The latest weapon unleashed to battle California's growing
energy demand comes in the form of free software. The State of
California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research
(PIER) program is responsible for the development of a free
software package dubbed the Sensor Placement and Orientation
Tool (SPOT). The purpose of this software is to help designers
establish correct photosensor placement relative to a given
daylighting and electric lighting design. Daylighting systems,
which use natural lighting to supplement electric lighting, are
sensitive to photosensor placement and performance. However,
until now, there have been no easy-to-use tools to help
designers predict performance and determine optimum sensor
positioning. Using an Excel worksheet interface, SPOT accounts
for variables such as room geometry, surface reflectances, solar
orientation, electric lighting layout, and window design to help
determine the best location for photosensors. It also helps
designers comply with the daylighting r