News Updates for the Week of October 29

1. New NAED Study Available: ESCO Partnerships and the Electrical Distribution Industry - This new study looks at partnership options between energy service companies (ESCOs) and distributors. These partnerships are in some cases a good way for distributors to enter and maintain a stake in the energy market. To help navigate relations with ESCOs, this project examines three areas:

• The status and trajectory of the ESCO industry
• NAED members’ experiences working with ESCOs
• Recommendations for future partnerships 

  http://www.naed.org/Research/Going_Green_Topics/ESCO/ESCO_Partnerships/

2. LED Lighting Facts Rolls Out QA Testing & More - The US Department of Energy’s LED Lighting Facts program is evolving along with the changing marketplace. In 2011-12, LED Lighting Facts has added to its reporting capabilities and is instituting two product-integrity programs: a Quality Assurance (QA) Testing Program, which requires product performance be independently tested and verified, and an annual renewal of each product’s listing and label. With the goal of expanding functionality, the program is working more closely with allies, such as Energy Star and the DesignLights Consortium. http://lighting.com/led-lighting-facts-qa-testing/

    

3. DOE Releases CALiPER Report on LED Recessed Wallwashers - The U.S. DOE has completed Series 18 of testing through the DOE Solid-State Lighting CALiPER program. Report 18 analyzes the performance of 17 LED recessed wallwasher luminaires. The products tested were diverse in luminous intensity distribution and lumen output—reflecting the varied applications in which recessed wallwashers are used—but were generally comparable to conventional wallwashers using a 32 W CFL or 20 W metal halide lamp. A summary of the results is now available for download on the DOE SSL website at www.ssl.energy.gov/reports.html

4. DOE Releases Demonstration Report on LED Roadway Lighting in Philadelphia - The U.S. DOE has published the final report from a demonstration of LED roadway lighting conducted at three sites in Philadelphia, PA. The report provides a performance evaluation of 10 different LED luminaires—and compares them to the incumbent HPS luminaires—using manufacturer data, illuminance calculations, field measurements, and subjective observations. The evaluation was conducted by the DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium and GATEWAY demonstration program, in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia. www.ssl.energy.gov/gatewaydemos_results.html

5. NYC Installs 1,600 LED Fixtures in Central Park - The New York City Department of Transportation recently completed the installation of nearly 1,600 LED luminaires that light walkways and grassy areas in Central Park. The new luminaires from Spring City Electrical feature Cree XLamp® XP-G LEDs in each fixture and were produced using an advanced light engine from Heatron. DOT officials estimate the new LED lighting will reduce energy usage by 62 percent and deliver annual maintenance savings of nearly $30,000 compared to metal halide lighting.. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-city-central-park-completes-130000828.html

6. Siemens to Exit Solar Business - Siemens will exit its unprofitable solar business because it has not met profitability goals and is already in talks with potential unidentified buyers. Siemens’ solar business only makes up a small portion of the company’s overall sales with revenues last fiscal year of about $409 million or 300 million Euros. Siemens had sales of EUR73.52 billion. Siemens will focus its renewable energy activities on wind energy and hydro power. http://www.tedmag.com 

7. Philips LED-Product Sales Account for 24% of All Lighting Revenue - Philips’ lighting sales in the third quarter of 2012 grew by 4% on a comparable basis over the same period in 2011, reaching $2.77 billion. The company said that the changes were driven by double-digit growth at Lumileds and Automotive, and low-single-digit growth at Light Sources & Electronics. LED-based sales grew by 51%, and now account for 24% of total lighting sales for Philips. This puts the value of LED-based sales at just over $650 million for the quarter. In comparison, Cree’s latest quarterly revenue was $187.5 million for LED products, and $108 million for lighting products (some but not all of which are LED-based), or $295.5 million in total. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/20 

8. Philips’ LED Licensing Program Attracts More Licensees - More than 230 companies have signed up to Philips’ LED-based luminaires and retrofit bulbs licensing program for its portfolio of patents related to LEDs and SSL, but two recent lawsuits indicate that not all companies are willing licensees. Back in May 2012, Philips signed its 200th licensee, and that number now exceeds 230, according to a spokesperson. Among the companies that have signed up to the program are Osram, Zumtobel, Acuity, Cree, Trilux and Cooper. Earlier this year, Philips resorted to a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nexxus Lighting. And more recently another lighting manufacturer, TCP Inc, has filed its own lawsuit in an attempt to avoid having to join the program. According to the press release from Nexxus, the Philips lawsuit was settled at the end of September 2012, with Nexxus joining the Philips licensing program. In the TCP case, we’ll find out in due course whether this lawsuit will have any real effect, but the smart money has to be on TCP joining Philips’ licensing program in the near future. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/17

9. Philips Introduces LED BR30, Says 100W-Equivalent A21 to Ship Dec 1 - Philips Lighting made a number of LED retrofit lamp announcements that span the range of A-lamps to LED-based T8 tubes. The company said that its 22W A21 EnduraLED lamp that delivers 1780 lm will be in major retail stores December 1 at a price of $55. Philips also announced a new dimmable LED BR30 that transitions from 2700K to 2200K as light output decreases. In the T8 area, the company says it has a new lamp that uses an external driver and that it's among the first LED tubes to achieve DesignLights Consortium (DLC) compliance. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/24 

10. Smart Appliance Sales to Reach 45 Million Units Annually by 2020 - Smart appliances will likely start to make their way into households in greater numbers after 2015. Defined as major household appliances that use intelligent power management technology to help optimize electrical load on the power distribution grid, these appliances offer consumers the benefits of reduced energy usage, lower energy costs, lower carbon emissions, and advanced features such as remote control. According to a new report from Pike Research, worldwide sales of smart appliances will climb rapidly over the remainder of this decade, reaching just under 45 million units per year in 2020. Worldwide sales to reach nearly $35 billion. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/smart-appliances

11. Solais Introduces New “X24 Series” of LED Solutions for Track and Recessed Applications - Solais Lighting, Inc. announced the introduction of its elite new “X24 Series” of LED lamps and fixtures. Ideal for a broad range of applications within the high-end retail and commercial sectors, the X24 series delivers an impressive 1600 lumens of light output with just a 3-inch aperture and is available with field-replaceable accessories to enhance ease of use and design flexibility. Designed for use in track and recessed lighting applications previously dominated by ceramic metal halide and halogen technology. www.solais.com

12. US Economic Growth Reached Still-Modest 2 Pct. Rate in Q3 on Higher Defense, Consumer Spending - Growth accelerated from the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter. Even with the increase, growth remains too weak to rapidly boost hiring. The 1.74 percent annual growth rate for the first nine months of 2012 remains slightly behind last year’s 1.8 percent growth. The economy grew faster last quarter in part because consumer spending rose at a 2 percent annual rate, up from a 1.5 percent rate in the second quarter. Spending on homebuilding and renovations increased at an annual rate of more than 14 percent. And federal spending surged 13%, mainly because of the sharpest increase in defense spending in more than three years. Economists think growth will remain sluggish at least through the first half of 2013. 10/26 Washington Post

13. Game Changer: Philips Launches World's Smartest Bulbs - Philips today introduced hue, the world's first Web-enabled LED home lighting system available direct to the consumer. Offered exclusively through Apple stores beginning on October 30, the hue starter kit includes three LED bulbs that fit into any standard light fixture, a bridge that connects to existing wireless routers. Philips hue sets up in minutes and, with a quick download of the hue application, the system can be controlled from any iOS or Android device. From the app, consumers can remotely control their home lighting for added security, personalize their lighting experience with custom settings, or program timers to help manage daily schedules, all through the convenience of their smart device. hue starter kits will retail for $199 and are available at Apple stores nationwide on October 30. Additional bulbs will be available at $59. For more information about hue, visit: www.meethue.com 10/29 PRNewswire http://www.forummedia.us/philipshue/

News Updates for the Week of October 22

1.      New Ballast Energy Standards to Take Effect November 2014 - In November 2011, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued new rules regulating the efficiency of fluorescent lamp ballasts, which take effect November 14, 2014. The rulemaking creates a new metric for measuring ballast efficiency and establishes a higher standard of efficiency that will impact many of today's fluorescent T8, T5 and T12 ballasts. Ballasts that do not comply will be prohibited from manufacture and import, but existing inventories can be sold until they are exhausted. The following ballast types are at greatest risk:

• majority of T12 electronic ballasts; 
• majority of outdoor-sign and residential-only ballasts; and 
• T8 and T5 programmed-start ballasts lacking a cathode cutout design.

http://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/new-ballast-energy-standards-coming-in-2014/

      2.      Shipments of LED-Based Street Lights will Surpass 17 Million by 2020 - According to a new report from Pike Research, unit shipments of LED lamps for street lights will rise from fewer than   3 million in 2012 to more than 17 million in 2020. At the moment, however, nearly all smart street lighting projects are still in a pilot phase, with only a handful of large-scale installations in place to date. LED street lights currently cost roughly four times as much as their high pressure sodium counterparts, placing them out of reach for many cash-strapped municipalities. For this reason smart systems are being installed primarily to reduce maintenance costs, improve monitoring, and enhance public safety, rather than energy savings alone. The report, "Smart Street Lighting", analyzes the global market opportunity for lamp upgrades and networked lighting controls across five categories of public outdoor lighting: highways, roads, parking lots, city parks, and sports stadiums. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/smart-street-lighting

3.      New Report on OLED Lighting Materials Market - Industry Analyst firm NanoMarkets has issued a new report on the OLED lighting materials market. In the report the firm projects that the OLED lighting materials market will grow from its current value of approximately $1.7 million in 2012 to over $1.1 billion in 2019 and surpass $1.3 billion in revenues in 2018 as OLED lighting moved beyond luxury luminaires and designer kits and into larger, general illumination applications. Additional details about the report are available on the NanoMarkets website at: http://www.nanomarkets.net/index.php/market_reports/report/oled_lighting_materials_market_forecast_2013

4.      Bipartisan Legislation to Revamp Tax Deduction for Energy-Efficient Upgrades to Commercial Buildings - A bill introduced into the Senate seeks to extend tax deductions for building upgrades, make it easier for taxpayers to get the deductions, and give more money back. The bipartisan legislation is called the Commercial Building Modernization Act (S.3591) and it would reform the existing Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction, which is widely known by its federal tax code section: 179D.  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s3591is/pdf/BILLS-112s3591is.pdf

5.      Solid-State Lighting GATEWAY Demonstrations - DOE GATEWAY demonstrations showcase high-performance LED products for general illumination in a variety of commercial and residential applications. Demonstration results provide real-world experience and data on state-of-the-art solid-state lighting (SSL) product performance and cost effectiveness. These results connect DOE technology procurement efforts with large-volume purchasers and provide buyers with reliable data on product performance. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/gatewaydemos.html

6.      Residential Energy Efficiency Market to Reach Nearly $84 Billion per Year by 2020 - The rising energy consumption of the housing sector, which has an impact on nearly every aspect of a country’s economy, is driving diverse and increasing interest in residential energy efficiency for both new homes and retrofits of existing ones.  Globally, more than half of the energy consumption in buildings – which is expected to rise from 31,983 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 51,253 TWh by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – comes from residential buildings.  According to a recent report from Pike Research, the energy efficient housing sector will expand rapidly over the remainder of the decade, growing from an annual market value of $14 billion in 2012 to almost $84 billion in 2020. More than 118 billion square feet of energy efficient residential space will be created over that time period.  http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/energy-efficient-homes

7.      Energy-Efficiency Improvements Can Make New Orleans Business Owners Eligible for Low-Interest Loans - NOLA Wise, a $15 million city-run program has made low-interest loans available to New Orleans business owners to make energy-efficiency improvements. Potential upgrades range from new insulation to tune-ups of heating and cooling systems, as well as improved lighting and sealing leaky doors and windows. Under the arrangement, participants could add solar panels through the program if they can achieve at least a 15 percent energy savings from the work. http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/to_make_energy-efficiency_impr.html

8.      LED Upgrade Produces Substantial Energy Savings in Cleveland Airport's Parking Garage - When the Airport Authority for the City of Cleveland, Ohio looked into LED parking-garage interior lighting systems, it knew an upgrade would save significant energy compared to the existing metal halides. A new type of specially designed parking-garage luminaire employing LED arrays—the Endura ceiling-mounted LED interior luminaire from Beacon Products, a division of Hubbell Lighting—was chosen. As a result of the LED retrofit, the Hopkins Airport parking garage has cut lamp replacement times and costs in half. 10/15 EC&M's ElectricalZone

9.      Milwaukee Downtown Businesses Pledge to Cut Energy Use - The operators of several downtown Milwaukee buildings, including Wisconsin's tallest, are signing on to a national pledge to reduce their energy use. Those commitments could attract aid for the building owners from a stimulus-funded energy savings initiative directed by the city of Milwaukee--Milwaukee Energy Efficiency, or Me2. This summer, Milwaukee announced it was joining the Better Buildings Challenge, a national initiative in which building owners are pledging to cut energy use by 20% by 2020. To date, the Me2 program has approved 67 business projects for Milwaukee businesses, including offices, factories, gas stations, laundries, condominiums, and health care facilities. The Me2 program says it has awarded grants totaling $1.7 million, stimulating $7.4 million of business investment. 10/18 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

10.  LumenOptix CEO to Present at NREL’s 25th Industry Growth Forum - At the U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 25th Industry Growth Forum in Denver, Colorado on October 23^rd, LumenOptix Founder and CEO Jay Goodman will present information on the company’s American-made Retrofit Downlight Luminaire, or “LRD,” a unique and modular LED retrofit solution that enables a downlight of any make, model, or size to be upgraded in just minutes to energy-efficient, maintenance-free LED technology.

11.  USG Corp. Partners with GE Lighting - Two of the building industry’s largest manufacturers are collaborating on a new ceiling system designed for use in commercial applications. USG Corp. will offer its Logix Integrated Ceiling System with GE Lumination’s LED Linear Recessed Luminaires. The system is ideal for office, retail, healthcare and hospitality environments. 10/16 HCN

12.  Nexxus Lighting Announces Distributor Agreement with Polybrite - Nexxus Lighting has executed a distributor agreement with PolyBrite International. Under the agreement, Nexxus will begin offering all of PolyBrite's Borealis LED lighting solutions to Nexxus' customers. Key components of the expanded product line are indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, including LED recessed flat panels, low-bay and canopy lighting systems, and area site and roadway luminaires. In addition, Nexxus will feature Borealis' new LED T8 tubes, A19, R20, R30, candelabra and other decorative lamp products, along with its premier Array line of LED replacement lamps. 10/17 HCN

13.  More than 11 Million EV Charging Stations Will be Installed Worldwide by 2020 - The past year has seen a major uptick in deployments of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).  This acceleration is a direct result of developments in the market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs): More than 135,000 PEVs will be sold globally in 2012, and growth is expected to continue at a steady pace.  According to a new report from Pike Research, the EVSE market will expand steadily, as well.  Unit sales of EVSE will rise from under 200,000 in 2012 to almost 2.4 million in 2020.  By 2020, the study concludes, 11.4 million EV charging stations will be in operation worldwide. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/electric-vehicle-charging-equipment

14.  Ford C-Max Energi Ranked America’s Top Fuel-Efficient Plug-In Hybrid - Ford recently announced that its plug-in vehicle was given a rating from the US EPA of 108 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) for city use, along with a100 MPGe overall rating. When stacked up against other vehicles, Ford noted that the C-Max Energi 100 MPGe outpaces the Toyota Prius by 5 MPGe. The C-Max Energi, along with the Ford Focus Electric (110 MPGe in the city) are two of just a handful of cars that have a prestigious US EPA ranking of 100 MPGe or more. Ford is expected early next year to bolster its lineup of top-notch electric and plug-in hybrids with the Ford Fusion Energy plug-in hybrid. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_C-MAX_Energi_Hybrid.jpg

15.  Boom in Chinese Energy Efficiency Market Predicted - China's growth has continued seemingly without pause. Over the course of 2011, its GDP reached US$7.4 trillion. This is a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. China's energy efficiency sector is set to deliver an estimated US$31.4 billion in 2012, which is a 54.2% growth over five years. The number of companies and consultants in the energy-saving field has grown rapidly, and the profit margin for this year is being projected at 13.8% of wealth generated. http://www.esi-africa.com/node/15519

16.  Latin America Commercial Fluorescent Lighting Market 2011 – 2017 - This report is an effort to identify factors, which will be the driving force behind the commercial fluorescent lighting market and sub-markets in the next few years in Latin America. The report provides extensive analysis of the industry, current market trends, industry drivers and challenges for better understanding of the market structure. This report highlights the industry trends and forecast for seven geographic markets, namely Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Panama.    

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/3hwgvg/commercial_fluorescent_lighting_market_lati

17.  America's Top 7 Energy-Efficient Baseball Stadiums - Major League Baseball (MLB) has emerged as a vanguard of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)'s Sports Greening Project, which has sparked a sustainability movement across a slew of professional and collegiate sports leagues. The MLB was the first professional sports league to partner with NRDC on the initiative in 2005. Rankings are based on sheer numbers of energy-efficient features, as well as the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

1.      Marlins Park: Miam​i Marlins

2.      Target Field: Minnesota T​wins

3.      Nationals Park: Washingto​n Nationals

4.      AT&T Park: San Francisco Giants

5.      Safeco Field: Seattle Mariners

6.      Miller Park: Milwaukee Brewers

7.      Busch Stadium: St. Louis Cardinals

Runners Up: Fenway Park: Boston Red Sox; Citi Field: New York Mets; Yankee Stadium: New York Yankees; Progressive Field: Cleveland Indians http://ase.org/efficiencynews/americas-top-7-energy-efficient-baseball-stadiums

News Updates for the Week of October 15

1.     Existing Buildings are Poised for Upgrades - Department of Energy (DOE) regulations targeting electromagnetic T12 ballasts and 4- and 8-ft T12 lamps have eliminated a majority of these products from the market, forcing owners of these lighting systems to upgrade to more-efficient lighting systems. As more than 430 million linear 4-ft T12 lamps alone are still in use, according to DOE--with T12 lamps accounting for about 30 percent of 4-ft linear fluorescent lamp sales in 2011, according the National Electrical Manufacturers Association--this is a major untapped opportunity to save energy.  http://www.ies.org/lda/HotTopics/LED/9.cfm

2.     LEDs Power Greener Lighting - A recent report by the U.S. DOE finds that, of the three most common choices, LEDs are the most efficient and friendliest to the environment. The report, “LED Manufacturing and Performance,” compares LEDs, incandescents and CFLs. It examines every stage of their life cycles, including manufacturing, assembly, transport, operation and disposal. CFLs bested LEDs in only one of 15 measurements: their contribution to landfills. The aluminum contained in an LED’s large heat sink causes a greater environmental effect because of the energy and resources consumed in its manufacturing. The report projects that, in five years, the environmental effects of LEDs will be significantly lower than today’s LED products, based on expected near-term improvements in LED technology. http://www.ecmag.com/?fa=article&articleID=13886

3.     NEC 2014 Outlook - The 2014 National Electrical Code (NEC) development process is in full swing with the NEC technical committees acting on 3,745 proposed new articles and revisions. New and improving technologies and industry advances are driving changes into the electrical industry at an accelerated pace. Important factors—such as energy conservation, reduction of oil dependency and preservation of existing electrical infrastructures—are driving many changes. Future NECs will place significant emphasis on energy management and effective energy solutions. http://www.ecmag.com/?fa=article&articleID=13901

4.     NEMA Publishes Annual Standards and Products Guide - The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published the 2013 edition of its "Electrical Standards and Products Guide," a comprehensive listing of NEMA electrical standards as well as an extensive directory of manufacturers and their products. It is used by military, government, and private buyers who work in lighting, motors and industrial controls, transmission and distribution, transportation, medical imaging, architecture and construction, and other industries that specify and use electrical equipment.  No charge reprints at: http://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/NEMA/espg_nxtbook/

5.     LEDs Dominate and are Set to Take Over $1.8 Billion U.S. Flashlight Market - ElectroniCast Consultants, a market research firm covering LEDs and electronic devices, reports that the United States flashlight (torch) market reached $1.824 billion in 2011. The company says that LED flashlights dominate the product mix. Additionally, the LED flashlights are forecast to gradually displace the other light-source types of flashlights which include: Halogen, Argon/Krypton Incandescent, Xenon Incandescent, Fluorescent and High-Intensity Discharge (HID). In 2011, Rechargeable LED flashlights held the leadership position in relative market share. http://www.sslighting.net/news/?id=122151#top

 

6.     Acuity Brands Sheds Lumens on Energy Savings - The P Series LED Downlighting Modules have a bar-setting efficacy of 70 lumens per watt, which is more than 86% more efficient than incandescent luminaires. They are designed for general-purpose lighting in residential and light commercial applications.  They use advanced Center2Edge technology to dim seamlessly from full illumination, creating the look and feel of a single-point source. Center2Edge technology triggers the module’s LED board to act like an incandescent point source while dimming. 10/8 HCN

7.     RAB Lighting Rates LED Products for 100,000 Hours of Life - RAB Lighting announced that it now rates its LED-based lighting fixtures for 100,000 hrs of life, equating to 27 years based on a 10-hr usage day. The extended rating for the SSL products is based in part on the TM-21 standard for projecting LED component lifetime that was released by the IES last year. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/5

8.     ARCHITECTURAL SSL Product Awards Open to Submissions - The publishers of ARCHITECTURAL SSL magazine have announced the third annual Architectural SSL Product Innovation Awards. Manufacturers are invited to enter these awards by the deadline of November 9, 2012. http://www.architecturalssl.com/pia/