Engineering Group Develops New LED Lighting Standard for Horticulture

Posted by Brian Sparks|November 6, 2018

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), a standards developing organization for food, agricultural, and biological systems, has published the second in a three-part series of standards relating to LED radiation measurements for plant growth and development.

ANSI/ASABE S642, “Recommended Methods for Measurement and Testing of LED Products for Plant Growth and Development,” describes the methods used for measurement and testing of LED packages, arrays, and modules; LED lamps; and any other LED optical radiation devices.

The standard was preceded by the first document in the series, S640, Quantities and Units of Electromagnetic Radiation for Plants (Photosynthetic Organisms), which presented definitions and descriptions of metrics for plant growth and development. The final standard in the series will focus on performance criteria for LED systems used in horticulture.

ASABE members with standards access and those with site-license privileges can access the full text of the standard by electronic download within the next few weeks. Location for the download is on the ASABE online Technical Library. Others can obtain a copy for a fee directly from the library or by contacting ASABE headquarters at [email protected].

ASABE has more than 260 standards currently in publication. Conformance to ASABE standards is voluntary, except where required by state, provincial, or other governmental requirements, and the documents are developed by consensus in accordance with procedures approved by the American National Standards Institute. For information on this or any other ASABE standard, contact Scott Cedarquist at 269-932-7031 or [email protected]. A current listing of all ASABE standards projects can be found on the ASABE web site.