Research & Innovation

The Consortium for Energy Efficiency in Non-Residential Buildings (The Consortium), supported by the National Council for Science and Technology and Secretary of Energy in Mexico, is focused on reducing electricity demand in Mexico’s non-residential buildings through collaborative efforts with industry, government and universities.  Specifically, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, with assistance from UC Davis, is funded to implement an energy efficiency laboratory featuring lighting and air conditioning technologies for non-residential buildings.

Historically, power distribution has been dominated by Alternating-Current (AC) which significantly influenced the design of connected energy-consuming appliances.  With the emergence of electronics and digital controls as standard design elements in almost all appliance categories, the need for Direct-Current (DC) has emerged, even as it opposes traditional distribution practices.  This issue is typically resolved at the appliance level with AC-to-DC converters. 

The Residential Lighting Design Guide outlines best practices in lighting design to help builders comply with California's 2019 Title 24 Energy Standards requirements. 

Topics include:

• Explanation of the code
• Technical and compliance information
• Lighting design examples

The lighting design guide will cover code explanation and floor plan examples of the following areas:

This Office Lighting course is designed for those who design, specify, or inspect lighting installations in new and remodeled commercial office spaces. The curriculum includes an overview of current lighting technologies, including LED luminaires, and updates on new lighting requirements and sections in the 2019 standards.

Learning outcomes for course participants include the ability to:

The California Energy Alliance (CEA) unites representatives of a broad range of organizations concerned about energy and the built environment. As a member-based organization, CEA works to improve California’s energy future and the migration toward a Zero Net Energy horizon. CEA focuses on the promotion and realization of deep energy savings, sustainable energy generation, and integration. The Alliance actively participates in the development and implementation of pragmatic, environmentally and economically sound building energy standards and other initiatives.

The California Lighting Technology Center, in collaboration with the California Energy Commission, conducted research to refine and deploy technology strategies that integrate and optimize automated controls for heating, ventilating and air conditioning, electric lighting, and dynamic fenestration (window and door) systems. Project objectives were:

1. Refine and publish an integrated building control system specification for commercial applications including necessary hardware and software components.

CLTC collaborated with the Emerging Technologies group at the Pacific Gas & Electric Company to evaluate linear LED lamps in a variety of fixture applications as well as identify any interoperability issues.

The California Energy Commission adopted new standards updating the Appliance Efficiency Regulations (Title 20) for lighting appliances. Updates rolled out in two tiers with Tier 1 effective January 1, 2018 and Tier 2 effective July 1, 2019. Notably, this update adds standards for small-diameter directional lamps. The updated regulations incorporate elements of lighting product quality for both general service LED lamps and small-diameter directional lamps in addition to the traditional lighting appliance efficiency standards previously included in the regulations.

Widespread adoption of LED lighting for general illumination applications is poised to be the single, largest advancement in lighting efficiency during the 21st century. Due to its potential, a variety of market actors have introduced LED products and made associated performance claims that have set the technology up with somewhat unrealistic expectations regarding system efficacy and longevity. To compete in this market, LED manufacturers have focused on research to improve efficacy and reduce product costs, often at the expense of product quality and feature optimization.

CLTC, in collaboration with the Office of Naval Research, developed new, improved strategies and technologies for occupancy sensing in outdoor applications that address the shortcomings of existing strategies and technologies.  The project approach included the systematic identification of the pros and cons of existing strategies and technologies, formulation of new strategies and/or technologies, and implementation of new approaches in the form of laboratory prototypes that will be tested and demonstrated in the laboratory and in the field.