It’s reported that French Center for Building Science and Technology (CSTB), major French academic lighting laboratories and the French branch of Philips Lighting has formed a R&D program to research and promote the optimal use of LEDs in buildings.

The CITADEL program will develop measurement protocols and benchmarking analyses of LEDs, and methods to assess the aging and life expectancy of LED lighting products, according to Christophe Martinsons, head of the Lighting, Electricity and Electromagnetism Division of the CSTB.

The CITADEL is part of the innovation program of the “Cluster Lumière,” the French lighting cluster based in Lyon. The three-year project (started Feb. 9) has a budget of 1.5 M Euro and is funded by the French Environmental Agency (ADEME). The project was partly inspired by the US DoE CALIPER initiative.

Lab measurements will be carried out using several types of metrology, microanalysis and aging setups. The project also includes numerical simulations, focus groups, economic calculations, as well as a complete environmental analysis.

The program’s consortium consists of the CSTB; CEA-LETI; LNE (the equivalent of NIST in the US); the Engineering School in Construction and Public Works; LAPLACE, a large electrical engineering lab(University of Toulouse and CNRS); and Philips Lighting.