News Updates for the Week of July 23

1.      Study: Energy-Saving Light Bulbs Can Cause Skin Cancer - Energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs popular among environmentalists are harmful to skin, researchers at a New York university have found.  Phosphor coatings on the bulbs wear off, the study from Stony Brook University on Long Island reported in the study published by in the journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology.  The scientists, led by Miriam Rafailovich, collected CFL bulbs from across Long Island to measure the amount of UV the bulbs gave off. They were alarmed thow many of the bulbs' phosphor coatings were lacking, causing them to leak significant levels of UVC and UVA.  Read more on Newsmax.com: Study: Energy-Saving Light Bulbs Can Cause Skin Cancer 

2.    ETS Focuses on Lighting Tax Incentives - Engineered Tax Services (ETS) www.engineeredtaxservices.com recently posted several lighting-focused articles on the 179D tax incentive program set to expire at the end of 2013.  179D was enacted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to stimulate investment in energy-saving technologies, though it remains widely unknown in the lighting industry. Non-public commercial buildings (both new and renovated) can claim up to $60,000 for every 100,000 square feet of building space where qualified efficient lighting is installed.  Surprisingly, building owners and designers and engineers are all eligible to take advantage of this incentive, which can improve the ROI of a prospective project. And if the incentive was missed during the design phase, past projects completed after January 1, 2006 remain qualified. http://lighting.com/ets-lighting-tax-incentives/

3.      New Light Bulb Rules Go into Effect July 14 - New U.S. Department of Energy regulations outlaw the manufacture of traditional T12 tubes, the most common fluorescent bulbs in the country.  T12 tubes are 4 feet long and 11/2 inches in diameter. According to a Department of Energy report, American homes in 2010 used more than 330 million old-fashioned fluorescent bulbs. An additional 410 million were lighting offices and shops. 7/14 The Kansas City Star

4.      DOE Releases CALiPER Application Summary Report 16 - The U.S. Department of Energy has completed Series 16 of testing through the DOE Solid-State Lighting CALiPER program. A summary of the results is now available for download on the DOE SSL website at www.ssl.energy.gov/reports.html.  Report 16 analyzes the performance of a group of 13 LED products labeled as BR30 or R30 lamps. Results show substantial improvement versus earlier CALiPER testing of similar products, and that many of the LED lamps could be effective replacements for conventional directional lamps in the right application. The report also indicates the need for a broader range of LED lamps within product families in terms of lumen output and distribution type, and questions the adequacy of existing reflector lamp categories for LED products.

5.      Energy Savings Draw Consumers to Energy-Efficient Lighting Systems - As lighting accounts for more than 20 percent of primary energy use in commercial buildings in the United States, there is an urgent need to upgrade existing lighting systems.  New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Analysis of the North American Lighting Equipment Market finds that the market earned revenues of $17.3 billion in 2011 and estimates this to reach $20.8 billion in 2016.  7/19 PRNewswire http://www.buildingtechnologies.frost.com

6.      Fluorescent Lamp Shipments Dim During First Quarter - NEMA’s shipment indexes for linear fluorescent T5, T8, and T12 lamps decreased during the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year. T5 lamps showed the largest decrease, declining 7.9%, while T8s and T12s declined by 5.5% and 5.0%, respectively. Despite posting year-over-year declines, shipments of T5 and T12 lamps grew by 6.8% and 4.9%, respectively, on a quarterly basis. Shipments of T8 lamps decreased 4.9% over the previous quarter. http://www.nema.org

7.      HID Lamp Shipment Indexes Show Growth for First Quarter - NEMA’s shipment indexes for high intensity discharge (HID) lamps returned to positive growth territory during the first quarter of 2012, with each lamp type showing year-over-year gains following negative growth to close out the final quarter of 2011. Sodium vapor lamps increased 2.9 percent, while shipments of mercury vapor and metal halide HID lamps increased 5.0 and 0.1 percent, respectively. http://www.nema.org

8.      DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium - DOE created the Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium in 2010 to leverage the efforts of the many cities that are investigating LED street lighting products, often as a result of block grants and energy mandates--and increasingly with an eye toward creative financing arrangements. The Consortium provides a convenient way for cities to navigate multiple sources of information in just one stop, and offers such tools as the Model Specification for LED Roadway Luminaires and the Retrofit Financial Analysis Tool. To date, more than 350 municipalities, utilities, and government agencies have signed on as primary Consortium members, and momentum continues to build. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/consortium.html

9.      New York City Goes Green with Retrofit Lighting to Maximize Energy Savings - Commercial buildings in New York City including hotels, university housing, multifamily housing, medical and outpatient facilities, and commercial offices now have an opportunity to cut their energy costs and consumption. Building and property managers, building owners, facility engineers and directors, electricians and contractors can take part in a free webinar to learn more about new retrofitting technology and rebate programs on July 30, 2012.  TerraLUX Inc., an industry leader that designs, patents and manufactures LED-based lighting solutions for portable and general illumination applications, will be leading the webinar with retrofitting experts from UL, Con Edison/Lockheed Martin, and Smart Energy US.  Scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. EDT on July 30th, 2012 at:  http://www.terraluxillumination.com/2012/maximize-energy-savings-in-lighting-retrofit/

      10.  What’s New in HID Lamps and Ballasts by Craig Dilouie -Similar trends as fluorescent are driving innovation in high-intensity lighting, which is dominated by HID lighting. Within this segment, there has been a major technology shift from mercury vapor to metal halide over the past 10 years, and the market is trending in favor of white light. Innovation has focused on energy efficiency, longer life and controllability among higher-wattage lamps, and miniaturization and improved color performance among lower-wattage lamps that compete with halogen. Installed base of high-intensity discharge lamps in the United States, 2001 versus 2010. The HID lighting market has seen a significant technology shift in the past decade or so from mercury vapor to metal halide as a more-efficient, higher-performing white light source. Low-pressure sodium has also declined in popularity. Images based on Department of Energy data.  http://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/whats-new-in-hid-lighting/

 

11.  Drive to Standardize Outdoor & Street Lighting Controls - Several outdoor and street lighting industry players have allied to form a new global consortium with the aim of creating a globally accepted standard for a management software interface for outdoor lighting networks. Named TALQ www.TALQ-consortium.org the founders/participants are Harvard Engineering, Kingsun, Philips, Schréder, Streetlight.Vision and Thorn/Zumtobel. http://lighting.com/standardize-outdoor-controls/
 

12.  Lutron to Retrofit Empire State Building’s Lighting - Lutron Electronics, Coopersburg, Pa., will provide lighting controls for a major renovation of pre-built tenant spaces in the Empire State Building. The lighting controls are expected to provide total lighting energy savings of up to 65% and a reduced installed payback period of 2.75 years. The Empire State Building is undergoing a building-wide retrofit to improve energy efficiency and financial performance as part of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Building Retrofit program. The project is designed to reduce the building’s energy use by 38% and energy bills by $4.4 million a year. http://www.lutron.com

13.  The Market for Wireless Power Systems Will Triple over the Next 8 Years, Surpassing $15 Billion by 2020 - Originating with simple inductive charging mechanisms that require a direct point of contact between charger (transmitter) and device (receiver), wireless power systems are evolving toward devices that connect to the wider power delivery infrastructure. As the technology matures and the industry consolidates, wireless power is beginning to see greater acceptance across a range of applications, and will become an increasingly common form of charging in the coming years. According to a new report from Pike Research, the market for wireless power systems–encompassing mobile devices, consumer electronics, industrial applications, infrastructure devices, and electric vehicles–will triple over the next 8 years, growing from $4.9 billion in revenue in 2012 to $15.1 billion in 2020.  http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/wireless-power

14.  Register for the AdVenture Marketing Conference - August 20-22, 2012 | Chicago, IL | Renaissance Blackstone. This conference is your chance to catch up on the latest marketing techniques while mingling with fellow marketers from the channel. Warren Janes, Maurice Electrical Supply Co., recently described one of the best reason to attend: "The beauty of AdVenture is that it is an audience of both Distributor and Manufacturers discovering how to market together." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eawBXUmnSkk

15. Housing Starts Show Yearly Gains in June - Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 760,000 in June, up 6.9% from the revised May estimate of 711,000 and 23.6% above the June 2011 figure. Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 539,000, a 4.7% increase from the revised May figure of 515,000. The yearly comparisons showed gains across the country, with the West coming out on top with a 38.3% spike compared with June 2011. In the Midwest, single-family starts rose 15.7% and in the South, 14.2%. The Northeast showed a 19.4% increase. 7/19 HCN 

News Updates for the Week of July 16

1.      Efficiency Sales Professional (ESP)™ Certification – Offered by the Efficiency Sales Professional Institute in San Francisco www.eefg.com The 36-hour curriculum represents more than 20 years of experience selling efficiency to owners and managers who collectively represent nearly 3 billion square feet of North American real estate. The ESP Certification is designed to create “sales ninjas” who know how to identify energy-efficiency opportunities, how to capture the attention of decision-makers, and how to actually get projects approved. The curriculum teaches:

• How to escape the clutches of simple payback period; 
• How to write pithy and concise one-page proposals that are accessible and compelling;          
• How to calculate and convey the right financial metrics when seeking capital budgeting approval;
• How to move beyond utility-cost savings into non-utility-cost financial benefits; 
• How to recognize and overcome myths and objections that can stymie worthwhile projects.

Register at: www.EfficiencySalesProfessional.com 

2.      DOE Releases GATEWAY Report on LED Roadway Lighting - The U.S. DOE has published the first evaluation report from a GATEWAY demonstration on NE Cully Boulevard, a residential collector road in Portland, OR. Six different types of roadway luminaires were installed in side-by-side groupings and evaluated for initial performance: three LED, one induction, one ceramic metal halide, and one baseline HPS. In addition to performance data, the report also includes an evaluation of the economic feasibility of each of the alternative luminaires and documents feedback collected from local IES members who toured the site. Although not all of the installed products performed equally, the alternative luminaires generally offered higher efficacy, more appropriate luminous intensity distributions, and more favorable color quality when compared to the baseline HPS luminaire. The report is available for download at www.ssl.energy.gov/gatewaydemos_results.html

3.      Smithsonian Recovers LED Costs in 16 Months - The US DOE’s Gateway Solid-State Lighting Technology Demonstration Program replaced halogen and incandescent lighting at several galleries within the museum with LED PAR 30, PAR 38 and MR16 lamps. The Smithsonian American Art Museum recovered the higher initial cost of its LED retrofit project in 16 months of operation through energy savings. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/07/10/smithsonian-recovers-led-costs-in-16-months/

4.      Incenergy Accepted into Con Edison's Energy Efficiency Program - Incenergy announced their participation in the Con Edison Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Energy Efficiency Program, which offers cash incentives for installing energy efficient equipment and technologies in facilities. Incenergy's Building Portfolio Energy Management System (EMS), with HVAC thermostat and lighting controls plus humidity and thermistor monitoring, qualifies for the energy efficiency program's rebates. View Incenergy's latest EMS features at http://www.incenergy.com/features

For more information on the C&I Program and all the Con Edison Green Team programs, visit http://www.conEd.com/greenteam

5.      Las Vegas Begins Work to Replace 50,000 Streetlights - City crews began work this week to replace 6,600 streetlights with new energy-efficient LED fixtures. Eventually, all of Las Vegas’ 50,000 streetlights will be changed. City officials expect the new lights will reduce electricity usage by 8 million kilowatt hours and save about $400,000 in energy costs. The city is using $2.9 million in federal energy conservation bonds and $400,000 from a stimulus grant to pay for the new lights, which are being installed by Crescent Electric Supply Company and Transcore.  The work will be done across the city over the next four months. July 2012 TED

6.      GE's Colorado Solar Plant Delayed 18 Months - GE Energy is putting a solar manufacturing plant in Colorado on hold for at least 18 months and instead concentrating on research and development. It has also confirmed layoffs at an existing solar subsidiary due to a collapse in global solar module prices and oversupply. GE also said it was downsizing its solar employment numbers to keep costs down and remain competitive. It would not disclose the number of layoffs. http://www.renewablesbiz.com

7.      Focus on Energy Launches New Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programs for Wisconsin Residents and Businesses - Focus on Energy, Wisconsin utilities' statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, announced new programs for residents and businesses, adding to its variety of established program offerings for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Business customers and trade allies interested in participating in available programs should visit www.focusonenergy.com for program information, terms and conditions, and the new application forms. 7/6 PRNewswire

8.      Ameren Efficiency Plan Could Be a First for Missouri - The three-year, $145 million energy efficiency plan being proposed by Ameren and consumer and environmental advocates contains seven different programs for the utility's residential customers and four for business customers. Offers for residential customers include discounts and incentives for: 7/11 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

9.      Chicago White Sox Ballpark Swaps T12s for LED Panel Fixtures - US Cellular Field, owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and home of the Chicago White Sox, has replaced outdated T12 U-Bend fluorescent lighting fixtures with PolyBrite Borealis 2x2-ft LED Panel Lights in concession stands and workstations throughout the ballpark. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/7/6

10.  Fromm Electric Supply Takes 'Go Green' Message to the Ballpark - Fromm, along with Hubbell Lighting, Lutron, Philips-Advance and Sylvania, used "Go Green" night as an opportunity to promote energy efficiency. For their game against the Binghamton Mets, the Phillies (an AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies) wore MLB approved green jerseys, which Fromm supplied. The company was able to present its message to a crowd of more than 8,500 people through on-field promotions, commercials on the scoreboard, public address announcements and a radio interview during the play-by-play. http://www.tedmag.com

11.  2012 Next Generation Luminaires Solid-State Lighting OUTDOOR Design Competition Launches - The Next Generation Luminaires Design Competition recognizes the highest-quality LED luminaires for commercial building applications. This year, the competition is broken into indoor and outdoor competitions. The indoor competition winners were announced earlier this year. Now the outdoor competition is formally launching. Written Intents to Submit are due by August 3, 2012, and must be submitted online at www.ngldc.org  Final submission forms are due by August 31, 2012, and physical product samples are due by September 7. Judging takes place in September, and results will be announced in February 2013.

12.  Philips Appoints Bruno Biasiotta As Ceo And President Of Philips Lighting North America -Philips has appointed Bruno Biasiotta to head the company’s North American lighting operations. In his new role, Biasiotta will be responsible for driving market share for Philips’ lighting businesses in North America, including Lamps, Consumer Luminaires and Professional Luminaires. He is taking over the role from Zia Eftekhar, who announced his retirement last month, and who will continue with the company as Chairman until the end of the year.  Biasiotta joins Philips from Johnson Controls where he held several leadership positions, most recently as vice president and general manager of building efficiency. http://www.lightnowblog.com

News Updates for the Week of July 9

1.      U.S. Economy Added 80,000 Jobs in June, Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 8.2 Percent - U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is struggling three years after the recession ended. The economy has added just 75,000 jobs a month in the April-June quarter. That’s one-third of 226,000 a month created in the first quarter. Job creation is also trailing last year’s pace through the first six months of 2012. 7/6 Washington Post

2.      DOE Report Compares the Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts of an LED Lamp with Incumbent Technologies - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a report that looks at the direct and indirect material and process inputs to fabricate, ship, operate, and dispose of LED lamps, compared with incandescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Entitled LED Manufacturing and Performance, it is the second part of a larger DOE project to assess the life-cycle environmental impacts and resource costs of LED lighting products in relation to comparable traditional lighting technologies. The report uses the conclusions of Part 1, Review of the Life-Cycle Energy Consumption of Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent, and LED Lamps, as a point of departure to produce a more detailed and conservative assessment of the manufacturing process and use it to compare the three lighting technologies, taking into consideration a wider range of environmental impacts. This report is the most comprehensive study of its kind for LED products, addressing both energy and environmental impacts, and is the first public report to consider the LED manufacturing process in depth. To download the PDF report www.ssl.energy.gov/tech_reports.html

3.      The U.S. Department of Energy Grants Ushio America Exemption for 700 Series T8 Lamps - The Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy has granted USHIO AMERICA, INC. a 2-year exemption relief from the new efficiency regulations that go into effect on July 14, 2012 for certain T8 fluorescent lamps. As a result of this decision, USHIO along with GE Lighting (GE), Osram Sylvania, Inc. (OSI), and Philips Lighting Co may continue to manufacture its T8 700 Series general service fluorescent lamps (GSFLs) until July 14, 2014. www.ushio.com/support/LampRegulations.htm

4.      PG&E Seeks to Enhance Industry-Leading Energy Efficiency Programs in Proposed Application for 2013-2014 - Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today will file with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) a proposed two-year energy efficiency portfolio that, if approved, would enhance the company's industry-leading programs. The proposal would allow PG&E to invest $433 million per year-about the same as current levels-for two years to continue energy efficiency programs. PG&E proposes to continue its work with component manufacturers and retailers to develop, build and make available new, energy-efficient products for customers.  www.pgecurrents.com 7/2 PRNewswire

5.      Potential from Extending & Expanding Energy Efficiency Programs - Analysis included in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2012 shows that extending and expanding certain energy-related policies beyond the current sunset dates and current implementing regulations incorporated in the AEO2012 Reference case could reduce projected national energy consumption in 2035 by nearly 6%. http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/

6.      Release of ENERGY STAR Lamps V1.0 Specification Draft 2 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of the Draft 2 Version 1.0 ENERGY STAR Product Specification for Lamps (Light Bulbs). Once finalized, this specification will replace the existing Compact Fluorescent Lamps (V4.3) and Integral LED Lamps (V1.4) specifications. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments on this draft proposal to www.lamps@energystar.gov no later than August 24, 2012. When submitting comments, include “ENERGY STAR Lamps Second Draft Comments” in the subject line. In addition, EPA will host a webinar on August 8, 2012 to discuss the proposed Lamps Draft 2 specification.

7.      DOE Publishes a New Report That Breaks New Ground in Our Understanding of How Lighting Affects The Environment - Entitled Life-Cycle Assessment of Energy and Environmental Impacts of LED Lighting Products: LED Manufacturing and Performance. It compares the environmental impact of an LED lamp, an incandescent bulb, and a CFL from the beginning to the end of their life cycle–including manufacturing, operation, and disposal. This is the most comprehensive study of its kind for SSL products, addressing both energy and environmental impacts, and it's the first public report to consider the LED manufacturing process in depth. Copies are available at: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/2012_led_lca-pt2.pdf

8.      Acuity's Cheryl English Elected to IES Board of Directors - Cheryl English, Vice President of Government and Industry Relations at Acuity Brands Lighting, has been elected to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Board of Directors for a two-year term beginning July 1, 2012. In her role, English will provide strategic council to the Society’s long-term planning, operations, education and research priorities.

9.      Acuity Launches Web-based Design Tool That Calculates the Total Life Cycle Costs of Lighting Systems - Acuity Brands, Inc. has developed a leap-forward financial tool that allows users to determine the true economic value of a lighting system, greatly exceeding the simple data output found on many industry "payback" calculators. The Visual Economic Tool™ is a free, web-based, user-friendly design tool that uses recommended  industry practices to simultaneously estimate and compare the life-cycle costs of up to three lighting systems. http://www.visual-3d.com/software/economictool.aspx

 

      10.  Harnessing Potential: Renewable Growth - Here we examine the past, present and future of four major clean technologies—solar, wind, hydro and fuel cells—and the opportunities they present to electrical contractors (ECs). June 2012 Electrical Contractor

Something to Think About

Eight (8) Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses by Geoffrey James, http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-core-beliefs-of-extraordinary-bosses.html

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. The "best of the best" tend to share the following eight core beliefs:

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield. Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered. Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine. Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship." Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control. Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality. Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams to form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children. Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds. Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.


5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear. Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions. Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain. Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late. Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation. Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees. Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil. Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly. Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.