Design and energy performance assessment of high-efficiency lighting systems

Indoor lighting efficiency is a major opportunity for energy efficiency in buildings, towards near zero energy buildings. In addition to increasing lamp efficacy, lighting design has evolved from a “night-time” approach to a “day-time approach”, taking advantage of control equipment and strategies and of daylight contribution. To date, lighting efficiency is committed to the designer´s skill, while an aided design tool could allow for a real-time efficient design. In this work, evaluation procedures are reviewed and a design tool is devised. A set of case studies is then evaluated, returning reference values and comments for an efficient lighting design. An efficient lighting system is then proposed, according to design comments. In conclusion, a real-time design aid can be a useful tool for efficient lighting design.