1. A lighting system for displacing energy, comprising:
a light sensor configured to measure an amount of light provided from the natural lighting fixture to a building environment;
processing electronics configured to receive information from the light sensor and to use the received information to determine when the amount of light provided from the natural lighting fixture is sufficient to allow one or more electric lighting fixtures to be turned off or dimmed, the processing electronics causing the one or more electric lighting fixtures to turn off or dim in response to the determination; wherein the processing electronics are further configured to calculate the energy saved from turning off or dimming the one or more lighting fixtures; and
a communications interface configured to transmit the results of the calculation of energy saved from the processing electronics to a second party for completing a financial transaction.
2. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the natural lighting fixture is a light pipe for mounting to the building environment and configured to provide light to the interior space.
3. The lighting system of claim 2, wherein the light pipe comprises:
a reflective tube;
a diffuser mounted proximate a first end of the reflective tube; and
a light collection system mounted proximate a second end of the reflective tube, the second end opposite to the first end, the light collection system configured to direct natural light into the reflective tube.
4. The lighting system of claim 3, wherein the diffuser comprises a concave surface configured to face the interior of the building environment.
5. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light sensor is mounted to the natural lighting fixture.
6. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the financial transaction comprises an exchange of the energy saved for a rate discount from a utility company.
7. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the processing electronics are configured to periodically calculate the financial value of a plurality of rate discounts based on the energy saved and to communicate the calculated financial value to a technology provider.
8. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the financial transaction comprises a payment corresponding to the energy saved in exchange for a reduction of an amount owed for a technology package comprising at least the natural lighting fixture and the processing electronics.
9. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the communications interface is configured to receive information identifying a peaking time period from a remote source.
10. The lighting system of claim 9, wherein the processing electronics are configured to check for potential energy displacement in response to the information identifying the peaking time period; and
wherein the processing electronics conducts the check by comparing the amount of light provided from the natural lighting fixtures of the building environment to a threshold minimum value.
11. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the second party is an energy trading exchange and wherein the financial transaction comprises exchanging the energy savings for pollution credits.
12. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the natural lighting fixture comprises at least one light reflective element and at least one light diffusive element, the light reflective element and the light diffusive element positioned to direct outside light into the building environment.
13. A computerized method for using a lighting system to displace energy, comprising:
receiving information from a light sensor configured to measure an amount of light provided from a natural lighting fixture to a building environment;
providing the received information to processing electronics configured to use the received information to determine when the amount of light provided from the natural lighting fixture is sufficient to allow output of one or more electric lighting fixtures to be at least partially reduced;
using the processing electronics to cause the output of the one or more electric lighting fixtures to reduce in response to a determination that the amount of light provided from the natural lighting fixture is sufficient to allow one or more electric lighting fixtures to be at least partially reduced;
using the processing electronics to calculate the energy saved from reducing the output of the one or more electric lighting fixtures; and
communicating results of the calculation of energy saved from the processing electronics to a second party for completing a financial transaction.
14. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the natural lighting fixture is a light pipe for mounting to the building environment and configured to provide natural light to the interior space of the building environment.
15. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the light pipe comprises:
a reflective tube;
a diffuser mounted proximate a first end of the reflective tube; and
a light collection system mounted proximate a second end of the reflective tube, the second end opposite to the first end, the light collection system configured to direct natural light into the reflective tube.
16. The computerized method of claim 15, wherein the diffuser comprises a concave surface configured to face the interior of the building environment.
17. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein reducing the output of the one or more electric lighting fixtures comprises at least one of:
(a) turning off half of the bulbs of the one or more electric lighting fixtures; and
(b) step-dimming the bulbs of the one or more electric lighting fixtures via one or more step-dimming ballasts.
18. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the financial transaction comprises the energy saved in exchange for a rate discount from a utility company.
19. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the financial transaction comprises a payment corresponding to the energy saved in exchange for a reduction of an amount owed for a technology package comprising at least the natural lighting fixture and the processing electronics.
20. The computerized method of claim 13, further comprising:
aggregating received information from a plurality of light sensors in the building environment; and
using the aggregated information to determine how many electric lighting fixtures to turn off while maintaining target lighting levels in the building environment.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A computer system comprising:
a chassis;
a processor mounted in the chassis;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
an optical disc drive coupled to the processor and the memory, the optical disc drive comprising a removable storage media, the optical disc drive being configurable to internally generate an audio tone signal in response to receiving a command during an absence of the removable storage media, to receive a second command, wherein the second command generates a corresponding second audio tone signal and to receive a third command, and wherein the third command is configurable to stop the generation of the second audio tone signal.
2. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the generated audio tone signal is transferred to a sound circuitry electrically coupled to the optical disc drive, wherein the sound circuitry outputs the audio tone signal.
3. The information handling system of claim 2, wherein the audio tone signal output by the sound circuitry indicates a proper operation of the sound circuitry and a cable, wherein the cable couples the sound circuitry and the optical disc drive.
4. The information handling system of claim 2, wherein the sound circuitry outputs the audio tone signal to an external sound output device coupled to tile sound circuitry.
5. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the generated audio tone signal is output to an external speaker coupled to the optical disc drive.
6. A computer system comprising:
a chassis;
a processor mounted in the chassis;
an input coupled to provide input to the processor; and
an optical disc drive coupled to the processor and the memory, the optical disc drive comprising a removable storage media, the optical disc drive being configurable to internally generate an audio tone signal in response to receiving a command during an absence of the removable storage media, to receive a second command, wherein the second command generates a corresponding second audio tone signal and to receive a third command, and wherein the third command is configurable to stop the generation of the second audio tone signal.
7. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein the generated audio tone signal is transferred to a sound circuitry electrically coupled to the optical disc drive, wherein the sound circuitry outputs the audio tone signal.
8. The information handling system of claim 7, wherein the audio tone signal output by the sound circuitry indicates a proper operation of the sound circuitry and a cable, wherein the cable couples the sound circuitry and the optical disc drive.
9. The information handling system of claim 7, wherein the sound circuitry outputs the audio tone signal to an external sound output device coupled to tile sound circuitry.
10. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein the generated audio tone signal is output to an external speaker coupled to the optical disc drive.
11. A computer system comprising:
a chassis;
a processor mounted in the chassis;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
an optical disc drive coupled to the processor and the memory, the optical disc drive comprising a removable storage media, the optical disc drive being configurable to internally generate an audio tone signal in response to the processor executing instructions stored in the memory, the instructions executable to:
generate at least one command to test the optical disc drive in response to receiving a request, the optical disc drive being configured to receive a plurality of commands and generate a plurality of audio tone signals, one of the commands being configurable to stop generation of an audio tone signal.