News Updates for the Week of February 24, 2014

1.      Philips' Intelligent Supermarket Lighting Can Help You Find Your Groceries - Philips is piloting an intelligent supermarket lighting system that can help shoppers find their groceries based on their location in the store. The LED lighting system can be used by retailers to send location-based data to customers via an app. Besides helping users to locate groceries like avocados, coffee and eggs, the system can also be used to send promotional offers to shoppers, which are relevant to their location in the store. Targeted information and discount coupons can be displayed on phones at a precise position in the store. The system uses lighting fixtures that form a dense network that acts as a positioning grid that each fixture is identifiable and able to communicate its position to an app on a shopper’s smart device. http://www.techhive.com/article/2098560/philips-intelligent-supermarket-lighting-can-help-you-find-your-groceries.html

 

2.      Newark Airport Terminal Lights Tied to Security System - There are new LED lights greeting passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal B but they do more than illuminate; they also are part of a security system that is watching you before you even get to the security checkpoint. The lights are fitted with computer chips, cameras, sensors and wi-fi antennas. They collect data that can help detect suspicious activity or aid in police investigations. Installed by FSG, Perth Amboy, NJ, the sensors in the lights were designed by Sensity Systems.  Currently, the lights are only near the ticketing counters of the one terminal but the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, is considering expanding the pilot program to other terminals. http://www.myfoxny.com/story/24757880/newark-airport-terminal-lights-tied-to-security-system

3.      LEDs Lighting Can Triple the Efficiency of Greenhouse - LED greenhouse lighting is poised on the hockey stick of the adoption curve, saving electricity while potentially improving the world food supply. The past year has seen production-scale deployment emerge out of years of trial grower installations. LEDs have a unique efficacy advantage in horticulture. Plants appear green because they absorb red and blue, the bandgap energy of the two primary photosynthetic reactions. With LED lighting, the color of the light can be tuned to “horticultural red” (660 nanometers) -- deeper than the standard traffic light or brake light. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/leds-can-triple-the-efficiency-of-greenhouse-lighting

4.      Elk Grove, CA Explores LED Future for Street Lamps - Elk Grove neighborhoods could soon glow under LED light if leaders move ahead with a plan to replace traditional street lamps with the energy-saving technology, joining other cities that are switching to save money and electricity. It could go out to bid by early summer.  Work would start around August and could be completed by year's end.  The city would work with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to retrofit 11,000 lights throughout the region's second-largest city this fall. Sacramento is working with Siemens on plans to retrofit the city's 35,000 street lights over the next five years, spending between $9 million and $10 million on the installations.  2/17 The Sacramento Bee

5.      When (and Where) Solar LED Lighting Makes Sense - Right now, very few businesses or real estate development companies would think first about using solar panels to run their outdoor lights, but in places where’s no established cabling, solar lights really can make sense from an economic and efficiency standpoint. The size of the overall commercial outdoor lighting market is estimated at $11 billion. Within that, there’s a pronounced shift to LED technologies. In 2012, for example, 54 percent of the 2 million luminaires installed along roadways and tunnels around the world were LED format, reports Strategies Unlimited in its January 2014 report on outdoor area and street lighting. Another forecast from Navigant Research predicts shipments of smart, LED-based street lights will top 17 million by 2020. This technology will find traction in locations where safety and grid infrastructure are of equal concern.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherclancy/2014/02/11/when-and-where-solar-led-lighting-makes-sense/

6.      Applying 2013 Energy Codes by Dennis Hidalgo - Building energy codes mandate design and construction practices, materials, equipment, and systems that are intended to achieve minimum efficiency targets when buildings are initially constructed as well as when renovated. However, the process by which these codes are implemented and enforced makes it difficult to ensure that the efficiency targets are actually met. From the number of stakeholders involved in each building project to the fragmented nature of local enforcement, there are many potential gaps in the code implementation and enforcement process. After significant gains in energy code adoption, national focus has now shifted to meeting the 90 percent compliance goal set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). http://energycodesocean.org/news/2014/february/18/applying-2013-energy-codes

7.      New ENERGY STAR SSL Requirements Ensure LED Bulbs Delight the Customer - On September 30th 2014, “ENERGY STAR Program Requirements Product Specification for Lamps (Light Bulbs)” will replace the “Integral LED Lamps Version 1.4”. We should look at dimming requirements in the new document, described in section 12, pages 19 and 20. Anyone familiar with designing dimmable LED bulbs and drivers is aware of the challenges that result from the availability of huge volumes of dimmers with very different performance in the market, and the significant trade-offs necessary to ensure the most widespread compatibility. However, ENERGY STAR has limited the compatibility requirements to only five different dimmers from at least two manufacturers. http://www.ledjournal.com/main/blogs/new-energy-star-ssl-requirements-ensure-leds-bulbs-delight-the-customer/#more-9511