Commercial Lighting, Lighting Controls and LED Retrofits in South Florida

Commercial lighting

Fixtures, controls and proof that they work

Commercial Lighting Is a Controls Project Now

Commercial lighting installation used to mean fixtures and switches. Under the current Florida energy code it means fixtures, a control strategy, and proof that the controls work. That applies to new buildings, tenant build-outs and much of the retrofit work in existing space, and it is where most lighting projects either come together or come back for corrections.

This page covers the work KRW Electric does on commercial lighting across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach:

• Interior lighting for new construction and tenant improvement: offices, retail, restaurants, medical suites and warehouses.
• Commercial LED retrofit of existing fixtures and systems.
• Lighting controls: occupancy and vacancy sensors, daylight controls, time switches, lighting control panels, and networked or wireless control systems, including DALI.
• Exterior, site and LED parking lot lights, including poles, bases and the underground feeds.
• Sign power: the dedicated circuits and disconnects that storefront and pylon signs need.

Emergency and exit lighting is covered separately on life-safety electrical systems, but it has to be designed with the normal lighting and controls, not after them.

Which Florida Energy Code Applies

Florida adopts its building code by rule. As of this writing, Rule 61G20-1.001 adopts the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), which the Florida Building Commission lists as effective December 31, 2023. The energy volume of that code is the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation (FBCEC).

According to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's summary of the 8th Edition energy changes, the 2023 FBCEC is the 2020 Florida energy code updated with changes from the 2021 IECC and other Florida proposals. For commercial buildings the code offers an IECC-based path and an ASHRAE 90.1-based path; a study done for the state compares the 2023 FBCEC with both the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019.

The Commission is also working on a 9th Edition (2026) update. Which edition governs a project generally depends on when the permit application goes in, so confirm the edition with the building department and your designer before the lighting design is finished.

What the 2023 Energy Code Requires for Lighting Controls

The DBPR summary describes the commercial lighting-control section (C405.2) as mandatory and extensively reorganized. The main requirements a commercial project designs around:

• Occupant sensor controls in the space types the code lists, now including corridors. Per the DBPR summary, corridor sensors must drop lighting to an unoccupied level, and open-plan office zones turn off or reduce to no more than 20 percent of full power no later than 20 minutes after the zone empties (state comparison study).
• Time-switch controls that turn lights off when the space is scheduled to be unoccupied (DBPR summary).
• Light-reduction controls: spaces without qualifying occupant sensors need manual controls to reduce general lighting (DBPR summary).
• Daylight-responsive controls in daylight zones. The state comparison study notes the requirement now covers all space types and calls for continuous dimming down to 15 percent of full output or lower.
• Specific application controls for display, exhibit and medical or dental task lighting that has its own control (DBPR summary).
• Parking garage lighting controlled by occupant sensors or a time switch (DBPR summary).
• Walk-in coolers and freezers: lighting at a minimum efficacy with a device that turns it off 15 minutes after the space is unoccupied (DBPR summary). This one catches restaurant and grocery build-outs.

The code also allows luminaire-level lighting controls, where each fixture carries its own sensors, as an alternative way to meet much of the section (DBPR summary).

Testing and paperwork

The 2023 edition also tightened commissioning. Per the DBPR summary, functional performance tests must be witnessed and documented by a licensed design professional or an approved agency, the final building inspection comes after the owner and the code official have received the preliminary commissioning report, and the commissioning documents go to the code official as well as the owner after the certificate of occupancy. Ask the design team early which lighting control tests apply to your project and who will witness them. Controls that were installed but never set up are a common reason a lighting job drags past handover.

Retrofits and Alterations in Existing Buildings

A lighting retrofit is an alteration, and the energy code has an existing-buildings chapter for alterations. The DBPR summary notes that alterations complying with ASHRAE 90.1 are an accepted route. How much of the controls section a given retrofit triggers depends on the extent of the work and the compliance path, and that is a question for the designer and the building department at the start, not the inspector at the end.

How a commercial LED retrofit is usually approached:

1. Survey what is there: fixture types, circuits, voltages, switching, existing sensors and emergency units.
2. Decide fixtures or kits. Full fixture replacement, retrofit kits in existing housings, or a mix. Kits must be listed for the fixture they go into.
3. Design the controls at the same time. Swapping fixtures without addressing controls leaves most of the savings on the table and can leave the space short of what the code expects.
4. Check dimming compatibility between drivers, sensors and dimmers before ordering, not after.
5. Keep emergency lighting intact through the change.

FPL runs business energy programs that include an indoor lighting rebate program for high, mid and low bay LED fixtures in existing buildings. FPL says the fixtures must be installed by a licensed contractor and that lights must operate during its stated summer weekday peak hours to qualify. Check eligibility with FPL before counting on it; we don't quote rebate amounts. Customers of municipal utilities should ask their own utility.

Our post on getting better results from lighting retrofits covers why many retrofits underperform. High-bay and warehouse work is covered on warehouse and industrial electrical.

Choosing the Control System

There is no single right answer to "what lighting controls should we use." The choice depends on the building, who will run it, and how often the layout changes.

• Standalone sensors and switches: simplest, lowest-maintenance, fine for small tenant spaces, restrooms and storage.
• Lighting control panel: relay panels with a time clock for a building or a floor. Good for retail, common areas and exterior lighting schedules.
• Networked or wireless lighting control: sensors and fixtures that talk to each other and can be regrouped in software. Useful in offices where tenants and layouts change, and in retrofits where pulling new control wire is expensive.
• DALI lighting control: a digital protocol that addresses fixtures individually over a control bus. Flexible, but it needs a designer and someone on the owner's side who will maintain the programming.

Whatever system is picked, the details that cause trouble are the same: driver and control compatibility, a neutral at the switch location where the device needs one, sensible zoning, and a sequence of operation that someone has written down. Ask who will adjust the system after handover. If the answer is nobody, choose something simpler. Our guide to lighting control systems covers these failure points.

LED Parking Lot Lights and Site Lighting

Parking lot and site lighting is part electrical work, part site work. The pieces that decide whether it lasts:

• Poles and bases. Pole foundations and anchor bolts are designed for wind, and in South Florida that design is part of the permit set. Replacing heads on existing poles is a different question from adding poles, and old poles are worth inspecting for corrosion at the base before heavier fixtures go on them.
• Underground feeds. Conduit, depth, pull boxes and conductor sizing for long runs. Voltage drop on a large lot matters, which is one reason site lighting often runs at 277 or 480 volts.
• Controls. Photocells, astronomical time switches and dimming or motion-based reduction after hours, set to match the energy code and the tenant's operating hours.
• Corrosion. Salt air near the coast shortens the life of fixtures, hardware and pole bases. Specify for it.
• Light spill. Neighbors, roadways and, on beachfront property, local lighting rules. Check what the city or county requires before choosing optics.

LED parking lot lights on existing poles are usually the quickest win on a commercial property. The bigger savings often come from controls that dim the lot when it is empty.

Sign Power and Storefront Lighting

Signs need their own circuit, a disconnect, and a feed that is sized and routed for an outdoor, sun-exposed, often salt-exposed installation. The sign itself is usually permitted and installed by the sign company; the electrical contractor provides the power and the connection. Coordinate early on where the sign circuit lands, what controls it (time switch or photocell), and whether the landlord's panel has room.

For the full list of what sign power involves, see our post on electrical requirements for business signs. Retail storefront lighting and display circuits are covered on retail electrical contractor.

How Lighting Fits a Build-Out or New Building

On a tenant improvement or a new building, lighting and controls follow the same sequence as the rest of the electrical work, with a few extra steps:

1. Design: the lighting layout, fixture schedule, controls narrative and energy code compliance forms come from the design team.
2. Submittals: fixtures, drivers and control components checked against each other before release.
3. Rough-in: boxes, power, control wiring or network backbone, sensor locations coordinated with the ceiling grid and HVAC diffusers.
4. Trim-out: fixtures, sensors and panels installed and addressed.
5. Programming and functional testing: time schedules, sensor timeouts, daylight setpoints, witnessed and documented as the code requires.
6. Closeout: the sequence of operation, control drawings and settings handed to the owner.

For office tenant work specifically, see office build-out electrical. For the wider scope, see commercial remodel and tenant improvement, new construction electrical and the commercial electrical services overview. When added lighting or EV charging pushes the service, see commercial service and switchgear; for permits and inspections, see commercial electrical permits.

KRW Electric (license EC13012832) installs commercial lighting, LED retrofits, lighting controls and site lighting. We don't sell energy audits or quote rebates; we install to the design and the code and help you make the controls work. For lighting at home rather than at work, see lighting installation.

Planning the work? Send the drawings or a description through our contact page or call (305) 359-7312.