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  Industry
  

Units & Guestrooms have a unique set of features that specifiers must design around to balance function, comfort, and code.

Price: All construction projects have a budget and as Multifamily Units & Hotel Guestrooms comprise a high quantity of lighting fixtures in mixed-use spaces they can often be the most cost-sensitive spaces to design.

Fire Rating: Fire Rating is a code requirement specific to many wood-built structures in which individual living spaces or guestrooms are accessed via common corridors, stairways, and exit doors.  These common passageways should be constructed to provide approved levels of fire protection enabling occupant egress in the case of an emergency.  There are several methods of installing a light fixture without sacrificing the fire rating of floor or ceiling assembly but these methods can be labor-intensive and costly. Fire-rated fixtures simplify the design and construction of these spaces.

Sound Rating: Don’t you hate it when noisy neighbors disrupt the peace in your home or getaway lodging?  As building finish trends have recently moved away from using carpet in favor of more laminated type products this issue is more pronounced than ever.  That’s why sound-rated luminaires are an important component in the design of any building: to minimize sound transmission from one room to the next. Minimizing the transmission of noise from adjacent rooms requires judicious choice of many building components such as floor topping, floor underlayment, subfloor topping, subfloor underlayment, ceiling insulation, joist size, resilient channel, ceiling finish, construction quality, and a sound-rated luminaire.

Non-Conductive (Dead Front): The term dead-front is defined by the National Electric Code (NEC) as “without live parts exposed to a person on the operating side of the equipment” and usually is specific to electrical panels.  Some jurisdictions like the City of Seattle go one step further and require all “luminaires, with exposed metal parts that are grounded, must be ground fault circuit interrupter protected.” The requirement to add GFI protection to the luminaire circuit within the shower or bathtub zone adds complexity and cost.  However, dead front trims are constructed out of non-conductive polycarbonate.  Contractors and designers alike prefer these trims as a cost and time-efficient way of overcoming the GFI requirement, which is only applicable to grounded metal trims.

Closet Rating: Due to their unique usage, closets, and storage spaces demand special electrical code requirements outlined by the (NEC).  Luminaires in clothes closets must be (1) Surface-mounted or recessed incandescent or LED luminaires with completely enclosed light sources (2) surface-mounted or recessed fluorescent luminaires or (3) Surface-Mounted fluorescent or LED luminaires identified as suitable for installation within the close storage space.  These permitted luminaire types must meet minimum clearance requirements.  Depending on the lighting type, the space between the fixtures and the closet contents requires up to 12″ of clearance and if that is not available, the fixtures must pass the UL Closet Rating Test in compliance with standards UL 2108, 67.1.9, and 60.4.

Warm Dim: Warm dim technology gives occupants the flexibility to choose the light that’s right for them by dimming from vibrant, full-spectrum lighting, to a warm, comfortable glow.  There’s minimal color temperature change at the high end of the dimming curve so daytime lighting remains vibrant and unaffected.  Once dimmed below 50% light output, the color temperature gradually warms to provide the personal, intimate ambiance desired in the evening.

Tunable White: Tunable white is becoming increasingly trendy in high-end hotels and living spaces as it grants the occupants full autonomy to choose the specific color temperature of their lights and quickly change as desired. Comprised of multiple LEDs of different color temperatures, you can control the mix of these LEDs as well as intensity using a lighting control system of your choice.  Tunable white can be programmed to mimic natural daylight patterns, supporting occupants’ circadian rhythm.  This feature is important to hotel guests with jet lag or those in senior living facilities without outdoor mobility.   Tunable white fixtures also allow for the ultimate task flexibility in a living space as you can choose the color temperature ideal as you move throughout the motions of your day whether it be working, cleaning, or relaxing.

Learn more about the DRD5S, H Series, H Series Cylinder, M Series Residential, and M Series Cylinder.

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  Innovation
  

What is a Fire-Rating?

Many people live in multi-family homes where individual living spaces are accessed via common corridors, stairways, and entry/exit doors. These common entry/exit passageways are constructed to provide approved levels of fire protection that enable occupants to safely exit the building in case of an emergency. DMF Lighting’s M Series, H Series, and DRD5S Series offer housing options with a two-hour fire rating, suitable for common entry/exit passageway applications when a fire rating is required. *Other fire barriers or methods of protection maybe utilized, such as a concrete structure or a sprinkler system.

See the following product codes for more information:
M Series: M4NCRF, M4NCSF, M4LTRF, M4LORF, M4LTSF, M4LOSF

H Series: H3FR, F4NC

DRD5S Series: F4NC

What is the IBC?

The International Building Code® (IBC), developed by the International Code Council (ICC), is a model building code adopted and used as a base code standard throughout most of the USA. The IBC® is a complex and lengthy document with comprehensive requirements. Chapter 7 on Fire and Smoke Protection Features is key, and in particular Section 714 Penetrations: The provisions of this section shall govern the materials and methods of construction used to protect through penetrations and membrane penetrations of horizontal assemblies and fire-resistance-rated wall assemblies. Penetrations of ceiling membranes are covered in Section 714.5 where subsection 714.5.2 Membrane Penetrations states: Where floor/ceiling assemblies are required to have a fire-resistance rating, recessed fixtures shall be installed such that the required fire resistance will not be reduced.

How can a recessed fixture be installed without reducing the fire rating of the floor/ceiling assembly? The traditional approach is shown above.

Although this is an effective method, it requires the ceiling space to have boxed-out cavities, using the same fire-rated membrane material, to mount the recessed fixtures in. This approach adds significant costs and requires extra space above the ceiling plane that may not always be available.

The M Series, H Series, & DRD5S family, fire-rated housings provide a new method of achieving the same result and is shown above.

DMF fire-rated junction box solutions reduce installation costs significantly because they eliminate the requirement to create boxed-out cavities at the time of construction by utilizing one of the exceptions provided by subsection 714.5.2: Ceiling membrane penetrations of maximum 2-hour horizontal assemblies by steel electrical boxes that do not exceed 16 square inches (10,323 mm²) in area, provided the aggregate area of such penetrations does not exceed 100 square inches (44,500 mm²) in any 100 square feet (9.29 m²) of ceiling area, and the annular space between the ceiling membrane and the box does not exceed 1/8 inch (3.2 mm).

DMF fire-rated junction box solutions reduce installation costs significantly because they eliminate the requirement to create boxed-out cavities at the time of construction by utilizing one of the exceptions provided by subsection 714.5.2: Ceiling membrane penetrations of maximum 2-hour horizontal assemblies by steel electrical boxes that do not exceed 16 square inches (10,323 mm²) in area, provided the aggregate area of such penetrations does not exceed 100 square inches (44,500 mm²) in any 100 square feet (9.29 m²) of ceiling area, and the annular space between the ceiling membrane and the box does not exceed 1/8 inch (3.2 mm).

UL 514A Standard for Safety – Metallic Outlet Boxes

One of the many UL listings DMF M Series, H3FR, and F4NC housings has been granted is QCIT.E469361. This UL listing states that each of these housings is a qualified metallic outlet box or in IBC terminology, steel electrical box. UL’s Fire-resistance Ratings – ANSI/UL 263 BXUV.GuideInfo states in section III – Floor-Ceilings and Roof-Ceilings, sub-section 6 – Metallic Electrical Outlet Boxes, can be used in fire-rated floor-ceiling and roof-ceiling assemblies, as described below:
Metallic outlet and switch boxes with metallic or nonmetallic cover plates may be used in floor-ceiling and roof-ceiling assemblies with ratings not exceeding 2 hours. These assemblies should have gypsum wallboard membranes. The metallic outlet boxes should be securely fastened to the joists and the opening in the gypsum board facing should be cut so that the clearance between the boxes and the gypsum board does not exceed 1/8 in. The surface area of individual boxes should not exceed 16 sq in. The aggregate surface area of the boxes does not exceed 100 sq in per 100 sq ft of ceiling surface.
 
Note the requirement for the contractor to create a tight, not to exceed 1/8” cut-out in the gypsum wallboard to ensure the integrity of the fire-rated membrane.

More Than Just Fire-Rated

M Series, H Series, and DRD5S Families have been granted an unparalleled combination of other safety certifications, including Sound, Air-Tight,  IC, and Wet Location ratings. You can be confident that DMF has a solution for you that is compliant in a wide range of installations.

Note: This Bulletin was originally published 07/10/2017 and has been updated to reflect the new product offerings.

DMF and Lutron Partner to Offer Athena Wireless Node Integrations

DMF is proud to announce the integration of the Lutron Athena Wireless Node across many of our M Series product offerings and participation in the 2024 Lutron OEM Advantage Program. 

https://youtu.be/lYkYRBN_Tfg

The new  Lutron Athena Wireless Node is an ultra-small, wireless, integral fixture controller.  Packed with technology and endlessly versatile, this tiny device can handle communications via DALI-2 with DALI Type 8, 0-10V, Clearn Connect Type X, and simplifies the set-up process with bluetooth.

Please review the product specification sheets for more information:

Available Now:

DCD Commercial Product Family (1500-3000 lm Non-IC Rated Solutions)

DCD3 Downlight

DCD4 Adjustable

Coming Soon: 
M Series Commercial (750-3500 lm Non-IC Rated Solutions)

M Series Commercial Round Downlight

M Series Commercial Round Adjustable

M Series Commercial Square Downlight

M Series Commercial Square Adjustable

M Series Cylinders (750-3000 lm Solutions)

M Series Cylinder Wall Mount

M Series Cylinder Pendant Mount

M Series Residential (750-1500 lm IC Rated solutions)

M Series Residential Round Downlight

M Series Residential Round Adjustable

M Series Residential Square Downlight

M Series Residential Square Adjustable

M Series Multiples (750-3000 lm solutions)

M Series Multiples

Contact our team to discover the advantages of these integrations!

Learn more about Lutron Athena Node