INTERACTION OF LIGHTING AND HVAC SYSTEMS.

The Center for Building Technology at the National Bureau of Standards is engaged in a project to investigate the interactions between building lighting, heating and cooling systems. The goal of the project is to increase the knowledge of the physical mechanisms involved in the distribution of lighting energy throughout building spaces, in order to develop design procedures and guidelines to promote the design of efficient yet effective lighting and HVAC systems. Preliminary analyses indicate that lighting energy requirements and cooling loads due to lighting energy dissipation can be controlled by evaluating the interactive performance of lighting and HVAC systems, and designing the systems to allow the luminaires to operate at their most efficient state. In addition, methods are being investigated to reduce peak and total cooling loads due to lighting, using the building's structural mass to store and discharge excess heat from the lighting.