Our Publications

UC Davis Professor Jae Yong Suk along with researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Oregon State University examine how window-view composition impacts human biology beyond simple aesthetics. Investigating 476 unique daylight and view conditions across the urban NJIT campus and the suburban UC Davis campus, the team measured vertical spectral irradiance and photopic illuminance alongside high-dynamic-range (HDR) fisheye imagery.

The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) is pleased to announce the release of a new research report, Performance Assessment of Integrated Core Daylighting Technology, which evaluates the performance of a solar-tracking fiber optic daylighting system.

In the March issue of the Chilean magazine Ciluz, CLTC Director Jae Yong Suk shares his expertise on the future of lighting and how the center is steering the industry forward. The issue highlights technical advancements in sustainable lighting and addresses the growing impact of light pollution.

Residential Electrification is growing faster than the electrical infrastructure found in much of our existing housing stock. Heat-pump HVAC systems, heat-pump water heaters, induction cooking, and electric-vehicle (EV) charging are becoming common expectations in both new construction and retrofit projects. Many single-family homes built before the 1990s, however, were never designed to support these combined loads. The result is familiar to contractors and homeowners alike: a service upgrade.

In this episode of Minds Over Matters, lighting designer and director of the California Lighting Technology Center Jae Yong Suk joins host Ed Kiggins to discuss lighting, smart homes, and energy resiliency in the 21st century. How does lighting affect our health? And how are our energy technologies evolving to meet the growing needs of decarbonization, grid resiliency, and community well-being? In this conversation, Ed and Suk discuss how the California Lighting Technology Center is leading the charge to accelerate and commercialize technologies necessary for a sustainable future.

While music’s ability to evoke emotions is well established, far less is known about how environmental factors, especially lighting, shape music perception. To explore this, researchers at Arizona State University and the California Lighting Technology Center conducted experiments in a controlled room equipped with adjustable LED lighting. Twenty-two participants experienced four lighting conditions (blue, red, cool white, and warm white) while listening to short clips of happy and sad music.

CLTC recently conducted a comprehensive lab evaluation of Power over Ethernet (PoE) microgrid systems for commercial buildings. The study compared the electrical efficiency of PoE-enabled devices, such as cameras, LED drivers, and access controllers, against traditional AC-powered counterparts, finding that AC systems generally exhibited higher efficiency due to lower switch overhead. 

The Plug Load Energy Testing to Inform Codes & Standards project, funded by the California Energy Commission, sought to identify energy efficiency opportunities in noncovered plug load devices to inform future codes and standards. The project was conducted by the California Energy Alliance and its partners, and it targeted commercial office equipment, residential networking equipment, and laboratory equipment.