Conservative Powers
This article focuses on the fact that by matching the use to demand the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), the controls are now able to cut electric bills and ease strain on the local grid, often leading to earn credits from the utilities. Similarly, advanced lighting systems are providing needed illumination using less electricity than conventional overhead lighting. The Lighting Systems Research Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed a table lamp that provides the same illumination as a 300-watt halogen lamp or an ISO-watt incandescent table lamp, but uses less energy than either one. The Berkeley lamp’s designers placed an optical septum—an aluminum reflector dish painted white—between the two lamps to permit three different modes of lighting—down, up, or a combination of the two. The downward, directly focused light is intended for reading or writing, and the indirect, upward light for low glare, suitable for working on a computer.