Context
To speed adoption of advanced lighting, daylighting, and shading systems, the Living Lab Demonstration Project will retrofit existing offices with “state-of-the-shelf” systems and monitor their performance to better understand and communicate the factors involved in successful deployment and operation of these systems. This proof-of-concept project grew out of BEEx’s Let There Be Daylight report.
The project will analyze pre-retrofit performance over a range of space types, and will monitor control spaces to compare and contrast the impacts of the deployed systems, including effects on satisfaction of the occupants. The two-year projects will include multiple feedback loops allowing for periodic modifications and enhancements to the systems. In addition to significant improvements in energy use performance, the project will focus on strategic procurement processes that reduce overall implementation costs.
Areas of focus will include effective, high-efficiency lighting, shades, solar controls, and products that extend daylight penetration, and controls for scheduling and tuning of systems that respond to occupancy, light levels, and other factors. The team will consider cost effectiveness while maintaining high levels of indoor environmental quality. The projects take LBNL’s ground-breaking work on shading and lighting controls at the New York Times building as their model. When the most effective set of integrated solutions has been identified, the financial institutions will explore replication of these solutions on other floors and throughout their respective building portfolios.