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 Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Berkeley, California, USA -
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) and Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) today announced that
they have signed an agreement to jointly research new
energy-efficiency solutions for buildings. Philips and Berkeley Lab
will work together to develop new technologies for the control of
multiple building sub-systems such as lighting and temperature
controls, and new building simulation tools for developing and
evaluating effective energy control strategies.
Initial research will focus on optimizing the energy efficiency of
indoor lighting through advanced integrated wireless lighting
control systems that are responsive to people, events and external
daylight levels. This will ensure energy is only used when and where
needed and will not compromise the comfort of the building’s
inhabitants.
Global environment and energy concerns are at the heart of this
joint research program that will last for the next two and a half
years, to be carried out jointly at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory in Berkeley, California, USA and independently at Philips
Research in North America (Briarcliff Manor, New York) and Europe.
Conventional light sources and unmanaged lighting systems currently
account for a significant proportion of wasted energy in buildings.
With products such as its ActiLume adaptive fluorescent lighting
system for offices, Philips is already a world leader in
energy-managed lighting systems. The combination of Philips’
advanced research and development in lighting, including solid state
lighting controls, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s
recognized expertise in energy-efficient building technologies will
extend opportunities in energy efficient lighting to complete
building energy management systems.
In view of the advanced knowledge base and implementation skills
embodied in the partnership, practical results from the
collaborative research are expected as early as the beginning of
2009, with commercialization of the developed concepts towards the
end of 2009. Compared to unmanaged lighting and other energy
consuming building systems, the anticipated energy savings
achievable with these new solutions could be in excess of 75%.
“For Philips this partnership supports an important shift in our
activities from energy efficient lighting towards complete energy
efficient systems which can impact our ambitions in the global
energy challenge,” says Terry Doyle, Senior Vice President Philips
Research.
“Through this open-innovation agreement with Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory we believe that we can jointly make an important
contribution to the development and deployment of ‘net-zero energy’
building solutions, opening up significant business opportunities
for the future,” says Helen Routh, general manager Philips Research
North America.
“We are looking forward to working with the Philips team to develop
new technologies for dramatically reducing building energy use and
mitigating greenhouse gas emissions,” said Arun Majumdar, Director
of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Berkeley Lab.
“There are tremendous opportunities to lower the environmental
impact of buildings through the intelligent, real-time, automated
control of energy use.”
The joint research program will leverage Philips Lighting’s
knowledge of fluorescent and solid-state lighting controls, Philips
Research’s expertise in wireless communication systems and
standards, and its understanding of ambient environments. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory will bring its proven track record of
contributions to energy efficient lighting in buildings, monitored
demonstrations of high performance integrated building systems and
links to state and federal energy agencies.
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