Latest News

How to Comply with the Latest Lighting Standards

CLTC is involved in outreach and education efforts aimed at helping professionals meet—or exceed—California's new Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6), which took effect July 1, 2014. The following CLTC resources were created to help designers, lighting professionals and builders become familiar with advanced lighting technologies and the latest code improvements:

New Lighting Requirements Take Effect

California’s new 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6) take effect July 1, 2014. The new standards include updated requirements for high-efficacy lighting, lighting controls, and LED quality.

CLTC provides various resources to help builders and lighting industry professionals navigate the lighting portion of Title 24, Part 6, including the residential and nonresidential code requirements. CLTC has also developed training materials for classes offered through California utilities. These resources are available at no cost through CLTC’s website:

CALCTP-AT Technicians Ready for New Title 24 Role

California’s newest Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6) take effect July 1, 2014 and include an unprecedented number of requirements for lighting controls. To ensure newly installed lighting controls operate properly, the new standards also require that a certified lighting controls acceptance test technician conduct and document all required lighting controls acceptance tests.

CALCTP on Marketplace

American Public Media's program, Marketplace, recently highlighted the California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program (CALCTP) in a story on "Greening Construction Jobs for Energy Efficiency."

Listen online.

IES RP-5-13 Awarded Top Honor at Lightfair

The IES's Recommended Practice for Daylighting Buildings (RP-5-13) recently garnered an award at Lightfair International 2014. The Recommended Practice guide was selected for top honors in the "Research, Publications, Software and Measuring Devices" category.

Connect with CLTC at Lightfair

CLTC will be at this year's Lightfair Trade Show and Conference, debuting a new long-range microwave sensor designed by Lumewave, Inc. for outdoor lighting applications.

June 3–5
Daylighting Pavilion, Booth #6316
Las Vegas Convention Center

Stop by our booth to learn about our latest demonstrations of adaptive networked lighting controls, our LED lamp testing program, and more. Winners of the 2014 LED Luminaire Design Competition will also be on the trade show floor, presenting their winning designs with sponsor Seoul Semiconductor (booth #5830).

Siminovitch Selected for Global Climate Leadership Council

Michael Siminovitch, UC Davis professor of design and director of UC Davis’s California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), has been selected by UC President Janet Napolitano to serve on the newly formed University of California Global Climate Leadership Council, which includes UC officials, students and outside experts. President Napolitano formed the council to guide UC efforts aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. 

2013 Title 24, Part 6 Residential Lighting Guide Now Available

CLTC’s updated Residential Lighting Guide is designed to help builders and lighting industry professionals navigate the residential lighting portion of California’s newest Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6). The new standards take effect July 1, 2014 and include updated requirements for high-efficacy lighting, lighting controls, and LED quality.

CLTC Shares "Lighting Retrofit Strategies for California Schools"

CLTC recently released “Lighting Retrofit Strategies for California Schools,” a new guide designed to help K–12 schools and community colleges maximize the long-term benefits of energy-efficient lighting upgrades. The guide provides expert advice on best practices for planning projects, incorporating daylighting and lighting controls, and selecting solutions for applications commonly found at school sites. The interactive electronic guide also includes Web links to case studies, product specification sheets, free or low-cost support programs, and other online resources.

Berkeley Begins LED Streetlight Project

The City of Berkeley recently approved a project to upgrade approximately 8,000 streetlights to LED technology by the end of 2014. The project is expected to cut the city’s CO2 emissions from streetlight energy consumption by 50% and reduce Berkeley’s total emissions by about 7%.

“We would like to thank the Bay Area Climate Collaborative, California Energy Commission and the California Lighting Technology Center for their support in getting this project to design and construction,” said Phillip Harrington, Berkeley’s Deputy Public Works Director.

The Susan Woodward Lighting Design and Research Award

A new award has been created for undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional interest and aptitude in lighting and energy efficiency. The Susan Woodward Lighting Design and Research Award will help further the education of students enrolled in undergraduate lighting courses at the University of California, Davis.

A Guide to LED Retrofit Options for Linear Fluorescent Luminaires

Fluorescent lamps currently constitute 80 percent of lamps installed in the U.S. commercial sector, according to the Department of Energy's latest Lighting Market Characterization report. LED lighting products are receiving a great deal of attention for their potential to replace fluorescent lighting, reduce energy use and improve lighting quality in a variety of indoor commercial applications, including offices, classrooms and retail stores.

UC Davis Is Powering Prosperity

UC Davis was honored with this year's Powering Prosperity award, which is sponsored by PG&E. The award recognizes UC Davis's contributions to the economic vitality of the Sacramento region and the university's leadership role fostering the research and development of strategies and policies, as well as products and services, that improve sustainability and energy efficiency.

ZNE Model Home Opens Its Doors

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. hosted an open house event to showcase the Honda Smart Home US on Tuesday, March 25 at UC Davis West Village. UC Davis, CLTC and the WCEC collaborated with Honda to design and build the model zero net energy (ZNE) home. It uses a photovoltaic (PV) system and ultra-efficient lighting and HVAC technologies to produce more power than household operations consume.

CLTC's 10th Annual Luminaire Design Competition

The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) held its 10th Annual Luminaire Design Competition on March 13, 2014. Each year since CLTC’s founding, Professor Michael Siminovitch has provided the UC Davis undergraduate students in his Designing with Light class (DES136B) with a design challenge that spans the full 10 weeks of the course. Lighting courses at UC Davis are taught through the Department of Design, under the College of Letters and Science’s Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies.