Electronically Controlled Artificial Sky Dome @ Osu ... In Progress

The integration of daylighting and electric lighting systems within buildings (also designated as ‘green lighting’) is a recent issue for the lighting research community: it allows achieving better lighting conditions for building occupants, in particular within office rooms. Besides the substitution of electric light, daylighting can contribute in a significant way to improve the users' visual comfort and performance, with a large variety of novel daylighting systems and components being developed in recent years. In order to demonstrate this, an anidolic daylighting system combined with several electric lighting fixtures was set up in an office room of the LESO solar experimental building located on the EPFL campus in Lausanne (Switzerland). Three different electric lighting modes, involving recessed luminaries (direct lighting), floor lamps (indirect lighting) and desk lamps (task lighting), were considered for that purpose. Luminance contrasts and glare indexes in the occupants' view field were monitored and compared in the office room, both in the presence and absence of daylight and for different sky conditions; the latter was achieved through luminance mappings based on high dynamic range imaging techniques. The energy performance of electric lighting systems was also considered, together with the qualitative aspect of lighting, in order to outline the main features that characterize an optimal integration of daylighting and electric lighting systems.

With the increasing global focus on energy efficiency and sustainable development, intelligent LED lighting systems, as an efficient and energy-saving lighting solution, are gradually gaining attention. This paper focuses on the application of intelligent LED lighting systems in commercial buildings in the United States, aiming to conduct an in-depth analysis of their energy-saving effects and user experience through empirical research. The study selected commercial buildings in three different regions of the United States, including office buildings, shopping centers, and hotels, as case study objects. Intelligent LED lighting systems developed by Shenzhen Romanso Electronic Co., Ltd. were deployed in these venues. These systems integrate advanced functions such as intelligent sensor networks, adaptive dimming algorithms, and remote monitoring platforms. After six months of field monitoring, detailed energy consumption data were collected, and a user satisfaction survey was conducted to compare the performance differences between intelligent LED lighting systems and traditional lighting systems. The research findings provide strong empirical support for the widespread application of intelligent LED lighting systems in commercial buildings in the United States and offer valuable references for the further optimization and promotion of intelligent lighting technologies in the future. Future research will further explore system performance optimization strategies and strive to promote intelligent LED lighting systems to more commercial building fields to achieve broader energy-saving benefits and user experience improvements.

The report presents a long-range plan for a broad-based, coordinated research, development and market transformation program for reducing the lighting energy intensities in commercial and residential buildings in California without compromising lighting quality. An effective program to advance lighting energy efficiency in California must be based on an understanding that lighting is a mature field and the lighting industry has developed many specialized products that meet a wide variety of light needs for different building types. Above all else, the lighting field is diverse and there are applications for a wide range of lighting products, systems, and strategies. Given the range of existing lighting solutions, an effective energy efficient lighting research portfolio must be broad-based and diverse to match the diversity of the lighting market itself. The belief that there is one solution--a magic bullet, such as a better lamp, for example--that will propel lighting efficiency across all uses to new heights is, in the authors' opinion, an illusion. A multi-path program is the only effective means to raising lighting efficiency across all lighting applications in all building types. This report presents a list of 27 lighting technologies and concepts (key activities) that could form the basis of a coordinated research and market transformation plan for significantly reducing lighting energy intensities in California buildings. The total 27 key activities into seven broad classes as follows: Light sources; Ballasts; Luminaires; Lighting Controls; Lighting Systems in Buildings; Human Factors and Education. Each of the above technology classes is discussed in terms of background, key activities, and the energy savings potential for the state. The report concludes that there are many possibilities for targeted research, development, and market transformation activities across all sectors of the building lighting industry. A concerted investment by the state to foster efficiency improvements in lighting systems in commercial and residential buildings would have a major positive impact on energy use and environmental quality in California.

Electric lighting is responsible for a significant fraction of electricity consumption within non-residential buildings. Making daylight more available in office and commercial buildings can lead as a consequence to important electricity savings, as well as to the improvement of occupants’ visual performance and wellbeing. Over the last decades, daylighting technologies have been developed for that purpose, some of them having proven to be highly efficient such as anidolic daylighting systems. Based on non-imaging optics these optical devices were designed to achieve an efficient collection and redistribution of daylight within deep office rooms. However in order to benefit from the substantial daylight provision obtained through these systems and convert it into effective electricity savings, novel electric lighting strategies are required. An optimal integration of high efficacy light sources and efficient luminaries based on non-imaging optics with anidolic daylighting systems can lead to such novel strategies. Starting from the experience gained through the development of an Anidolic Integrated Ceiling (AIC), this paper presents an optimal integrated daylighting and electric lighting system. Computer simulations based on ray-tracing techniques were used to achieve the integration of 36W fluorescent tubes and non-imaging reflectors with an advanced daylighting system. Lighting power densities lower than 4 W/m2 can be achieved in this way within the corresponding office room. On-site monitoring of an integrated daylighting and electric lighting system carried out on a solar experimental building confirmed the energy and visual performance of such a system: it showed that low lighting power densities can be achieved by combining an anidolic daylighting system with very efficient electric light sources and luminaries.

This paper presents a literature review about energy-efficient retrofit of electric lighting and daylighting systems in buildings. The review, which covers around 160 research articles, addresses the following themes: 1) retrofitting electric lighting in buildings, 2) electric lighting energy use and saving potential and 3) lighting retrofit strategies. The retrofit strategies covered in the review are: replacement of lamp, ballast or luminaire; use of task-ambient lighting design; improvement in maintenance; reduction of maintained illuminance levels; improvement in spectral quality of light sources; improvement in occupant behavior; use of control systems; and use of daylighting systems. The review indicates that existing general knowledge about lighting retrofit is currently very limited and that there is a significant lack of information concerning the actual energy performance of lighting systems installed in the existing building stock. The resulting key directions for future research highlights issues for which a better understanding is required for the spread and development of lighting retrofit. (Less)

This study proposes a technique to optimize the sizing capacities of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage (BES) systems in Malaysian commercial buildings to reduce peak demand and energy costs. Real-time hourly data on solar irradiance, air temperature, and load patterns are utilized, along with Malaysian energy rates (net energy metering and retail price) and the limitation of maximum export power to the grid. The proposed system configuration uses energy management real-time rules with a control strategy of peak shaving, and the optimal capacity of the PV-BES system is derived based on scenarios with limited rooftop space and net energy metering tariffs. The case study shows that the optimal systems reduced the cost of electricity by 26.03% for the commercial building case of the C1 tariff, with annual energy consumption and peak demand reductions of 20.47% and 16.41%, respectively. The proposed system also allowed for the sale to the grid of 10232.83 kWh of electricity. The foundation of the optimization process over a 20-year period, the lowest life cycle cost which is consisted of PV-BES system costs and electricity costs. Overall, this study provides a practical approach for customers to determine the optimal sizing capacity of PV-BES systems in commercial buildings to reduce energy costs and peak demand.

According to the California Energy Commission (CEC 1998a), California commercial buildings account for 35% of statewide electricity consumption, and 16% of statewide gas consumption. Space conditioning accounts for roughly 16,000 GWh of electricity and 800 million therms of natural gas annually, and the vast majority of this space conditioning energy passes through thermal distribution systems in these buildings. In addition, 8600 GWh per year is consumed by fans and pumps in commercial buildings, most of which is used to move the thermal energy through these systems. Research work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has been ongoing over the past five years to investigate the energy efficiency of these thermal distribution systems, and to explore possibilities for improving that energy efficiency. Based upon that work, annual savings estimates of 1 kWh/ft{sup 2} for light commercial buildings, and 1-2 kWh/ft{sup 2} in large commercial buildings have been developed for the particular aspects of thermal distribution system performance being addressed by this project. Those savings estimates, combined with a distribution of the building stock based upon an extensive stock characterization study (Modera et al. 1999a), and technical penetration estimates, translate into statewide saving potentials of 2000 GWh/year and 75 million thermal/year, as well as an electricity peak reduction potential of 0.7 GW. The overall goal of this research program is to provide new technology and application knowledge that will allow the design, construction, and energy services industries to reduce the energy waste associated with thermal distribution systems in California commercial buildings. The specific goals of the LBNL efforts over the past year were: (1) to advance the state of knowledge about system performance and energy losses in commercial-building thermal distribution systems; (2) to evaluate the potential of reducing thermal losses through duct sealing, duct insulation, and improved equipment sizing; and (3) to develop and evaluate innovative techniques applicable to large buildings for sealing ducts and encapsulating internal duct insulation. In the UCB fan project, the goals were: (1) to develop a protocol for testing, analyzing and diagnosing problems in large commercial building built-up air handling systems, and (2) to develop low-cost measurement techniques to improve short term monitoring practices. To meet our stated goals and objectives, this project: (1) continued to investigate and characterize the performance of thermal distribution systems in commercial buildings; (2) performed energy analyses and evaluation for duct-performance improvements for both small and large commercial buildings; (3) developed aerosol injection technologies for both duct sealing and liner encapsulation in commercial buildings; and (4) designed energy-related diagnostic protocols based on short term measurement and used a benchmarking database to compare subject systems with other measured systems for certain performance metrics. This year's efforts consisted of the following distinct tasks: performing characterization measurements for five light commercial building systems and five large-commercial-building systems; analyzing the potential for including duct performance in California's Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Non-Residential Buildings (Title 24), including performing energy and equipment sizing analyses of air distribution systems using DOE 2.1E for non-residential buildings; conducting laboratory experiments, field experiments, and modeling of new aerosol injection technologies concepts for sealing and coating, including field testing aerosol-based sealing in two large commercial buildings; improving low-cost fan monitoring techniques measurements, and disseminating fan tools by working with energy practitioners directly where possible and publishing the results of this research and the tools developed on a web-site. The final report consists of five sections listed below. Each section includes its related background information, the research methods employed, new measurement techniques developed, the results, and discussion.

Hydronic heating and cooling systems are among the most common types of heating and cooling systems installed in older existing buildings, especially commercial buildings. According to the 2012 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data set, hydronic heating systems in the United States include two main systems: (i) boilers inside the building represented with a boiler system and (ii) district steam and hot water systems represented with district heating, which are connected to seven different types of zone-level equipment. Similarly, there are two main hydronic cooling systems: central chillers inside (or adjacent to) the building and district chilled water piped in from outside the building. Chiller systems are investigated based on three different classes: (1) water-cooled, (2) air-cooled, and (3) absorption chillers. This study presents a deep analysis of the 2012 CBECS microdata to characterize hydronic heating and cooling systems by year of construction, census division, building area, building site hydronic system energy use index (EUI), and the types of mechanical systems. The results show that nearly 65% of commercial buildings built before 1990 utilize hydronic heating systems. Hydronic heating and cooling system design are a function of a building area. District heating systems are considered as the main heating systems in buildings with an area greater than 18,600 m2 (200,000 ft2). In addition, systems with central chillers inside the buildings are responsible for providing cooling for more than 50% of the commercial buildings with areas greater than 9,000 m2 (∼100,000 ft2). Among the types of chiller systems, the chiller systems connected to the central air handling units, fan coil units, and duct reheats are the most common systems for large buildings. The results of this building stock characterization provide useful insights into the characteristics of hydronic heating and cooling systems in US commercial buildings.

Performance of a daylight guiding system in an office building

Despite the potential for significant energy savings by reducing duct leakage or other thermal losses from duct systems in large commercial buildings, California Title 24 has no provisions to credit energy-efficient duct systems in these buildings. A substantial reason is the lack of readily available simulation tools to demonstrate the energy-saving benefits associated with efficient duct systems in large commercial buildings. The overall goal of the Efficient Distribution Systems (EDS) project within the PIER High Performance Commercial Building Systems Program is to bridge the gaps in current duct thermal performance modeling capabilities, and to expand our understanding of duct thermal performance in California large commercial buildings. As steps toward this goal, our strategy in the EDS project involves two parts: (1) developing a whole-building energy simulation approach for analyzing duct thermal performance in large commercial buildings, and (2) using the tool to identify the energy impacts of duct leakage in California large commercial buildings, in support of future recommendations to address duct performance in the Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standards for Nonresidential Buildings. The specific technical objectives for the EDS project were to: (1) Identify a near-term whole-building energy simulation approach that can be used in the impacts analysis task of this project (see Objective 3), with little or no modification. A secondary objective is to recommend how to proceed with long-term development of an improved compliance tool for Title 24 that addresses duct thermal performance. (2) Develop an Alternative Calculation Method (ACM) change proposal to include a new metric for thermal distribution system efficiency in the reporting requirements for the 2005 Title 24 Standards. The metric will facilitate future comparisons of different system types using a common ''yardstick''. (3) Using the selected near-term simulation approach, assess the impacts of duct system improvements in California large commercial buildings, over a range of building vintages and climates. This assessment will provide a solid foundation for future efforts that address the energy efficiency of large commercial duct systems in Title 24. This report describes our work to address Objective 1, which includes a review of past modeling efforts related to duct thermal performance, and recommends near- and long-term modeling approaches for analyzing duct thermal performance in large commercial buildings.

The objective of this scoping study is: (1) to identify current market drivers and technology trends that can improve the demand responsiveness of commercial building lighting systems and (2) to quantify the energy, demand and environmental benefits of implementing lighting demand response and energy-saving controls strategies Statewide. Lighting systems in California commercial buildings consume 30 GWh. Lighting systems in commercial buildings often waste energy and unnecessarily stress the electrical grid because lighting controls, especially dimming, are not widely used. But dimmable lighting equipment, especially the dimming ballast, costs more than non-dimming lighting and is expensive to retrofit into existing buildings because of the cost of adding control wiring. Advances in lighting industry capabilities coupled with the pervasiveness of the Internet and wireless technologies have led to new opportunities to realize significant energy saving and reliable demand reduction using intelligent lighting controls. Manufacturers are starting to produce electronic equipment--lighting-application specific controllers (LAS controllers)--that are wirelessly accessible and can control dimmable or multilevel lighting systems obeying different industry-accepted protocols. Some companies make controllers that are inexpensive to install in existing buildings and allow the power consumed by bi-level lighting circuits to be selectively reduced during demand response curtailments. By intelligently limiting the demand from bi-level lighting in California commercial buildings, the utilities would now have an enormous 1 GW demand shed capability at hand. By adding occupancy and light sensors to the remotely controllable lighting circuits, automatic controls could harvest an additional 1 BkWh/yr savings above and beyond the savings that have already been achieved. The lighting industry's adoption of DALI as the principal wired digital control protocol for dimming ballasts and increased awareness of the need to standardize on emerging wireless technologies are evidence of this transformation. In addition to increased standardization of digital control protocols controller capabilities, the lighting industry has improved the performance of dimming lighting systems over the last two years. The system efficacy of today's current dimming ballasts is approaching that of non-dimming program start ballasts. The study finds that the benefits of applying digital controls technologies to California's unique commercial buildings market are enormous. If California were to embark on an concerted 20 year program to improve the demand responsiveness and energy efficiency of commercial building lighting systems, the State could avoid adding generation capacity, improve the elasticity of the grid, save Californians billion of dollars in avoided energy charges and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Electric utility companies (EUCs) play an intermediary role of retailers between wholesale market and end-users, maximizing their profits. Retail pricing can be well deployed with the support of EUCs to promote demand response (DR) programs for heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in commercial buildings. This paper proposes a pricing strategy to help EUCs and building operators achieve an optimal DR of price-elastic HVAC systems, considering peak load reduction. The proposed strategy is implemented by adopting a bi-level decision model. The nonlinear thermal response of an experimental building room is modeled using piecewise linear equations, which helps convert the bi-level model to the single-level model. The pricing strategy is implemented considering a time-of-use (TOU) pricing scheme, leading to low price volatility. Case studies are conducted for two types of load curves and the results demonstrate that the proposed strategy helps EUC promote the price-based DR of the commercial buildings for conventional load curves. However, EUC cannot reduce the peak load on duck curve caused by the large introduction of photovoltaic generators, even with price-sensitive HVAC systems in commercial building. This will be addressed in future studies by inducing DR participation of HVAC systems in residential buildings.

IEEE recommended practice for electric power systems in commercial buildings , IEEE recommended practice for electric power systems in commercial buildings , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی

The energy saving potentials of zone-level membrane-based enthalpy recovery ventilators for VAV systems in commercial buildings

Against the backdrop of increasing technological innovation and rising demand for sustainability in the built environment, there is a clear need to explore the application of Building Management System BMS in the Nigerian real estate sector. Accordingly, this paper examined the concept of adopting Building Management System (BMS) in commercial buildings in Lagos State, Nigeria with a view to assessing performance on SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) where issues around resilience in buildings is hosted. The study administered one hundred and eighteen questionnaires to facility managers of commercial buildings that have adopted BMS in five local government areas in Lagos State. The data were processed using the principal component (factor) analysis and regression correlation analysis tool. It was found that a range of social and cost factors influenced the adoption of BMS in the study area. Specifically, level of occupant comfort and ease of use of the system were the most significant factor while implementation cost and extent of energy savings also strongly influenced BMS adoption in the study area. The chapter offers suggestions on strategies to improve adoption of BMS and recommends awareness campaigns and the introduction of promotional incentives to the public on BMS.