[December 08, 2011] UC Santa Cruz Presented With EnOcean Wireless Innovation Project of the Year Award Tweet BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- EnOcean, a pioneer in self-powered wireless sensor technology for the building automation market, has awarded the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) with its prestigious "Wireless Innovation Project of the Year" award. The award is designed to promote innovation and increase implementation of wireless energy harvesting green intelligent building technology. UCSC's Science and Engineering Library is one of two on campus that serve over 16,000 students. The issue at one particular library was that existing lighting was fully activated in the morning and remained on until the cleaning staff left nearly 20 hours later. Daily occupancy of the building varied greatly and did not follow a reliable pattern. Facing time constraints and the potential high cost of conventional wired technologies, the energy team chose to utilize Leviton's LevNet RF receivers, based on EnOcean's technology to achieve their energy goals. The Leviton receivers were paired to wireless occupancy sensors and light sensors contributed to the energy retrofit of the existing fluorescent fixtures from T12 to T8. In this retrofit, a wireless light sensor controls all perimeter lighting fixtures adjacent to windows. These sensors don't allow the lighting to be activated when there is an abundance of ambient lighting. This method of control is referred to as daylight harvesting. The lighting upgrade at UCSC, combined with the introduction of automation, reduced energy consumption by 50 percent in the facility representing an anticipated $48,000 annually savings in energy costs. The university was also able to make use of an energy rebate incentive for the replacement of the T12s and an additional incentive was given for the occupancy and light sensors. The project was also given the "Best Practice Lighting Award" at the 2011 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. About EnOcean No Batteries. No Wires. EnOcean (www.enocean.com), the inventor of energy harvesting wireless sensor networks, manufactures radio and energy harvesting modules that enable OEMs to develop wireless sensors & switches for new and retrofit BAS (Building Automation Systems). The batteryless radio modules convert ambient solar, thermal and motion energy into useable electrical energy that powers communications between controls. These 'peel-n-stick' devices reduce the time, cost and occupant disruption of energy conservation retrofits; and provide unparalleled flexibility in new construction. The company is a spin-off of Siemens AG and U.S. operations are based in Boston. SOURCE EnOcean [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]