Verizon Valhalla — NYSERDA Bi-Level Stairwell Retrofit

Code-Compliant Stairwell Lighting Without 24/7 Full Output

Verizon’s Valhalla, NY facility operates around the clock, but its stairwells — like most commercial stairwells — sit empty more than 95% of the time. Traditional code-compliant stairwell lighting holds full output 24/7, burning continuous wattage for an empty space and creating one of the most easily-optimized energy line items in any commercial building.

Bi-level stairwell lighting was already required under the New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code (NYSECC 2010, §505.2.2.3), but the existing installation pre-dated the requirement and used conventional fluorescent fixtures with no occupancy logic.

Occu-Smart Bi-Level Motion-Sensing LED with NYSERDA Backing

Clear-Vu Lighting deployed 64 Occu-Smart bi-level stairwell fixtures in partnership with NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority). The Occu-Smart platform holds a reduced light level when the stairwell is unoccupied and ramps to full output the instant motion is detected — ensuring code-compliant illumination only when needed.

The retrofit met and exceeded NYSECC 2010 requirements. The NYSERDA partnership provided technical validation and ensured the deployment satisfied state energy program documentation requirements for utility incentives.

• 64 Occu-Smart bi-level stairwell LED fixtures deployed across the Valhalla campus
• Exceeds New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code (NYSECC 2010) §505.2.2.3
• Deployed in partnership with NYSERDA — documented state energy program validation
• Bi-level logic holds reduced output when empty, ramps to full output on motion detection
• $4,300 per year in direct energy savings on a single retrofit cluster
• 50,000+ hour LED life eliminates re-lamping in difficult-to-access stairwell locations

$4,300/Year on 64 Fixtures — Scalable Across the Portfolio

The 64-fixture retrofit delivered approximately $4,300 in annual utility savings — a per-fixture economic case that scales linearly across multi-building commercial portfolios. The reduction in full-output runtime also lengthened LED service life beyond the rated 50,000 hours, deferring maintenance and replacement spend further into the future.

The deployment demonstrated — with NYSERDA-validated documentation — how Occu-Smart bi-level can take a building from baseline NYSECC compliance to verified above-code performance without compromising safety or code conformance.