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Lighting California's Future's project on Improved Daylight Performance of Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDDs) is developing, demonstrating, and helping commercialize new diffuser elements that redirect a significant portion of the emitted daylight towards the ceiling and precisely filter and spread the rest, producing a direct/indirect luminaire effect. The result will be to increase the acceptance of TDD daylighting systems by introducing systems with luminance ratios that are closer to the accepted norms for interior spaces.
The project accelerates the development & release of new TDD diffuser options that address market barriers to daylight usage. Options include reducing direct glare from diffuser surfaces and increasing ceiling illumination. The goal of the research is to provide off-the-shelf daylighting solutions which support current visual comfort trends in commercial spaces.
Measurement and simulation of daylighting performance of standard TDDs included photopia models and ray trace analyses, as well as HDR verification of simulations.
Project partners are CLTC, SCE and Solatube International, Inc.
LCF Research will continue through 2009.
SOURCE: ArchEnergy.com
 Proximity Hotel is a "green hotel" and the building's design and construction followed guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System,™ the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Proximity Hotel’s goal is to attain the Gold or Platinum Certification. |
Here is a sampling of the 70+ sustainable practices at Proximity Hotel:
- Uses 41% less energy than a conventional hotel by using ultra efficient materials and the latest construction technology.
- Takes advantage of abundant natural lighting with large energy-efficient “operable” windows (7’4” square windows in guest rooms).
- Connects guests to the outdoors by achieving a direct line of sight to the outdoor environment for more than 97% of all regularly occupied spaces.
- Uses geothermal energy for the restaurant’s refrigeration equipment, instead of a standard water-cooled system, saving significant amounts of water.
- Will plant a green, vegetated rooftop on the restaurant to reduce the “urban heat island effect.” In other words, the green roof reflects the heat, thus reducing the amount of energy needed for refrigeration and/or air conditioning. It also slows the rain runoff and insulates the rooftop, keeping the building cooler overall.
