Commercial buildings in the United States alone contribute to an estimated 18% of total energy usage and also contribute to an estimated 4% of global Carbon Dioxide emissions. In 2006, lighting alone constituted about 25% of energy use by the Commercial sector, making it the largest single component of energy usage, which also contributed to about 42% of a commercial building's cooling load. Needless to say, it is about time that this issue was addressed by the Department of Energy.
On May 5th, 2009 the United States Department of Energy introduced Commercial Lighting Solutions, the latest innovation designed to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings. Commercial Lighting Solutions is an interactive web tool that is designed to help commercial building owners improve lighting efficiency by at least 30%. The tool provides the user with energy savings projections based on user input and selections. The solutions that are produced are designed to meet or exceed energy savings levels required to qualify for tax incentives put in place by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Commercial users and designers can also use the tool to document performance against energy goals which can support end-user applications for incentives and rebates from utilities and state or regional energy efficiency programs.
Commercial Lighting Solutions is the first commercial technology solution to be launched as a part of the Department of Energy's Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative (CBI). Hopefully the next installment will not be too far off, as this is a huge leap in the push towards global energy efficiency.
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