With support from a CITRIS seed grant, researchers at CLTC and UC Berkeley are working together to develop advanced lighting control algorithms that make use of multiple data streams, both local and remote, to improve lighting and energy management in buildings. Applications include electrical lighting systems in commercial spaces with windows and/or skylights.
The Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), an international nonprofit, partnered with CLTC to conduct laboratory testing of LED lamps currently available in the U.S. market. Data collected and analyzed in the course of testing helped the California Energy Commission develop a voluntary quality-based performance specification for screw-base LED lamps, with requirements for color characteristics and dimmability. CLASP and CLTC are also assisting the Energy Commission in developing a test methodology for measuring these quality characteristics.
Core sunlighting systems deliver sunlight deep into multi-story building cores, where daylight is not available through skylights or windows. An effective core sunlighting system offers physiological and psychological benefits to occupants while dramatically improving the quality and color rendering of lighting, reducing lighting electricity use up to 75%, and reducing electricity loads during peak demand periods.
CLTC is evaluating dynamic skylight systems that automatically adjust light transmission to minimize glare and manage solar heat gain, significantly improving both lighting quality and energy savings. Engineers are using one of the Center's integrating spheres to measure the transmittance of different sample units.
Applications include residential and commercial spaces that receive sufficient sunlight to require some form of shading for occupant comfort or to prevent solar heat gain.
Photosensor control systems have been available for more than two decades, but they have struggled to gain widespread use due to issues with reliability. To address these issues, CLTC partnered with WattStopper, Walmart, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company to develop a more reliable, more effective daylighting control system capable of sensing changes in daylight levels with increased accuracy and responding with more appropriate adjustments in electric light levels.
The primary objective of this study is to quantify the energy use in private offices that are equipped with bi-level switching and occupant controls. The baseline comparison is made to a theoretical case where the occupant has no control over their lighting and it is switched on and off solely by an occupancy sensor. In addition, this study looks closely at the possibilities for combining automatic and manual control to achieve the greatest energy savings and user satisfaction.
This document provides overviews of state-of-the-art commercial, residential, and exterior lighting strategies and technologies followed by detailed analysis that demonstrates the significant energy or electricity savings potential of several of these best-practice alternatives.
Lighting accounts for approximately 25 percent of California’s energy use, making energy-efficient lighting technologies a vital part of the state’s strategy for meeting its legislated climate goals. The Lighting Action Plan details the lighting portion of the California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, a comprehensive roadmap outlining solutions for reducing California’s energy consumption.
This technical brief deals with the issue of existing LED downlight products that fail to live up to expectations, providing poor light distribution, glare, and low system efficiencies. The solution is newly designed downlights that use LEDs to their full potential while maintaining the features and functionality that have made them popular.
This project examined energy end-uses in the residential, commercial, and in some cases the industrial sectors. The analysis attempts to consolidate, in one document, the energy savings potential and design characteristics of best-on-market products, best-engineered products, and emerging technologies in research & development.
