Technical Updates Series: GUV Lighting 

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) lighting is a promising new technology with the potential to contribute to healthier buildings and cleaner air for occupants. New PNNL research finds that GUV is potentially more effective and energy efficient than turning up ventilation systems. However, since the technology is so new, commercially available products have not been properly studied or vetted.

Lighting researchers at PNNL are implementing a new DOE program focused on product testing, demonstrations, and field evaluations of commercially available GUV lighting products. As part of these efforts, researchers are studying how this technology can improve indoor air quality, reduce the spread of infectious pathogens, and contribute to the energy efficiency of buildings. Their findings will be published in a paper during ACEEE’s 2022 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings conference. In this paper, PNNL lighting researchers compare GUV lighting to other strategies, such as increasing ventilation and using HVAC filters as recommended by ASHRAE and the CDC.

Guest speakers will talk about the energy efficiency and equity implications of GUV lighting, and why developing proper product standards will be critical to technology adoption.

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Greg Ehrich, LC is the former President of the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) and owner of Premier Lighting, a progressive lighting distributorship.

Michael Colligan is an entrepreneur and inventor. He’s a subject matter expert in commercial and industrial lighting supply, lighting retrofits, and finding recycling streams for hard-to-recycle waste.

Gabe Arnold is a Senior Lighting Engineer with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He has over 20 years of experience in the lighting and energy efficiency industries improving technology performance and accelerating technology adoption. He is a principal investigator on the advanced lighting team supporting the U.S. DOE’s Lighting R&D and Commercial Buildings Integration programs, focusing on development and deployment of emerging lighting and building technologies. His current work focuses on germicidal ultraviolet lighting technologies, improving environmental sustainability, and DOE’s L-Prize competition.

Jason Tuenge joined PNNL’s in 2008 as a Lighting Research Engineer with experience in the lighting domain, ranging from applications engineer for a luminaire manufacturer to lighting design for an engineering firm. His recent work has included characterizing the energy performance of connected lighting systems, developing guidance on calibrating measurement equipment, and leading radiometric and electrical testing of germicidal ultraviolet products. He completed the UC Berkeley Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) degree program in 2020, and enjoys finding opportunities to continue developing his skills in that domain.

The Technical Updates Series on lightED is sponsored by Cooper Lighting.

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