Lead Performer: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Troy, NY
Partners: HKS Inc.; Lumileds, LLC
DOE Total Funding: $2,825,262
Project Term: April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2023
Funding Type: SSL R&D Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) (DE-FOA-0002090)
Project Objective
Lighting design is becoming increasingly complex, including active dimming for energy savings and spectral tuning for human wellbeing. Modern commercial lighting control systems are already difficult to use and maintain, and even with so-called “smart” lighting, optimizing light settings is rapidly exceeding the capabilities of direct human control, limiting the adoption of lighting control systems. The growing importance of occupancy-centric controls (OCC) for advanced building management systems can be applied to the development of autonomous lighting-system controls needed to drive the adoption of advanced lighting controls for improved adaptive “sculpted illumination” for both greater energy savings and broader human wellbeing perspectives. This project will develop and test an entirely new platform for automated optimized lighting design and control that requires little or no human engagement, yet contours lighting profiles automatically to minimize lighting-energy use. The researchers call this approach to lighting control “dynamic light sculpting,” since the right amount of illumination is automatically delivered to occupants in real time. Since the system uses new, privacy-preserving occupant position and pose detection technologies developed for broad OCC building applications, the control system will analyze how to deliver the right amount of the right type of illumination only where and when it is needed, based on these OCC platforms. To create these powerful autonomous lighting control platforms, the project will integrate evolving augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) tools with sophisticated lighting and interior design toolkits to create interactive lighting design and control simulators. Using the quickly growing paradigm of digital twins, these tools will integrate light-fixture properties, occupancy-sensor data, interior-design data, and lighting specifications to accurately visualize how various design concepts interact with simulated yet realistic human activities that occur in commercial office buildings of various types. These advanced digital twin design and simulation tools will be combined with a new class of digitally programmable LED lighting fixtures that can dynamically change the spectral content and direction of light emission. The interdisciplinary project team’s experience includes all of the design simulation tools, VR/AR digital twin visualization technology, advanced occupancy sensing technology, and complex control system design capabilities that will revolutionize lighting design and control technology to autonomously deliver high-quality lighting that improves human health and wellbeing while simultaneously maximizing lighting energy savings.
Project Impact
When fully integrated, the new autonomous lighting control system will take all of the guesswork out of optimizing light quality while minimizing energy consumption. Digital twin tools will simplify the design, installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of future energy-efficient lighting systems. It should be possible to reduce lighting energy costs from 40% to 70% with OCC-based dynamic light sculpting systems.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Wyatt Merrill
Lead Performer: Bob Karlicek, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute