This brief backs up our article Beyond LED: Why Smart Lighting Is the Next Step. For each section of the article, it shows the facts we relied on, the source each one came from and how we used it, so you can check any line for yourself.
How we put this together
- Primary sources first: federal agencies, national laboratories, the region’s grid operator, utilities, state program administrators and peer-reviewed research.
- Figures appear as published. Where we did the math ourselves (a percent change, a dollar example), the table says so.
- Averages stay averages. Study results describe many buildings and are never presented as a promise for any one building or product.
- Dated items, such as program terms, rates and forecasts, were checked on October 2, 2026. They change, so confirm them before you plan.
- Facts about Affinity come from Affinity and are marked as company information.
Opening
What the article says. Most New England buildings already have LED, which was the right first step, but very few have the controls that decide when lights run and how bright.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 1% of US commercial lighting had networked controls in the Department of Energy’s 2017 baseline. | [1] DOE, SSL Energy Savings Forecast | “Fewer than one in every hundred commercial lights is networked to that kind of control.” |
| In schools, the 2020 national count found that 21% of lighting was LED, 75% was still fluorescent, and more than half had no controls at all. | [2] DOE, 2020 Lighting Market Characterization | Background for the opening. The article keeps to one number. |
| Early generation LED lowered the power each light draws, and those savings are real and lasting. LED alone does not change when lights are on or how bright they run. | Affinity LED | The opening’s point that LED was the right first step, and what it left undone. |
What smart lighting means
What the article says. Smart lighting puts integral sensors in every fixture and networks the fixtures. The industry calls it luminaire-level lighting control (LLLC), and the definition matters.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| In luminaire-level lighting control, every fixture carries integral sensors and a controller, the fixtures are networked, and light levels and scenes can be changed without rewiring. | [11] BetterBricks, LLLC FAQ | The plain-language description of smart lighting and LLLC. |
| Under the DLC’s requirements, a true LLLC system is networked and every fixture has at least two sensor functions, typically occupancy and daylight. A single sensor per fixture, working on its own, is not LLLC. | [15] DLC, NLC Technical Requirements V5.2 | “Every fixture has at least two sensor functions, usually occupancy and daylight,” and why a sensor on each light is not the same thing. |
An example: the school gym
What the article says. The same gym with and without smart lighting.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Smart lighting responds to people, shares the work with daylight, sets the right level for each space, and lets a room change with its use. | [11] BetterBricks, LLLC FAQ | How the controlled gym behaves. The gym is an illustration, not a measured project. |
Why the economics have changed
What the article says. With LED in place, the largest remaining savings are in control. Study averages are not promises, and every hour saved is worth more as demand rises.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| A DLC and NEEA field study of 194 buildings found networked lighting controls cut lighting energy by 49% on average, on top of LED. It compared networked systems with and without luminaire-level control; those with it averaged 63%, though the buildings also differed in other ways. | [3] DLC and NEEA, NLC savings with and without LLLC | “Nearly half, on average, on top of the savings from LED.” The 63% figure stays in the brief because of the researchers’ caution. |
| An earlier DLC study of 114 buildings found 47%. | [4] DLC, NLC energy savings (2017) | Shows the result holds across studies. Not quoted. |
| The 49% is a share of what the lights use, not of the whole building, and an average across many buildings, not a promise for any one. | [3] DLC and NEEA, NLC savings with and without LLLC | The two cautions beside the number. |
| New England electricity demand is projected to rise about 9% over the next decade, with winter peaks climbing nearly 3% a year. | [7] ISO New England, 2026 CELT | “As the region uses more electricity, an hour of light nobody needed costs more to waste.” |
Why “later” can cost more
What the article says. Adding controls to LED already on the ceiling is often impractical, so the time to add them is when fixtures are replaced.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Adding networked controls to existing LED is often impractical or prohibitively expensive. | [6] DLC, economic potential of NLC | “Often impractical or too expensive.” |
| The DLC’s position is that every fixture being replaced should be at least controls-ready, if not controlled. | [6] DLC, economic potential of NLC | Stated as the DLC’s position, ahead of ours (controls now). It is not an endorsement of the article or of Affinity. |
| Education buildings in the DLC and NEEA study averaged 41% lighting energy savings from controls. | [3] DLC and NEEA, NLC savings with and without LLLC | Background for the point about buildings still on fluorescent lighting. Not quoted. |
Where we come in
What the article says. One company in Dover, New Hampshire builds the lights and makes them intelligent.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Best Built fixtures are assembled by a dedicated US Veteran team in Affinity’s UL-certified facility in Dover. CLIQ Connected luminaire-level controls come in three steps: CLIQ Connected, CLIQ Connected Building and CLIQ Connected Building+. One team engineers, builds, installs, commissions, connects and services every system. | Affinity LED | The Where we come in section. |
What this means for your buildings
What the article says. The first question is what the lights are doing when nobody is there, and a Free Energy Assessment answers it.
| The fact | Source | How the article uses it |
|---|---|---|
| The Free Energy Assessment: Affinity walks the buildings with the owner and gives real numbers in writing for each, at no cost and no obligation. | Affinity LED | The closing call to action. |
Also reviewed
We read these while reporting the article. They support its direction, and the later parts of the series draw on them.
| The fact | Source | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|
| LED has arrived in three generations: bulbs and tubes, integrated fixtures, and smart lighting with integral sensors and networked controls in every fixture. | Affinity LED | Part 2 of the series. |
| Setting each fixture to the light a space needs (task tuning) saved close to 30% on average in a federal field evaluation, and more where spaces were over-lit. | [5] PNNL, advanced lighting control field evaluation | Part 2 of the series. |
| Since January 1, 2026, Mass Save’s instant lighting incentives go only to products with built-in sensors, with exceptions for municipal and Small Business Turnkey projects. Municipal projects completed after November 1, 2026 are incentivized on controls strategies only. | [8] Mass Save, instant lighting incentives [9] Mass Save, municipal retrofit lighting | Part 3 of the series. |
| NHSaves’ 2025 retrofit incentive paid a higher amount per fixture for networked lighting systems. | [10] NHSaves, 2025 retrofit lighting incentive | Part 3 of the series. |
| Energy codes in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts already require automatic lighting controls in new construction and many renovations, and newer editions, not yet in force here, reach further. | [12] DOE, state energy code status [13] Lighting Controls Association, 2024 IECC [14] ASHRAE, 90.1-2022 lighting changes | Part 3 of the series. |
| The Department of Energy expects about 30% of commercial LED fixtures to be connected by 2035, up from 2% in 2017. | [1] DOE, SSL Energy Savings Forecast | Part 3 of the series. |
| Connecting lighting controls with heating and cooling adds value beyond the lighting itself. | [6] DLC, economic potential of NLC | Part 3 of the series: the managed building. |
Questions readers ask
What is luminaire-level lighting control (LLLC)?
It means every light fixture has integral sensors and a controller, and the fixtures are networked so they work together. Under the DLC's requirements, each fixture has at least two sensor functions, typically occupancy and daylight [15]; a single sensor per fixture working on its own is not LLLC. The system can be reconfigured without rewiring [11]. Affinity's CLIQ Connected is luminaire-level lighting control.
Will every building save nearly half with smart lighting controls?
No. The 49% figure is an average across 194 buildings, and it covers lighting energy only, not the whole building [3]. Some buildings save less and some save more. Your number depends on how each space is used, which is why an assessment starts with your buildings.
Can controls be added to the LED we already have?
Sometimes, but often not economically. The DLC reports that adding networked controls to existing LED is often impractical or prohibitively expensive [6], which is why its position is that any fixture being replaced should be at least controls-ready, if not controlled. It depends on the fixtures you have.
What is the difference between occupancy sensing and daylight harvesting?
Occupancy sensing responds to people: lights brighten when a space is in use and dim or turn off when it is not. Daylight harvesting responds to the sun: fixtures near windows dim when daylight is enough. CLIQ Connected does both, with Dynamic Occupancy and daylight harvesting.
How are utility incentives changing in Massachusetts and New Hampshire?
Mass Save now limits instant lighting incentives to products with built-in sensors, with exceptions, and moves municipal incentives to controls only for projects completed after November 1, 2026 [8][9]. NHSaves paid a higher incentive for networked systems in 2025 [10]. Confirm current terms before you plan.
What comes after smart lighting?
The fully connected building, where every light is on one network with building-wide schedules, and then the managed building, where lights, heating and cooling, plug loads and emergency lighting run on one system. Affinity's CLIQ Connected Building and CLIQ Connected Building+ are those two steps.
Who is Affinity LED?
Affinity LED was founded in 2012. One company in Dover, New Hampshire builds the lights and makes them intelligent: Best Built fixtures and CLIQ Connected smart lighting controls, engineered, built, installed, commissioned, connected and serviced by one team. Affinity has served 150+ communities across New England. One partner. We stay in.
Sources
- US Department of Energy, Solid-State Lighting Program. Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, 2019.
- US Department of Energy, Solid-State Lighting Program. 2020 U.S. Lighting Market Characterization, 2024.
- DesignLights Consortium and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. Energy Savings from Networked Lighting Control (NLC) Systems With and Without LLLC, 2020, with Clarifications to the 2020 Report (memorandum), 2025.
- DesignLights Consortium. Energy Savings from Networked Lighting Control (NLC) Systems, 2017.
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (E. E. Richman and J. A. McIntosh), for the US Department of Energy. Advanced Lighting Control System Performance: A Field Evaluation of Five Systems, 2018.
- DesignLights Consortium. Economic Potential of Networked Lighting Controls in Commercial Buildings: Tapping the Added Value of HVAC Connections, 2023.
- ISO New England. 2026-2035 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report), 2026.
- Mass Save. Instant Lighting Incentives, accessed 2026.
- Mass Save. Municipal Retrofit Lighting Upgrades, accessed 2026.
- NHSaves. Commercial & Industrial Retrofit 2025 Lighting Incentive: Application Instructions, 2024.
- BetterBricks, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. Luminaire Level Lighting Controls: Frequently Asked Questions, 2023.
- US Department of Energy, Building Energy Codes Program. State Code Status: New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, accessed 2026.
- Lighting Controls Association. 2024 IECC and Lighting Controls, 2024.
- ASHRAE. Lighting Changes in ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2022, ASHRAE Journal, 2023.
- DesignLights Consortium. Networked Lighting Controls (NLC) Technical Requirements, Version 5.2, 2026.
- Affinity LED company information, 2026: company history, product specifications and services, confirmed by Affinity.
The article
Beyond LED: Why Smart Lighting Is the Next Step
Read the article this brief supports.