IAEEL newsletter 1/96

Lighting on the Internet

The mouse normally isn't considered to be the fastest creature on Earth, but pointing-and-clicking one along the information super-highway mobilizes resources on energy-efficient lighting faster than any other means available.

With the Internet, in a matter of minutes one can download documents from the US EPA on how to participate in the Green Lights Program, check the latest stock prices for General Electric, search a detailed database of residential compact fluorescent fixtures, review an up-to-date list of publications from the Lighting Research Center, investigate Ontario Hydro`s lighting programs, download the latest electronic ballast sales data, send a question about daylighting controls to 300 experts participating in an international discussion group on lighting, download new lighting design software, calculate the optimal overhang dimensions for a south-facing window in Nairobi, and even browse back issues of the IAEEL Newsletter or find out about the Right Light IV conference.

THE INTERNET EXPLOSION
The global Internet is fast becoming the number-one energy efficiency information resource. Used since the 1960s by a relatively small number of government and academic institutions, recent developments in networking technology and software have attracted as many as 50 million users, including energy-related groups such as utilities, buildings professionals, and a wide variety of private companies. About 10 million computers, in dozens of countries at all levels of economic development, are now linked together around the world via the Internet. The number of users is doubling every six months.

The Internet`s multimedia-based World Wide Web represents a particularly important innovation by simultaneously offering access to text, searchable databases, photographs, sound recordings, interactive calculations, and video images. It also brings new degrees of user-friendliness to the Internet.

The Internet is becoming an increasingly powerful communications tool. It is less expensive and often more efficient compared with conventional modes of communication. Information is often available over the Internet before it is published in hardcopy. By using "hypertext", documents can be extensively and conveniently linked to other documents, even if they happen to be stored in a computer on the other side of the world.

SIX LANES ON THE INFORMATION SUPER-HIGHWAY
Existing and emerging applications of the Web have made the Internet a powerful tool for implementing energy efficiency. Listed below are six major ways in which the Web can be used in the pursuit of energy-efficient lighting.

Communications: E-mail-the most familiar use of the Internet-is a well-known tool for day-to-day correspondence among individuals. More recently thousands of topical e-mail discussion groups have emerged, including groups focused on utility issues, lighting, and HVAC. The lighting group has about 300 members worldwide. "Chat rooms" are being used to enable real-time discussions, as exemplified by the five Internet-wide chats that have been held on power quality (lighting and non-lighting issues). More advanced Internet-based communications features such as the video-based MBONE (Multimedia Backbone) make it possible (and affordable) for efficiency experts from disparate places around the world to participate in virtual design sessions.
Posting Text and Graphical Information: We have identified nearly 100 Web sites having to do with energy-efficient lighting, now available via the IAEEL Web site`s Lighting Crossroads index. These span the general categories of: Lighting Publications & Other Information Sources, Major Lighting Programs & Initiatives, Businesses, Products & Services, Industry & Professional Organizations, Research Centers, Market Data, Energy & Global Climate Change, News Groups & Discussion Groups, Lighting Design and Analysis Tools, Other Lists of Lighting Web Sites, and Fun with Lighting.
Document Retrieval and Software Downloading: The Internet can be used as a way to distribute large documents such as software or detailed graphics. For example, the RADIANCE and Superlite software can be downloaded from their developers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Dynamic Databases: The Web can be used to provide searchable databases of energy-efficient products. The powerful inter.Light databases allow users to search for specific efficient-lighting products (e.g. lamps, ballasts, fixtures, controls).
Interactivity and On-line Tools: On-line calculation tools can be offered on the Web. The first example of an on-line energy tool is The Home Energy Saver, an interactive residential tool from LBNL. Web-based tools (as distinguished from software downloaded from the Internet and run on the local computer) have many advantages: they are available to users of any computing platform (Mac, PC, etc.) and the software does not need to be physically distributed since it resides on a single Web server (and thus can be updated often). The user interface of such tools becomes a doorway into the multitude of related decision-support resources on the Internet. The interactive aspect of the Web also can be harnessed for designing powerful international surveys.
Remote Monitoring, Diagnostics, and Data Visualization: The Internet has the potential of becoming a widespread energy management and control system, as people begin to use it to gather building energy performance information. Data, as well as audio and video information, can be collected and viewed on a real-time basis from a remote location. For example, it is not far-fetched to imagine building managers using the Internet to keep track of lighting levels and energy use in hundreds of locations. Potential future directions may include actual building operations via instructions sent over the Internet.

Despite the prospects, the Internet is not free of problems. The risk of information overload rises with the quantity of information flowing over the Internet. Developing more sophisticated search engines and indices is an important need in this respect. The Internet is not currently available to or used by all players concerned with energy efficiency. Groups that are not computer-literate (or wealthy enough to own computers) do not have easy access to information on the Internet. As the Internet grows, it is important to provide access for all those who stand to benefit from it.

See article about IAEEL home page (IAEEL 1/96)

Evan Mills
Sam Webster

emills@lbl.gov
swebster@lbl.gov

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