Energy Efficiency Technology Demonstration Project for Florida Educational Facilities: Occupancy Sensors.

A Florida study replaced conventional light switches with passive infrared or ultrasonic sensing systems to control classroom lighting in an elementary school to determine the performance of such controls in saving energy. A before-and-after monitoring protocol was used for 33 classrooms and 7 offices in which electrical demand data were collected. Data comparing pre- and post-retrofit periods show sensors achieved an average of 10 percent savings with greater reductions to total energy due to reduced load on the air conditioning system. It is noted that the school already had considerable energy efficient use of lighting with a T8 system, so the benefits are considered to be the minimum a facility can expect to achieve through sensor use. Including costs of installation and commissioning, the payback of the occupancy sensor retrofit was 5 years with a 21 percent simple rate of return from the investment. An appendix provides an overview of occupancy sensor technology. (Contains 14 references.) (GR)