Germany Raises the Bar for Smart Lighting

Germany’s new building legislation puts lighting firmly into the building automation equation. From 2029, relevant non-residential buildings must combine BACS with automatic lighting control and occupancy detection. For Optoga and its customers, this reinforces the importance of luminaires designed to integrate seamlessly into smart building systems.

German building legislation now explicitly links BACS requirements with automatic, suitably zoned lighting control and occupancy detection in relevant non-residential buildings above the 70 kW threshold. Optoga’s role is to make the luminaire technically ready for such system architectures. The new Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz (GModG), which replaces the previous GEG and now explicitly implements parts of EPBD 2024/1275, contains an unusually specific requirement for lighting: non-residential buildings whose relevant heating, cooling or ventilation systems exceed 70 kW must by 31 December 2029 have lighting control and automatic lighting. The same paragraph also requires BACS functions for continuous monitoring, logging and analysis of energy use in technical building systems, data available via a simple and freely configurable interface, detection of efficiency losses and monitoring of IEQ. Fixed lighting defines the expression as a technical building system.

The GModG has now been published in the Bundesgesetzblatt and the main amendments have been in force since the end of July. The law explicitly states that it implements Directive 2024/1275. For Optoga, §56 is particularly important. Non-residential buildings with relevant HVAC systems over 70 kW must have BACS by 31 December 2029. The system must, among other things, be able to monitor, log and analyse energy consumption from all technical building systems, make data available via a common and freely configurable interface and monitor indoor environmental quality.