Published by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and titled IESNA/NALMCO Recommended Practice for Planned Indoor Lighting Maintenance (RP-36-03), this guide was developed to provide critical guidance to lighting designers, architects, building owners and managers, maintenance executives and other construction and building operation professionals.

The guide includes the results of a landmark three-year EPA-sponsored NALMCO study that indicates that many of today's buildings may be overlighted, providing significant opportunities for energy and other cost savings. The simple reason: Dirt. The study determined that the extent of accumulation of dirt and dust on popular lighting fixtures has been overestimated, resulting in spaces being overlighted to compensate for the light loss. With less compensation, fewer light fixtures are needed in new construction and less light output in existing buildings, providing opportunities to reduce lighting energy and capital construction costs by as much as 10 percent.

Besides revising current lighting design practice, Planned Indoor Lighting Maintenance provides extensive information about advanced maintenance methods and materials that can reduce labor costs while improving the appearance of the building and ensuring that workers have sufficient light to be most productive. Also included is information about lamp and ballast disposal, procedures, how to use maintenance to support energy management strategies, and a helpful troubleshooting guide that addresses common lighting system problems.