News Updates for the Week of January 20

1.      Revised Effective Date for the 2013 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards - The California Energy Commission revised the effective date for the 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 1, Chapter 10 and Part 6, and affected provisions in Part 11 [Cal. Green Building Standards Code]) from Jan. 1, 2014 to July 1, 2014. The public domain software for the 2013 Standards does not yet provide the full feature set needed for building and alteration projects seeking building permits in early 2014. Further, time is needed for the building industry and local building departments to learn and adapt to the new tools. http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2013standards/2013_standards_revised_effective_date.html

 

2.      OLED vs LED Lighting 2013-2023 Report - OLED and LED lighting are both solid-state technologies and offer overlapping value propositions per market segment. They will therefore compete directly in many instances. LED lighting has come a long way and offers a better performance than OLEDs, and that at a lower cost. OLED lighting will therefore only gain market success if it clearly defines its unique selling points and carves out initial market niches. This report is divided into two parts: (a) technology and (b) market assessment. The value proposition of OLEDs for all market segments is critically analysed. http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1680434

3.      Two SBIR Grants Awarded for SSL Technology - The U.S. DOE Office of Science has awarded two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology:

• MicroContinuum, Inc.: R2R Production of Low-Cost Integrated OLED Substrate with Improved Transparent Conductor & Enhanced Light Outcoupling
• Pixelligent Technologies LLC: Advanced Light Extraction Material for OLED Lighting

To learn more about these awards, visit the DOE SSL website.

To learn more about this program, visit http://science.energy.gov/sbir/

      4.      Van Meter Helps St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Convert Parking Garage for Better Light, Lower Cost - During the three-month retrofit project, approximately 500 lights and pole lamps in and around two parking garages were replaced with new LED technology, with Kenall TekDek 50-watt fixtures on the ramps, on the west entry and in the hospital's new ambulance garage, and Hubbell-Spaulding Cimarron LED fixtures on the pole lights. The result was that the garage space was noticeably brightened and even the ceiling areas are now visible, and energy costs were cut significantly. http://ewweb.com/

5.      NEMA Congratulates Winning Team in Public-Private Consortium Seeking to Strengthen U.S. Manufacturing - Known as the Next Generation Power Electronics Institute, it will provide the innovation infrastructure needed to support new product and process technologies, education, and training to become a global center of excellence for the development of wide bandgap semiconductor devices and industry-relevant processes. Supported by the DOE, the institute’s headquarters will be located on North Carolina State University’s Centennial campus. The North Carolina headquartered consortium of 18 companies and 6 universities include the following NEMA members: ABB, Cree, Delta Products, Toshiba International and Vacon. www.nema.org 

6.      LEDucation Expo Officially Sells Out Exhibit Space for 6^th Consecutive Year - The Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY) and the LEDucation organizers have both the exposition and educational sessions for LEDucation 8 will be held at the Sheraton NY Times Square Hotel located just five blocks from Times Square at 811 7th Avenue at West 52nd Street, New York, NY in the heart of Midtown. The educational sessions and expo will be held in the Empire and Metropolitan Ballrooms located on the second floor of the hotel. It is expected to draw more than 4,000+ lighting and design professionals during its new 2-day format on March 18 & 19th, 2014. Online Registration will open in late January at www.leducation.org

      7.      2014 Audi Sport Quattro Laserlight Concept - Audi demonstrated the future of lighting technology at CES by combining matrix LED and laser light technologies. Two low-profile trapezoidal elements are visible within the headlights–the outer one generates the low beam light using matrix LEDs and an aperture mask, while the inner element produces laser light for high-beam functionality. This new lighting tech has twice the range and three times the brightness of Audi’s previous LEDs. Audi claims it can illuminate the road for 500 meters (1,640 ft). http://www.boldride.com/ride/2014/audi-sport-quattro-laserlight-concept#gallery/5

8.      Jason Brown Bringing Youth, Charisma to US Olympic Men's Figure Skating Team - Jason Brown loves to perform, and it shows.  Maybe the name sounds familiar to you in the lighting business.  Well, he’s the son of Steve Brown, CEO of A.L.P. Lighting and grandson of the founder, the legendary Bill Brown. Talent and hard work is the secret to the Brown success. In the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last weekend at TD Garden in Boston, Jason Brown surprised everyone by scoring 182.61 points to win the free skate and 270.08 points overall to take home the silver medal. Just 19 years old, he has long, brown hair that gets pulled back into a ponytail when he skates, and he seems to bubble over with excitement as he speaks, a hallmark of youthful enthusiasm. All the best in Sochi, Jason.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1922258-jason-brown-bringing-youth-charisma-to-us-olympic-mens-figure-skating-team Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzpyI5oavEo&feature=youtu.be