Lighting systems are an often overlooked but solid way to reduce power consumption in commercial office spaces and it’s an interesting market because you’re often selling to businesses that are already used to paying for building management systems.

Ucilia Wang reports on Enlighted, a Silicon Valley startup, with a lighting system that groups its sensors in 10X10 foot clusters so that individual cubicle workers can have their lighting customized.  The system is installed at HP and includes 595 wireless sensors in one building. One of the tricks of lighting systems is that building managers can adjust the lighting down by a few percentage points, which workers don’t typically notice but which result in real power savings over time.

As we move away from huge bets on new renewable energy generation, we’ll be seeing more of what are essentially efficiency plays with clear end markets. Enlighted has raised $14 million in VC from firms including Kleiner Perkins, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Intel Capital.