Lead Performer: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Portland, OR
May 31, 2022
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Lead Performer: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Portland, OR
Partner: Solemma LLC
DOE Total Funding: $1,200,000
Project Term: October 1, 2021 – December 31, 2024
Funding Type: Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT)
Project Objective
In 2020, PNNL researchers demonstrated how new advanced software tools could be used to estimate the possible energy effects of implementing tunable LED lighting systems to meet emerging design guidelines related to nonvisual lighting metrics (Safranek, Collier, et al. 2020). For that investigation, PNNL used the software tool Adaptive Lighting for Alertness (ALFA), developed by Solemma LLC, to estimate the electric lighting systems’ energy performance. ALFA accounts for the variability of light source spectral power distribution (SPD) and object spectral reflectance distribution (SRD), providing more detailed estimates of the spectrum of light needed to estimate newer nonvisual lighting metrics.
This thee-year project builds on that earlier research, partnering lighting research engineers at PNNL with Solemma LLC to increase the capabilities and uptake of advanced software tools used for lighting evaluations. The goal of this project is to increase the functionality of ALFA in order to integrate high-resolution spectral simulations into Solemma’s popular whole-building software tool, ClimateStudio. Improvements to the software will enable more dynamic representation of electric lighting systems, keeping it a prominent design consideration in broader lighting, architectural, and energy analyses. Users will be able to consider a larger number of design variables and understand their impact on a range of metrics.
Laboratory evaluations and case studies will be conducted to assure the accuracy of the software as it develops and demonstrate how the software can be used for different applications. The project creates a collaborative partnership between PNNL and Solemma, with a defined feedback loop whereby the emerging research results from PNNL can inform new software developments, the upgraded software tools from Solemma can be adapted into PNNL’s research, and validation results from PNNL’s research can inform further software revisions.
Project Impact
The project will improve lighting application efficiency (LAE) through the advancement of software used by designers, manufacturers, and researchers for simulation of dynamic architectural lighting systems, resulting in energy-efficient lighting solutions that are optimized for occupant needs. The result of this project will be a state-of-the-art commercial software tool for parametric modeling of electric and daylight within an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), allowing users to explore designs and optimize for a range of design variables. Before commercialization, the software will undergo laboratory, field, and user group evaluations to assure workflow functionality and result accuracy. The software tool will be supported through maintained user support, digital documentation, teaching modules, and video tutorials.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Wyatt Merrill, wyatt.merrill@ee.doe.gov
Lead Performer: Sarah Safranek, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory