A KILLER APPLICATION Controllable Lighting Systems As A Load Management Strategy

Abstract

What exactly is a "Killer Application?" Simply put, it is any tech-
nological advance that changes the rules of an industry in a positive
way, and by extension the lives of that industry's customers. Under
this heading, the use of controlled lighting as a load management
strategy quite precisely fills the job description of a "Killer APP."
Load management is defined as the modification of energy usage
patterns in response to external conditions. Historically, it was focused
on interruptible loads, e.g., air conditioners, hot water heaters. As such,
it was seen by building managers and occupants as inconvenient or un-
comfortable. Lighting was never considered.
That was then. With the marginal cost of electricity today reaching
more than 20 times the cost of electricity at off-peak hours, load manage-
ment, re-framed as the building-wide application of controlled lighting,
has emerged as a dynamic, proven energy strategy. It comprehensively
addresses changes in energy costs. By employing leading-edge technolo-
gies to reduce lighting energy costs, it reduces, under certain rate struc-
tures, the average cost of energy for every kilowatt-hour used through-
out the entire facility. It is the first application to make utility deregula-
tion payoff big for businesses.