asked if their firm had previously designed or specified a dimmable electronic ballast system. If their firm had designed or specified a dimmable electronic ballast system, they were asked the remaining survey questions about their experiences with the systems. Of the 119 respondents who qualified for the survey, 109 respondents qualified for the experience portion of the survey. Ten respondents reported having an understanding of dimmable electronic ballasts but their firm was not implementing them in their designs. These respondents skipped the questions about their experience with dimmable electronic ballasts and went right to the series of questions about barriers before the survey was concluded. RESPONDENT BACKGROUND In order to get a better idea of the respondent population, a number of background questions were included in the survey. Questions were included regarding practice type, number of designers in the respondents office, number of projects conducted at the respondent s office, and the type of facilities that the respondent s company designed systems for. Table 5 shows the frequencies and percentages of the different types of practices of the qualified respondents. The two qualified respondents that selected Other described themselves as Project Manager and Installer. More than half of the respondents described themselves as either Lighting Designers or Electrical Engineers. Only 11% of respondents considered themselves to be Electrical Contractors and one respondent claimed to be an Installer This shows that the respondent population is primarily involved with the designing of lighting systems, and very few of the respondents are installers or contractors. This should be taken into account when viewing the results. TABLE 5. RESPONDENT TYPE PRACTICE TYPE N % Lighting Designer Consulting Engineer Architect Electrical Contractor Electrical Engineer Other 2 2 Total Southern California Edison Page 11

17 Respondents were asked to list the types of facilities for which they had designed lighting systems. Table 6 displays the number of designers that work with each facility type. The two most common facilities that respondents designed lighting systems for were commercial office buildings and schools, with 67% and 60% respectively. The least common facilities, not including the other category and the unknown category, were Libraries and General C&I Work, with 17% and 20%. TABLE 6. FACILITY TYPE FACILITY TYPE N % C&I Storage Grocery Store General C&I Work Medical/Clinical Commercial Office Buildings Religious Worship, Auditorium, Museum Restaurant Retail & Wholesale School Campuses Theater Unknown 1 1 Hotels/Motels Fire/Police/Jails Community Center Gymnasium Libraries Other EXPERIENCE In order to gauge the respondents experience with dimmable electronic ballast technology, the survey asked a series of questions about the respondent s knowledge of the technology, the number of projects designed by the respondent s company that specify dimmable electronic ballast systems, the types of systems that they commonly specify, the manufacturers that they specify, as well as any problems that they commonly run into with dimmable electronic ballast systems. Table 7 shows the frequency of respondents that use a particular dimming control system architecture in their lighting projects. Almost half of all respondent s specify 2 wire and 3 wire phase angle systems, implying that these are the most common dimming control systems. Some of the other responses include 4 and 5 wire, Cat 5, VDC, and electronic theatrical controls. Southern California Edison Page 12

18 TABLE 7. CONTROL TYPE DIMMING CONTROL SYSTEM N % 0-10 VDC Analog Control Wire phase angle Wire phase angle Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) Other 8 7 Over 75% of respondents said they specify a particular manufacturer in their lighting designs. Of those that specify a particular manufacturer in their designs, almost 70% of respondents specify Lutron, and 20% specify Advance. Other manufacturers included Lightolier, Electronic Theatrical Control, Lithonia, Sylvania, and Universal, all of which were listed by less than 10% of respondents who specify manufacturers in their designs. 1 When asked about major problems encountered with dimmable electronic ballast system installations, almost 50% of the respondents gave no response, or said that they had not encountered any problems with dimmable electronic ballast installations. The respondents who did offer feedback gave a wide range of open ended answers. The themes behind the three most common problems reported by respondents were related to compatibility (13%), lack of contractor knowledge (10%), and performance issues (9%). Other problems citied included lack of client knowledge, cost, color issues, and the physical size of the ballast. The issues of compatibility were explored further. Respondents were asked if they had encountered any compatibility problems between ballasts and lighting control systems. Twenty-nine percent of respondents have encountered compatibility problems, and of those, one-third said that compatibility problems were frequent. Interestingly enough, 47% of respondents who encountered compatibility problems responded to the manufacturer specification question with more than one manufacturer, but only 27% of the respondents who had not encountered compatibility issues responded with more than one manufacturer. This disparity between the two groups of respondents implies that designers who use more than one manufacturer are more likely to encounter compatibility issues than those who rely on a single manufacturer. Respondents were asked to rate several motivations for specifying dimmable electronic ballast systems in their designs on a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 representing low motivation and 5 representing heavy motivation. Table 8 shows the results. The ratings of 4 and 5 Is a Motivator are grouped together and the ratings of 1 and 2 Is Not a Motivator are grouped together to get a better snapshot of the results. 1 Some respondents listed multiple manufacturers in their response to the question, so the frequency of manufacturers listed by respondents is greater than 100%. Southern California Edison Page 13

19 TABLE 8. MOTIVATIONS TO INSTALL DIMMING BALLASTS MOTIVATION DESCRIPTION NOT A MOTIVATOR (1,2) NEUTRAL (3) IS A MOTIVATOR (4,5) Energy Savings Client Requests Added Value to the Design Giving Occupants Personal Dimming Obtaining Utility Rebates and Incentives The Ability to use the Space for Different Uses (Flexibility) Lighting flexibility and energy savings were the highest ranking motivators for specifying dimmable electronic ballast systems. Seventy-nine percent of respondents indicated lighting flexibility as the highest ranking motivator and 77% of respondents indicated dimmable electronic ballast systems as the key motivator. Client requests and added value to the design were also rated as motivators with 54% and 49% respondents indicating these motivations. Giving occupants dimming control and utility rebates and incentives were mixed motivators, with no category obtaining a majority of responses. Respondents were given the option to provide additional motivations. Four of the respondents replied to this question. The responses included Title-24 requirements, daylight harvesting, and aesthetics. BARRIERS Respondents were asked a series of questions about the barriers that they perceived in the market for dimmable electronic ballast systems. Topics covered included cost, customer demand, complexity of the system, reliability, compatibility, and market perception. Respondents were asked to rate potential barriers on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing a large barrier, and 1 representing no barrier. Again, the 4 and 5 responses were grouped together to represent a perceived barrier, and the 1 and 2 responses 1 and 2 were grouped to represent no perception of a barrier. Table 9 shows the results to the question How much of a barrier is... to dimmable electronic ballast installation. Southern California Edison Page 14

20 TABLE 9. BARRIERS TO DIMMING BALLAST INSTALLATION BARRIER NOT A BARRIER (1,2) NEUTRAL (3) Initial cost Length of payback Lack of customer demand Lack of customer education/awareness Complexity of design or installation Lack of compatibility of design or components Commissioning required Lack of skilled labor to install it Product reliability Difference in dimmer performance among mfg s Concerns over compatibility with future technology IS A BARRIER (4,5) Of the 11 potential barriers posed to the respondents, initial cost and lack of customer awareness had the highest percentage (59% and 46%, respectively) of respondents indicating some level of barrier. Length of payback was the most mixed response, with 35% of respondents providing a neutral answer. Every other potential barrier ranked over 50% of responses as number 1 or 2, indicating little or no barrier. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement with 4 statements relating to the market, industry, and savings associated with dimmable electronic ballast systems. As with the previous question, in order to get a better summary of the results, responses of 4 and 5 were grouped to represent a level of agreement, and responses 1 and 2 were grouped to represent a level of disagreement. Table 10 shows how strongly respondents agreed or disagreed with each statement. TABLE 10. PERCEPTIONS OF DIMMABLE ELECTRONIC BALLASTS AND MARKETPLACE STATEMENT The market for dimmable ballasts in existing buildings is poor. Energy savings alone are not enough to promote dimmable ballast systems, due in part to the success of T8 Electronic Ballasts. Industry efforts, by themselves, are not enough to increase the adoption of dimmable systems. External drivers such as codes and incentives are needed. Energy savings are fairly predictable with dimming systems. DISAGREE (1,2) NEUTRAL (3) AGREE (4,5) Southern California Edison Page 15

21 More than half of respondents agreed that the market for dimmable electronic ballast systems in existing buildings was poor. More than half of respondents agreed that energy savings alone were not enough to promote dimmable electronic ballast systems. Additionally, more than half of respondents agreed that industry efforts alone were not enough to increase adoption of dimmable electronic ballast systems. Forty-nine percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that energy savings with dimmable electronic ballast systems were fairly predictable. Respondents were asked about their perceived value of the dimmable electronic ballasts compared to price. Table 11 shows that 51% of respondents felt the value of dimmable electronic ballasts was fair. TABLE 11. PERCEIVED VALUE OF DIMMABLE BALLASTS PERCEIVED VALUE N % Good Fair Poor Total Respondents were also asked how important price is in the decision process regarding dimmable ballasts. Table 12 shows the frequency of responses. TABLE 12. IMPORTANCE OF PRICE IN DIMMING BALLAST INSTALLATION HOW IMPORTANT IS PRICE? N % Extremely Moderately Minimally Total RESULTS BY RATIO OF PROJECTS It is not uncommon for survey respondents to have different outlooks on a subject based upon their experiences with the subject matter. To get an idea of how the respondents level of experience with dimmable electronic ballast systems affects their outlook on the dimmable electronic ballast market, a sub-analysis was performed where the results were looked at after grouping respondents into categories based on their ratio of dimmable electronic ballast projects compared to their total number of lighting projects. Respondents were asked to estimate both the number of lighting projects performed by their company and the number of lighting projects involving dimmable electronic ballast systems performed by their company. By dividing the estimated number of dimmable electronic ballast projects by total number of projects, one can get an idea of the ratio of lighting projects that include dimmable electronic ballast systems at the respondent s organization. The objective of this analysis is to examine any potential differences, or similarities, between respondents with different levels of experience with dimmable electronic ballast systems. It was chosen to base the analysis on the ratio of dimmable electronic Southern California Edison Page 16

22 ballast projects, rather than the total number of projects to avoid introducing any bias based on the respondent s company size. Of the 109 respondents that were considered qualified for the survey, 101 respondents had provided sufficient survey information to compute the project ratio. The resulting ratios ranged from 0 to For the purpose of the analysis, the respondents were broken into three groups: low, medium, and high project ratios according to their ratio of dimmable electronic ballast projects. Table 13 highlights some interesting findings that were seen after breaking the survey responses into these three groups. TABLE 13. SIZE AND THE RANGES OF DIMMABLE ELECTRONIC BALLAST PROJECT PERCENTAGES GROUP N PERCENTAGE OF DIMMABLE PROJECTS Low % Medium % High 38 >=50% Grouping the respondents based on the ratio of projects in which their company specifies dimmable electronic ballast systems reveals some interesting results. Of the respondents who indicated a high ratio of projects involving dimmable ballasts, 70% of them indicated that lack of customer demand was not a barrier. However, respondents with lower ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects had mixed responses to this question. This indicates that customer demand may play a major role in the installation of dimmable electronic ballast systems. Figure 2 shows the percentage of responses to the Lack of Customer Demand question broken into three groups based on the ratio of dimmable electronic ballast projects. Lack of Customer Demand Percentage of Respondents 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Not a Barrier Neutral Barrier Response Low Medium High FIGURE 2. CUSTOMER DEMAND Examining the responses to the lack of customer awareness/education barrier shows some interesting results as well. Respondents with large ratios of dimmable 2 One respondent estimated that their office was involved ~6 lighting projects annually. However, the respondent estimated that their office performed ~8 lighting projects with dimmable electronic ballast systems annually. The resulting ratio was Southern California Edison Page 17

23 electronic ballast projects had mixed responses to the level of barrier that customer awareness played in the market. However, respondents with lower ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects felt that customer awareness was a large barrier to the installation of dimming ballasts. The responses to the customer demand and customer awareness questions indicate that a lack of customer education may be a significant barrier for companies with low ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects. Figure 3 shows the percentage of responses to the lack of customer education/awareness question broken into three groups based on the ratio of dimmable electronic ballast systems specified in projects by the respondent s company. Lack of Customer Education/Awareness 60% Percentage of Respond 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Low Medium High 0% Not a Barrier Neutral Barrier Response FIGURE 3. LACK OF CUSTOMER AWARENESS AS A BARRIER Figure 4 displays the percentages of responses to the statement The market for dimmable electronic ballasts in existing buildings is poor. As can be expected, 47% of respondents from companies with a high ratio of dimmable electronic ballast projects disagreed with the statement, where as 55% and 65% of respondents from companies with medium and low ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects agreed with the statement. Southern California Edison Page 18

24 The Market for Dimmable Ballasts in Existing Buildings is poor Percentage of Respondents 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Disagree Neutral Agree Response Low Medium High FIGURE 4. DIMMABLE ELECTRONIC BALLASTS IN EXISTING BUILDINGS Additionally, there were differences between groups in the responses to the energy savings statement. Figure 5 displays the percentage of responses to the statement Energy savings alone are not enough to promote dimmable electronic ballast systems, due in part to the success of T8 Electronic Ballast broken into three groups based on the proportion of dimmable electronic ballast systems specified in projects by the respondent s company. Fifty percent of respondents from companies with high ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects disagreed with the statement, whereas 78% with low ratios and 55% of respondents with medium ratios of dimmable electronic ballast projects agreed with the statement. Energy Savings alone are not enough to promote dimmable ballast systems, due in part to the success of T8 electronic ballast Percentage of Respondents 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Disagree Neutral Agree Low Medium High Response FIGURE 5. ENERGY SAVINGS AID DIMMABLE ELECTRONIC BALLAST MARKET Southern California Edison Page 19