News Updates for the Week of December 6

1. Green Building Market Grows Despite Construction Slowdown - Despite a deep economic recession, the U.S. green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double its size by 2015, says a new report by New York-based McGraw-Hill Construction. The value of green construction jumped 50% from $42 billion in 2008 to $71 billion in 2010, when it represented 25% of the all new building activity, and it's expected to reach $135 billion by 2015, according to the firm's Green Outlook 2011 report. http://ecmweb.com/ezone/green-building-market-grows-20101123/?cid=nl_ezone.

2. NEMA Third-Quarter 2010 Lighting Systems Index Improves - Third-quarter 2010 performance beat the second quarter’s by 0.9% and was 5.6% ahead of third-quarter 2009’s. http://www.nlb.org/index.cfm?cdid=10452&pid=10226. 

3. Incandescent Lamp Index Declines to Record Low During Third Quarter of 2010 - NEMA’s index for incandescent lamps declined 17.2 percent for the third quarter, registering a record low reading of 46.5. The index showed a year-over-year decline of nearly 19.0 percent. Shipments of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) waned as well, with the index dipping 18.2 percent to 168.8—a level not seen since 2006. Moreover, CFL shipments decreased 12.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20101202a.cfm.

4. Shipments of Metal Halide Lamps Remain Solid During the Third Quarter - Mercury vapor lamps carved out a 5.4 percent share of the HID lamp market, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over the previous quarter. Market shares for metal halide and sodium vapor HID lamps moved in opposing directions during the quarter. Metal halide lamps improved 2.8 percentage points to 63.3 percent of total shipments while the market share of sodium vapor lamps contracted to 31.3 percent—a decline of 4.1 percentage points. http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20101203b.cfm. 

5. Secretary Chu Announces Nearly $21 Million in Technical Assistance Projects to Improve Energy Use in Commercial Buildings - During a live online chat at the White House, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that 24 projects are receiving a total of $21 million in technical assistance to dramatically reduce the energy used in their commercial buildings. http://www.energy.gov/news/9838.htm. Learn more about Commercial Building Partnerships and other projects that are part of DOE's Building Technologies Program.

6. CO State Launches Green Loan Programs for Business - Businesses looking to invest in energy efficiency upgrades could benefit from two loan programs that were announced Tuesday. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) will oversee both programs, one aimed at retrofits and projects below $100,000, the other at retrofits and renewable energy projects above that threshold. Both are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Interested businesses can find more information at www.chfainfo.com. 12/1 The Gazette

7. CA Energy Commission Awards Nearly $3 Million for Energy Research - Demonstrating the importance of funding innovation, the California Energy Commission on 12/3/10 approved $2,868,787 for four energy research projects including solutions for retrofitting lighting in commercial buildings. The research projects are funded by the Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program. For more information, visit www.energy.ca.gov/research.
 

8. AL Loan Program Helps Businesses Be More Energy-Efficient - Starting 12/1 /10, Alabama businesses wanting to become more energy-efficient will have an easier time finding the money to make those changes. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has started a $60 million revolving loan program called AlabamaSAVES (Sustainable and Verifiable Energy Savings). Alabama industrial and commercial business owners will be able to apply for 2 percent interest loans of between $250,000 and $4 million to finance energy-saving improvements to their facilities. The loans can be used to upgrade heating and air-conditioning systems, windows and doors, electrical systems, water heating systems, energy management systems, lighting and insulation. http://www.alabamasaves.com.

9. Tampa Electric Gets Florida Public Service Commission Approval to Expand Energy-Efficiency Programs and Incentives - Tampa Electric received approval from the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to expand its current lineup of energy efficiency programs for customers. In addition to the new programs and enhancements to existing programs, $1.5 million in incentives will be offered by Tampa Electric each year for five years to help customers install renewable technologies. The new programs should be available to customers in the first quarter of 2011. The availability of these incentives is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations will be accepted online at www.tampaelectric.com. 12/1 BUSINESS WIRE

10. Lighting Fixtures - Global Strategic Business Report - This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Lighting Fixtures. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for each region for the period 2007 through 2015. Also, a seven-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. For more information: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/7b103a/lighting_fixtures_global_strategic_business.

Total Companies Profiled: 746 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries - 838) 

Region/Country Players	Region/Country Players
The United States: 82	Italy: 63
Canada: 13	Spain: 30
Japan: 13	Rest of Europe: 157
Europe: 462	Asia-Pacific: 219
France: 32	Latin America: 16
Germany: 101	Africa: 16
The United Kingdom: 79	Middle East: 17