News Updates for the Week of February 7th

1. In Light-Bulb Business, Lumens Try to Power Past Watts - For more than a century, buying light bulbs has been a fairly straightforward transaction: Consumers have judged pear-shaped incandescent bulbs by how much wattage, or power, they consume. But the government wants the next generation of bulbs to be measured by brightness. And that means lumens. In a nation with 4.4 billion light sockets, it's a tall order. The Federal Trade Commission is proposing that labels for all light bulbs put brightness - measured in lumens - at the top, with watts below under "energy used." Although lumens have been included on light-bulb packaging since 1994, few have noticed the tiny print. The labels would also identify the bulb's estimated annual energy cost, its life and how warm or cool its light is. The labels - which were set to appear in June but will probably be delayed six months at the request of the lighting industry - will apply to conventional incandescent, compact fluorescents, halogen and light-emitting diode bulbs. 1/31 Washington Post

2. Stimulus Dollars Turn Federal Buildings Green - $5.5 billion is the amount the stimulus sets aside for making the nation's existing federal buildings more energy-efficient ($4.5 billion) and constructing new federal buildings and border stations ($1 billion). 2/1 Chicago Tribune

3. Residential Construction Slips 4.1% in December - Figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Feb. 1 showed continued low levels of construction spending on both residential and non-residential projects during the month of December 2010. Overall spending on private construction fell 2.2% from November, with residential construction slowing at 4.1% and non-residential construction at 0.5%. In year-end figures, $507.3 billion was spent on private construction in 2010, 14.3% below the $592.3 billion spent in 2009. Residential construction in 2010 was $241.4 billion, 1.7% below the 2009 figure of $245.6 billion. Spending on non-residential construction was $265.9 billion in 2010, 23.3% below the $346.7 billion spent in 2009. 2/1 HCN

4. Unemployment Rate Drops to 9% in January But Only 36,000 Jobs Were Added - From 1948 until 2010 the United States' Unemployment Rate averaged 5.70 percent reaching an historical high of 10.80 percent in November of 1982 and a record low of 2.50 percent in May of 1953. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-Rate.aspx?Symbol=USD

5. PUSHED BACK: 2011 CONSTRUCTION OUTLOOK - The recovery predicted for the end of 2009 and into 2010 will instead begin in 2011. With the depths of declines in most sectors during the “Great Recession,” experts predict double-digit growth in some areas in 2011. However, that growth must be interpreted within the context of some of the greatest declines in a generation. This recession was the longest and deepest economic crisis since the 1930s, so its impact will linger. One running theme throughout this article is that there was nowhere for the numbers to go but up. http://www.ecmag.com/?fa=article&articleID=12277

6. NEMA Publishes Air Infiltration Ratings for Recessed Luminaires - The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published LSD 58-2010 Air Infiltration Ratings for Recessed Luminaires. This new white paper was produced by NEMA’s Luminaire Section. LSD 58 addresses the standard test procedure, installation requirements, and labeling applicable to luminaires to demonstrate limited airflow. Restricting airflow through lighting fixtures helps reduce energy loss and moisture accumulation, and is required by some energy codes and the ENERGY STAR® program. This paper is directed toward those who test, produce, specify, install, and inspect recessed luminaires and is available no charge by visiting www.nema.org/stds/lsd58.cfm For a comprehensive list of NEMA LSD white papers, go to www.nema.org/stds/lsd.cfm.


7. 2011 BOC Technical Webinar Series: Lighting Solutions for IEQ and Energy Performance -

New Lighting Standards: February 9, 2011, 1:00-2 :00PM Eastern . SPEAKER: Andrew Pultorak, LC, Lighting Design Lab, Seattle, WA. New federal standards for lighting products will become effective in 2012. Common lighting products such as general purpose medium screw base incandescent bulbs, some incandescent reflector (IR) bulbs, and T-12 lamps are affected by these new standards. This webinar will cover useful information that facility professionals need to know about changes to the availability of commercial lighting products for their facility. Others listed at: http://www.theboc.info/m-live-webinars.html

8. Kaj den Daas Appointed Chairman of GLO - K. R. (Kaj) den Daas became a director and non-executive chairman of the board of GLO AB in February 2011. As Chairman of Philips Lighting of North America and Executive Vice President of Philips Lighting BV until his retirement from Philips at the end of 2009, he led Philips in building the largest lighting company in North America through both organic growth and acquisitions (such as Lumileds and Color Kinetics) with an emphasis on the emerging solid state lighting market. http://www.glo.se/