Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Lighting Energy ...

Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Research Goal
This research concerns the development of a wireless-enabled energy-efficient
lighting system for commercial office buildings. The system resulting from this research
is expected to meet the following three criteria with respect to the current technologies:
(1) increased cost effectiveness, (2) increased energy efficiency, and (3) increased user
satisfaction and lighting quality.
Buildings consume more than one third of the total primary energy generated in
the US, two thirds of which is electricity [1]. Lighting alone accounts for 30% of the
energy usage in office buildings, and it contributes to the largest proportion of energy
consumption among all electrical systems [2]. The statistics imply that lighting
dominates the potential of energy savings from the commercial sector, and research on
energy-efficient lighting systems is necessary for achieving the highest possible
reduction in energy consumption.
Energy-efficient lighting systems have been introduced to the market, but have
not been widely adopted. Despite their occasional unsatisfying performance, the
primary barrier hindering the existing products from popularization is the exorbitant
retrofitting effort and rewiring cost, especially for legacy buildings. The emergence of
wireless sensor network technologies provides an alternative that circumvents costly
rewiring [3] and promises even better performance than existing commercial lighting
systems.
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