Today, adaptive lighting is considered best practice for numerous outdoor applications and has been incorporated into many current energy standards. However, outdoor areas with heightened security requirements are often excluded from adaptive lighting control requirements and these areas remain lit with high, uniform levels of static illumination.
To address this gap, CLTC partnered with the Office of Naval Research to evaluate the energy-savings potential and end-user acceptance of adaptive lighting for outdoor security applications.
Exterior lighting generally operates from early evening through early morning, a period of little to no renewable energy generation, which means this lighting is primarily powered by carbon-dense fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), poor air quality, water pollution and land degradation. In addition, low-quality exterior lighting characterized by poor color, inappropriate light distribution, and inadequate light levels has also been linked to increased crime rates and reduced physical activity within the surrounding community.
Interior lighting remains a large component of electricity use in non-residential buildings. In California, electric lighting has both a direct effect on peak load, and an indirect effect by increasing cooling requirements during summer peak hours. Effective daylighting combined with electric lighting dimming controls can directly offset electric lighting energy by reducing lighting levels when necessary to reduce the load on the cooling system.
Traditional outdoor lighting technologies operate at full power throughout the night, even when areas are vacant. This extra load, energy waste and light pollution can be averted by updating the lighting system with energy-efficient light sources and lighting controls. By installing these technologies, adaptive lighting strategies can be implemented that provide the right amount of light when and where it is needed.
The California Lighting Technology Center, in collaboration with the California Energy Commission, is conducting research to develop and evaluate technology that integrates automated controls for heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), electric lighting and dynamic fenestration systems. The integrated system is referred to as the Integrated Building Control Retrofit Package (IBCRP), as it is aimed for retrofit projects in existing commercial buildings.
CLTC partnered with Bosch to demonstrate the Bosch Direct Current Building-Scale Microgrid Platform (DCBMP) at an American Honda Motor Co., Inc. warehouse facility. Bosch demonstrated the effectiveness of the DCBMP, a commercial-scale DC building microgrid that integrates advanced technologies to provide reliable power to the connected loads, resilience during grid outages, increased building energy efficiency and renewable energy utilization.
Exterior lighting for streets, roadways, parking lots, and other outside sites represents nearly 10% of the electricity consumed on military bases. Lighting in these areas typically consists of high pressure sodium or sometimes metal halide lamps that are normally controlled by photo-sensors located centrally or sometimes on each fixture. This limited functionality includes turning the lights on in the evening and off in the morning regardless of occupancy levels, thereby consuming more electricity than necessary.
CLTC researchers are developing a standard methodology for conducting field demonstrations to better inform energy codes and standards enhancement.
