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Contact: Jodi Dunlop
Phone: 404-636-8400
ATLANTA - Research to shed light on lighting heat gain distribution in buildings is being funded by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
"Lighting is a significant contributor to the overall cooling load of a building," Christopher Wilkins said. "It is imperative that engineers have the best possible data available, presented in a convenient format, for the most commonly used fixtures."
ASHRAE approved funding totaling $1,010,768 for 11 research projects in the areas of energy conservation, operating and maintenance tools, indoor air quality, comfort and health, design tools and refrigeration systems at its 2004 Winter Meeting held Jan. 24-28.
Among them is 1282-RP, Lighting Heat Gain Distribution in Buildings. Daniel Fisher, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla., will serve as principal investigator. The project is expected to take 18 months to complete at a cost of $98,419. It is sponsored by ASHRAE's technical committee 4.1, on Load Calculation Data and Procedures.
The project will better document the interaction of the heat generated by a light fixture and its surrounding space, according to Wilkins, research subcommittee chair for TC 4.1. The new information will allow designers to more accurately perform load calculations and energy simulations.
"The increasing interest in sustainable systems has created a demand for more accurate energy and load simulations," he said. "Building envelopes continue to become more efficient, causing internal loads such as lighting to become a more significant contributor to the overall building load and energy use. Using rough assumptions is limiting the ability of engineers to respond to the demand for highly detailed energy evaluations of sustainable systems."
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of 55,000 persons. Its sole objective is to advance through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve the evolving needs of the public.
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