News & Events
UC Davis Ranked No.2 in America’s Greenest Colleges and Universities
So cool, so green! That’s what Sierra magazine says about the University of California, Davis — ranked No. 2 in the magazine’s 2015 “Cool Schools” report, released on Aug. 11.
This makes four out of the past five years that UC Davis has been among the top five in the environmental magazine’s evaluation of sustainability efforts at U.S. colleges and universities. UC Davis was the No. 1 “Cool School” in 2012.
Product Review for Compliance with the CA LED Lamp Specification
The California Energy Commission has adopted a voluntary lighting quality specification for LED replacement lamps. The California Quality LED Lamp Specification requires LED lamps to meet certain performance criteria. The requirement to use the standard to guide Residential Lighting Incentive Program currently applies to the investor owned utilities, but several municipal utilities are considering the adoption of the standard.
Circadian Design Principles—Application to Healthcare Facilities
Professor Michael Siminovitch recently presented, “Circadian Design Principles—Application to Healthcare Facilities,” at a lecture sponsored by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC). This seminar reviewed the ongoing collaboration in circadian design research and development for healthcare applications.
Energy Commission Approves 2016 Building Energy Efficiency Standards
On June 10, the California Energy Commission unanimously approved building energy efficiency standards that will reduce energy costs and increase comfort in new and upgraded homes and other buildings.
The standards, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2017, focus on three key areas: updating residential requirements to move closer to California's zero net energy goals, updating nonresidential and high-rise residential requirements, and improving the clarity and consistency of existing regulations.
APEC funding supports international coalition for developing sustainable lighting design best practices
With new funding awarded from the Asia‑Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the California Lighting Technology Center, UC Davis will continue to lead an initiative focused on developing lighting strategies designed for use in sustainable building projects. The funding, awarded under the winning proposal titled “Establishing Lighting Best Practices and Educational Programs to Achieve Deep Energy Savings,” will support workshops intended to build a collaborative of researchers committed to the development of sharable lighting best practices that will achieve deep energy savings through retrof
High Color Rendering Can Enable Better Vision without Requiring More Power
A new article advocating for high color rendering in consumer lighting products and the policies that support their adoption is now available. The paper is a collaboration between CLTC, the University of British Columbia and the National Research Council of Canada.
The article focuses on the tradeoff between color rendering accuracy and lamp efficiency to show that high color rendering accuracy is appropriate and, contrary to a common misconception, does not intrinsically require greater electrical energy consumption.
CLTC Hosted University of California Global Climate Leadership Council Meeting
CLTC hosted the University of California Global Climate Leadership Council meeting on February 25.
UC President Janet Napolitano formed the council to advise UC campuses on achieving the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2025 while providing guidance for furthering other longstanding sustainability goals. The council will offer direction on integrating the carbon neutrality initiative into UC’s teaching, research and public service mission.
CLTC Director Michael Siminovitch and undergraduate student Elaine Swiedler represents UC Davis on the council.