Wall packs offer an effective means of illuminating building perimeters, bolstering security and aiding wayfinding, but many are limited in terms of their efficiency, with minimal or nonexistent cutoff. Moreover, because wall packs typically operate in areas with low occupancy rates, they often waste energy fully illuminating vacant spaces for hours at a time every night.
Wall packs typically employ high-intensity discharge (HID) light sources, such as high-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) lamps. Using more efficient source technologies, such as LEDs, and equipping wall packs with photocells, occupancy sensors and controls reduces their energy use dramatically. Incorporating these fixtures into a networked control system further maximizes energy savings and provides other benefits, too.
In summer 2012 UC Davis installed an advanced exterior lighting system on its campus, with support from CLTC, California’s SPEED program and other project partners. As part of the project, 101 wall packs (56 HPS and 45 MH) on 13 buildings across the campus were replaced with Philips Day-Brite LED wall packs. The new wall packs were equipped with WattStopper low-voltage outdoor motion sensors and Lumewave TOP900-TL wireless lighting control modules. A CLTC case study found the installation reduced the wall packs’ energy use 89%, based on an average occupancy rate of 20%.
Principal Investigator: Michael Siminovitch