Special Request: Abe’s Garden Lighting Industry Campaign

Christopher Brown, CEO of Wiedenbach-Brown and Scott Muse, President of Hubbell Lighting are asking friends and colleagues in the lighting industry for their help. Both Chris and Scott lost their Mom’s to Alzheimer’s, and they became involved with Abe's Garden, an organization that is establishing an Alzheimer's and Memory Care Center of Excellence in Nashville, Tennessee. Brown and Muse recognized that innovative lighting concepts and products could make an impactful contribution to the lives of Alzheimer’s patients. They sponsored research at the RPI Lighting Research Center, led by Dr. Mariana Figueiro, which resulted in a paper of special interest to the Lighting Industry, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (https://www.abesgarden.org/lighting). Abe’s Garden is developing its best practice model for dementia care through a committed collaboration with Vanderbilt Center tor Quality Aging. Chris writes, “Together we can demonstrate how lighting, and its champions, can improve the lives of individuals impacted by Alzheimer's and related dementias.” Your contribution is much appreciated and can be made under Lighting Industry Campaign at: https://www.abesgarden.org/donate/make-contribution-abes-garden.

News Updates for the Week of August 26

1.      LEDucation 8 Issues Call for Speakers - The Designers Lighting Forum of New York announced its “Call for Speakers” for LEDucation 8, a single day exhibition and educational event dedicated solely to the ever evolving LED market and technology. LEDucation 8 will return to New York City on March 18-19th, 2014 in a new 2-day format and in a new venue – the Sheraton NY Times Square hotel. Speaker proposals will be accepted through 5 p.m. EST, October 15th, 2013. Proposals should be submitted online: http://www.leducation.org/call-for-presenters.html

2.      WSJ Evaluates Hue, Lutron, Belkin - How many gadgets does it take to turn on a light bulb? Tech companies have released all types of gizmos that let you control your lights via remote or smartphone, but only a few are genuinely useful and easy to set up. Michael Hsu joins Lunch Break. Watch the video at WSJ.com

3.      Not All LEDs are Created Equal - LEDs are undeniably the future of lighting. The DOE estimates that by 2030, LED lighting will own a 74 percent market share. As LEDs become the increasingly obvious choice for any lighting project, specifying quality, efficiency and functionality will ensure that each lamp lives up to its reputation. Energy efficiency shouldn't be the only priority that building owners, facility managers, architects, builders or owners focus on when it comes to choosing LED lighting. The thought and attention put into quality and color consistency can make a significant difference in the lamp life, functionality, aesthetics and energy savings. ENERGY STAR provides qualifications for the LED lamps that meet its stringent specifications. http://www.edcmag.com/articles/95109-not-all-leds-are-created-equal

4.      Orion Switch Back 'On' - Shares of the Manitowoc, WI maker of energy-efficient lighting tumbled to below $1.50 a share in September 2012 from more than $20 following its initial public offering in 2007. Its market capitalization tumbled with it, falling below $50 million from $450 million. New leadership has reignited interest in Orion's stock which bottomed at $1.12 a share in December, hit $4.30 earlier this month. It closed Friday at $3.16. Its $10 million acquisition of Florida-based Harris Manufacturing Inc. and Harris LED in July gives Orion an entry into new markets, including the federal government, retail stores and new construction.  The LED market for commercial buildings is projected to grow to $25 billion in 2021 from $2.7 billion this year. A big shift is forecast in lamps sold for retrofit projects -- the target market for Orion. LEDs this year are expected to account for 5% of all lamps sold to retrofit projects, but that is projected to increase to 40% by 2017. For LED technology, the tipping point in the technology-advancement and cost-cutting curves is likely to occur in the next 12 to 24 months, according Navigant Research. 8/17 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

5.      New DOE SSL Technology Fact Sheet on Lifetime and Reliability - The U.S. DOE has come out with a new SSL Technology Fact Sheet, Lifetime and Reliability, to help users gain a better understanding of typical causes for LED product failures, the difference between lifetime and reliability, and methods for measuring and reporting lifetime and reliability.  LED system performance is more affected by interactions between system components than most conventional lighting systems. The failure of any system component—not just the array of LED packages, but also the electronics, thermal management, optics, wires, connectors, or seals, for example—can lead to product failure. www.ssl.energy.gov/factsheets.html.

6.      Philips Issues Recall of Endura and Ambient LED Bulbs – The recall is due to defects in a lead wire within the bulb's housing, which can potentially pose a shock hazard. The wire, which is ill-fitted, can electrify the entire lamp and shock the customer. No injuries have been reported. The recall affects about 99,000 units of Endura 12-watt and Ambient 12.5-watt LED Dimmable bulbs. 8/16 HCN

7.      Indiana Customers Due $32M from 6 Utilities - Six of the largest electricity and gas providers budgeted $74.4 million for Energizing Indiana, a state-mandated energy-saving initiative the companies fund out of rates paid by customers. But the companies spent only $42.4 million, according to a July 9 regulatory filing, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported. 8/20 AP http://bit.ly/18E0M94

8.      Electrical Industry Apps - The NAED Strategic Technology Task Force has developed a list of industry apps http://www.naed.org/strategictechnology/#tabs-5 produced by both distributor and manufacturer members. If your company has an app that you would like to share, email the app and link to: Bethanysullivan@msn.com

9.      Short-Term Energy Outlook at http://www.eia.gov/  -

	2011	2012	2013 projected	2014 projected
WTI Crude Oila (dollars per barrel)	94.86	94.12	96.96	92.96
Brent Crude Oil (dollars per barrel)	111.26	111.65	105.80	99.75
Gasolineb (dollars per gallon)	3.53	3.63	3.52	3.37
Dieselc (dollars per gallon)	3.84	3.97	3.92	3.76
Heating Oild (dollars per gallon)	3.68	3.76	3.73	3.59
Natural Gasd (dollars per thousand cubic ft)	11.03	10.66	10.79	11.91
Electricityd (cents per kilowatthour)	11.72	11.88	12.11	12.43

10.  Tesla Model S Is Rated the Safest Car of All Time - Tesla's Model S has been rated as the safest car ever. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration scored the car as an unheard of 5 stars in every single category (only 1 percent of cars). In fact, the car scored so high that the final, combined score beats 5 stars. Its final 5.4 rating is the highest ever, making an electric car the safest on the road, including vans and SUVs. The score represents the probability of injury from front, side, rear and rollover accidents. Tesla, the best performing automaker this year, has seen its shares jump to $147, up almost 300 percent so far in 2013. http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/08/21/tesla-model-s-rated-safest-car-all-time

Special Request: Abe’s Garden Lighting Industry Campaign

Christopher Brown, CEO of Wiedenbach-Brown and Scott Muse, President of Hubbell Lighting are asking friends and colleagues in the lighting industry for their help. Both Chris and Scott lost their Mom’s to Alzheimer’s, and they became involved with Abe's Garden, an organization that is establishing an Alzheimer's and Memory Care Center of Excellence in Nashville, TN. Brown and Muse recognized that innovative lighting concepts and products could make an impactful contribution to the lives of Azheimer’s patients. They sponsored research at the RPI Lighting Research Center, led by Dr. Mariana Figueiro, which resulted in a paper of special interest to the Lighting Industry, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (https://www.abesgarden.org/lighting). Abe’s Garden is developing its best practice model for dementia care through a committed collaboration with Vanderbilt Center tor Quality Aging.  Chris writes: “Together we can demonstrate how lighting, and its champions, can improve the lives of individuals impacted by Alzheimer's and related dementias.”  Your contribution is much appreciated and can be made under Lighting Industry Campaign at: https://www.abesgarden.org/donate/make-contribution-abes-garden

News Updates for the Week of August 19

1.     DOE Announces FY 2014 SBIR/STTR Funding Opportunity - The U.S. DOE Office of Science announced a funding opportunity on August 12, 2013, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under this opportunity (DE-FOA-0000969), DOE seeks applicants for funding directed toward FY14 Phase I and Fast-Track (combined Phase I and Phase II) projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at http://science.energy.gov/sbir and include solid-state lighting. Qualified small businesses with strong research capabilities in science or engineering in any of the research areas sought in the announcement are encouraged to apply. The OLED community is encouraged to review topic 13c.

2.     74% Market Penetration Predicted for White-Light LED - A comprehensive U.S. DOE report predicting the market penetration of LED white-light sources from 2010 to 2030 is available free from the National Lighting Bureau (www.nlb.org). Titled Energy Savings Potential of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, the report, released last year but not updated since, predicts that growing reliance on LEDs.  The report predicts that, compared to conventional incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and HID white-light sources, the rate of LED market penetration will increase steadily, rising to 36% of general-illumination lumen-hour sales in 2020, and to 74% percent by 2030. http://www.nlb.org/index.cfm?cdid=10975&pid=10213

3.     Cree Shines Bright in Fourth Quarter - Cree announced revenue of $375.0 million in the fourth quarter, up 22% from revenue of $306.8 million in the same quarter last year. Net income for the fourth quarter was $28.2 million, up 182%. For the full year, Cree's revenue of $1.39 billion marked a 19% increase over the previous year. Net income for the fiscal year was $86.9 million, up 96%.  Cree's product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. 8/15 HCN

4.     Honeywell Exits the LED Business - Honeywell leadership has decided to exit the LED business in North America. The leadership team's decision was required based on significant personnel changes at the Honeywell LED factory in China, lack of engineering capability needed to support and scale the business along with other business factors.  This change will allow focus on the E-Mon core meter business and other Honeywell product lines. See Don Millstein’s announcement letter: http://www.edisonreport.net/files/4813/7659/8879/LED_Update_Annoucement_8_13.pdf

5.     HID Lamp Shipment Indexes Remain Dim - NEMA’s shipment indexes for HID lamps declined on a year-over-year basis for the fourth consecutive quarter in 2013Q1. Shipments of sodium vapor lamps decreased 14.1 percent to an index reading of 71.2 during the quarter. Mercury vapor lamp shipments were down a similar magnitude at 13 percent to 44.2, the third lowest level in the index series. Metal halide lamp shipments fell too, posting an index value of 77.5, a decrease of 9.5 percent.See more at: http://www.lightnowblog.com/#sthash.WYnE5e6m.dpuf

6.     Smart Meters for C&I Markets Will Total $19.1 Billion in Revenue from 2012 to 2020 - According to the recent report, “Smart Meters for Commercial and Industrial Markets,” from Navigant Research, cumulative worldwide revenue from smart meters for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers will total $19.1 billion from 2012 to 2020. It also provides market forecasts through 2020: http://www.navigantresearch.com/research/smart-meters-for-commercial-and-industrial-markets

7.     A New Snapshot Report on Outdoor Area Lighting - Snapshot Reports utilize the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) LED Lighting Facts^®  product database --  which currently has more than 8,900 products registered --  to help industry stakeholders understand the current state and trajectory of the SSL market for a particular application or group of applications. The latest Snapshot Report, released last month, focuses on LED outdoor area lighting, including the LED Lighting Facts categories for outdoor area and roadway, parking garage, and canopy luminaires. www.ssl.energy.gov/ledlightingfacts.html

8.     'Smart Glass' Blocks Heat, Light at Flip of Switch - Researchers say they have created a new kind of "smart glass" -- one that can, at the flip of a switch, block heat and still stay transparent, or grow dark to reduce the sun's glare. This material, described online Wednesday in the journal Nature, could one day help slash energy costs and reduce pollution from buildings like the glass monsters that tower out of urban cityscapes. Such 'tunable' windows could help reduce lighting, heating and air-conditioning costs across cities. 8/15 Los Angeles Times

9.     Lighting Rep Network Debuts New Website to Pair Sales Reps with Quality Manufacturers -Created by Michael Katz and Dan Schmalen, LRN thoroughly evaluates lighting manufacturers to ensure reliability. Through a free subscription, LRN membership provides the network of lighting sales reps the opportunity to take on new manufacturing lines in their respective territories. Product quality, customer service, commission and shipping methodology must meet or exceed the LRN’s standards to be considered credible for representation by Network members. http://lightingrepnetwork.com

 

10.  Catch The Buzz at LCA - The Lighting Controls Association offers a new feature at their website–THE BUZZ. This new section provides a single page from which you can access social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) from Lighting Controls Association members going back to 2010. http://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/social-network-feeds-2013/

11.  The OLEDs Summit - Only at the 15th annual OLEDs World Summit will you see Sony, LG Display, Konica Minolta,UDC, Panasonic, Philips and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and many more of the industry's most influential players in one room together talking about the future of OLEDs - and only OLEDs.  http://www.oledsworldsummit.com/home.aspx