Integrated Lighting Resources

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has more than 1,075 buildings with 137 truck station campuses across the state. MnDOT’s Cedar Avenue truck station, located in Richfield, Minnesota, provides critical roadway snow removal support within the Minneapolis metro area. It includes administrative offices, a training room, and a large breakroom, along with truck maintenance and service facilities.

The focus of this case study is to highlight the strategies used at Cedar Avenue truck station for integrating plug load and lighting systems. An integrated controls pilot project with retrofit installation was conducted from October 2019 to April 2020 and has been recognized by the Integrated Lighting Campaign in the following categories:

• Integrated Controls for Plug Loads & Lighting Systems
• Integrated Controls for HVAC & Lighting Systems

COVID-related absenteeism has cost US employers an average of $1 Billion per week since the pandemic began. Concern about the spread of infections in the workplace has driven many building operators to increase outside air ventilation at a significantly increased energy cost. Recent research from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and others finds that well-designed germicidal UV systems can be more effective and far more energy efficient than increasing ventilation to prevent the spread of airborne illness. The Better Buildings Lighting Systems Technology Research Team shared insights on germicidal ultraviolet radiation and its impact on both energy use and airborne pathogens. PNNL’s Lighting Research Engineers Gabe Arnold presented the latest research on GUV technology and how it compares to other methods of indoor air disinfection. Additionally, continuing from the last Lighting Systems Technology Research Team meeting in June, attendees can provided input on how DOE resources can provide the most valuable impact.

With a large portfolio of buildings, college campuses present a unique opportunity to adopt connected lighting systems for the benefit of the students, professors, administrative staff, and the public. And that’s just what both California State University, Dominguez Hills (Cal State Dominguez Hills) and the University of Minnesota did. Cal State Dominguez Hills wanted to decrease energy costs at James L. Welch Hall (Cal State), a four-story building housing multiple functions, including administrative and admission offices, classrooms, tech support, server rooms, and a police station. The University of Minnesota had similar goals for Jones Hall (UMN), one of their mixed-use buildings on campus with a combination of offices, classrooms, and public space.

Denver Water is recognized for implementing Integrated Controls for HVAC and Lighting Systems.

This presentation from Michael Myer, Lighting Researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, covers energy savings potential for lighting systems integrated with HVAC and plug loads, reviewing findings from several field project case studies conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

This report collected, aggregated, and analyzed zone- and fixture-level energy monitoring interval data from networked lighting controls (NLC) systems in 114 buildings across a variety of building types in North America, representing over 1,200 zones with an average of 60 days of monitoring data per building.

The project provided a packaged solution for a retrofit of the lighting, including site survey, design, system selection, and financial assistance with materials and labor.

The city of St. Paul upgraded about 13,100 ft2 of its Street Maintenance Division building with a new networked light emitting diode (LED) lighting system integrated with heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC ) and plug load controls. The city installed the lighting and plug load controls and worked with a lighting manufacturer to commission the networked lighting control system. A local HVAC controls contractor was hired to integrate the lighting with the HVAC system.

The county partnered with Slipstream–a non-profit focused on energy efficiency and climate solutions–to integrate lightemitting diode (LED) lighting with luminaire-level lighting controls (LLLCs), automatic receptacle (plug load) controls, and zoned heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controls in one floor of a multi-story building in downtown Minneapolis. The floor is occupied by an outpatient clinic and a fitness center; both are served by a common variable air volume (VAV) system, covering a total of 7,300 ft2.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) maintains the state roads and highways in the Twin Cities Metro area from the Cedar Truck Station. Before the retrofit project, the building used outdated fluorescent lighting that over lit the building.

The University of Minnesota wanted to reduce energy costs in Jones Hall since the building had fallen behind in some of the University’s aggressive sustainability initiatives and needed new lighting and controls. The mixed-use building, one of many on campus, includes a combination of offices, classrooms, and public spaces, and is currently home to the University’s Admissions, Language Center, and College of Liberal Arts classrooms.

System Program Manuals and Assessment Methods:  LBNL researchers worked with three sets of Utilities to identify and develop validated protocols for specific building systems. The selected systems were: automated shading integrated with lighting and HVAC controls (working with ComEd in Chicago), task/ambient lighting retrofit integrated with plug load occupancy controls (working with California POUs, NCPA and SCPPA), and workstation-specific lighting with daylight dimming systems (working with Xcel Energy in Colorado and Minnesota).

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 HVAC, electric lighting and dynamic fenestration systems.

The Integrated Lighting Campaign (ILC) confers recognition each year to organizations that are helping drive the adoption of advanced lighting systems and the integration of lighting with other buildings and business systems. Supporters (e.g., utilities, designers, ESCOs, energy efficiency organizations, and manufacturers) help the campaign identify and recruit exemplary projects that may be eligible for recognition from DOE. Learn about the new recognition categories for Participants and opportunities available to Supporters, including recognition available as an Exemplary Supporter or DEI Champion and how your products and/or services may be featured in a future case study. For more please visit Better Buildings.

Interested in submitting a lighting project for recognition to the Integrated Lighting Campaign? Learn about the recognition categories, four of which are new in 2023. Participants and Supporters now have more opportunity than ever to get recognized by DOE!

The Lighting Controls Association offers free, comprehensive online education about lighting controls technology and application.

This course, available through Lighting Controls Association, an ILC Organizing and Supporting partner, is offered via its Education Express program.  Learn more about the Education Express program by filtering “Webinars | Training” on the right panel.

This is a case study for the Tinker Air Force Base. By replacing the existing lighting with LED fixtures, this project saved more than 60% energy compared to the existing technology. This is consistent with savings of converting either fluorescent or high-intensity discharge fixtures with either new LED fixtures or retrofit kits, which typically result in at least 45% savings. The lighting controls saved between 8-23% compared to the LED baseline. Because LEDs are very efficient, the new LED baseline uses less energy. As a result, the 20%+ savings does not result in sufficient savings for a reasonable payback. However, using lighting controls to control other building systems can make the lighting and control system more cost effective.

Indoor farming, or controlled environment agriculture (CEA), is an energy and resource intensive process but has the potential to produce high value crops at maximum productivity and resource efficiency when ideal growing conditions are met. To meet ideal growing conditions, the facility’s horticultural systems, like lighting, HVAC, and humidity must be finely tuned and controlled. Integrating these systems can yield synergistic energy savings and, just like commercial facilities, the lighting system and controls can serve as a solid foundation for integration through data collection via sensors and providing a network interface. Watch to learn from the Better Buildings Lighting Systems Technology Research Team and two Integrated Lighting Campaign Recognized partners, University of Vermont and Vertical Harvest Farms, as they share their success stories in integrating their lighting with horticultural controls.

This presentation from Kenny Seeton, Central Plant Manager at California State University – Dominguez Hills, covers the opportunities and benefits of occupancy-based unified controls using Welch Hall as a case study.  Kenny discusses the basis of controls design process, matching lighting and HVAC zones, and energy savings opportunities of integrating lighting with a building automation system.

United States Office of Personnel Management Headquarters-Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building

Parkway South High School is the largest school and most significant energy consumer in Parkway School District. The school became a prime candidate for a long-term, sustainable solution in 2016 after one of two chillers in its aging chiller plant became non-functional. As part of an energy savings performance contract, a central geothermal plant was installed in addition to building envelope sealing and LED lighting. Installation of a 75 kW solar array and retro-commissioning were also recently completed onsite.

The Lighting Research Center investigated potential opportunities for using lighting controls to reduce HVAC energy using lighting sensors in commercial buildings. Research report conducted for the Lighting Energy Alliance. 

Success with lighting controls depends on establishing clearly defined objectives and taking a disciplined approach to design and implementation. This practical guide describes four common use cases for lighting controls and outlines the implementation process, from planning through maintenance. These recommended best practices reflect the experience of practitioners and serve to reduce complexity and the likelihood of problems when installing and using lighting controls.

Connected lighting systems provide a platform where integrated control of lighting and other systems can enhance building performance. With detailed information, coordinated systems can deliver lower operating costs and improved return on capital, as well as enhanced occupant wellbeing and productivity.

This class examines examples of integrating lighting controls with other building controls, primarily HVAC. Rather than presenting a set of established best practices, it reviews a few notable case studies of commercial and institutional buildings where integration has been both successful and challenging. Presenters describe the design process, how key decision points were identified, and how issues were resolved. They also cover Owners Project Requirements, Basis of Design, and Sequence of Operations, and report on commissioning and post occupancy evaluations.

This presentation from Kandice Cohen, Director of Lighting Strategy at Trane Technologies, covers the reasons integrating lighting systems is beneficial, using a “Baker’s Dozen” commercial kitchen as a case study.  Kandice discusses the integration of the connected lighting control system with the building automation system and how it meets the customer’s needs.

GSA’s Green Proving Ground program recently assessed the potential of wireless sensor technology to provide a cost-effective and facilities-friendly way of helping data center operators visualize and implement system changes that reduce overall energy consumption. Findings include significant cost savings, as well as a substantial reduction in cooling load and CO2 emissions.  Sensors utilizing a wireless mesh network and data management software to capture and graphically display real time conditions for energy optimization were installed in a demonstration project.