News Updates for the Week of May 13

1.   One World Trade Center Gets Spire, Bringing It to Its Full, Symbolic 1,776-Foot Height - Now that the 408-foot spire is atop One WTC, the building is the tallest in the United States. The 408-foot spire, weighing 758 tons, will serve as a world-class broadcast antenna. An LED-powered light emanating from it will be seen from miles away and a beacon will be at the top to ward off aircraft. It opens for business in 2014. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/1-wtc-spire-bringing-full-height-article-1.1340224

2.    DOE Report Estimates LED Savings in Common Lighting Applications - The U.S. DOE has released a report analyzing markets where LEDs compete with traditional lighting sources (e.g., incandescent and fluorescent). The report, “Adoption of Light-Emitting Diodes in Common Lighting Applications,” provides estimates of current energy savings, plus potential savings if these markets switched to LEDs overnight. Nine markets were analyzed: four indoor lamp applications (A-type, directional, MR-16, and decorative); three indoor luminaire applications (downlight, troffer, and high-bay); and two outdoor luminaire applications (streetlight and parking lot/garage). http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/led-adoption-report_2013.pdf

3.    NEMA Publishes ANSI/ANSLG C78.43 - NEMA, on behalf of the American National Standard Lighting Group (ANSLG), published ANSI/ANSLG C78.43, “American National Standard for Electric Lamps - Single-Ended Metal Halide Lamps.” This standard sets forth the physical and electrical requirements for single-ended metal halide lamps operated on 60 Hz ballasts to ensure interchangeability and safety. The standard also provides the basis for electrical requirements for ballasts and ignitors, as well as the lamp-related requirements for luminaires. Also included are lamps whose arc tubes are made of quartz or ceramic materials. http://www.nema.org/Standards/Pages/American-National-Standard-for-Electric-Lamps-Single-Ended-Metal-Halide-Lamps.aspx

4.      Shaheen-Portman Bill Approved by Senate Energy Committee - The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (S. 761) was appreoved by a bi-partisan voice vote.  The bill now moves to consideration by the full Senate.  The Shaheen-Portman bill will spur the use of energy efficiency technologies in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.   Of course the measure can’t become law unless it is approved by the U.S. House of Representatives along with the Senate. http://www.ase.org/resources/summary-energy-savings-and-industrial-competitiveness-act-shaheen-portman

5.      LED Component News:  http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/5/

• Everlight is specifically targeting standard and omni-directional retrofit lamps and light bars for linear applications with the new 62-217D family of mid-power LEDs.
  
• LG Innotek has been supplying LEDs more into the backlighting market in the past but intends to make a major push into general illumination. In the mid-power area, the company has qualified LEDs to LM-80 across a range of 50 to 280 mA drive currents.
• Philips Lumileds used LFI to makes its first push into COB arrays. The company had focused on smaller point sources that allow for better beam control. But many solid-state lighting (SSL) manufacturers find a single COB LED array much easier to work with, prompting Lumileds' entry. 
• Samsung has realized 129-lm/W efficacy in its COB LED products. 13W, 26W, and 40W LEDs are offered across a range of 2700K to 5000K with a CRI of 80. It also announced a high-efficacy mid-power product that it said at the time was the most efficient on the market at 160 lm/W.

6.      The Top 10 Cities for Green Jobs - Here are the top cities for green jobs right now, according to job aggregator site SimplyHired.com  The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines green jobs as those in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, as well as jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. The number is the open positions that meet this description:  5/07 Forbes

No. 1 San Francisco Bay, CA: 4,758

No. 2 Houston, TX: 3,830

No. 3 New York, NY: 3,221

No. 4 Washington, D.C.: 3,207

No. 5 Los Angeles, CA: 2,179

      No. 6 Chicago, IL: 2,165

      No. 7 Boston, MA: 2,130

      No. 8 Philadelphia, PA: 1,838

      No. 9 Denver, CO: 1,343

      No. 10 Dallas, TX: 1,261

7.      Graybar Named “Greenest of the Green” - tED magazine, the official publication of NAED, is pleased to announce that St. Louis-based Graybar has received the 2013 “Greenest of the Green” award. The award recognizes NAED distributor member companies that have implemented energy-efficiency solutions in their own operations. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10584799.htm

8.      Four SBIR Grants Awarded for SSL Technology - The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology:

• Litecontrol Corporation: A Novel OLED Luminaire System for Specialty Lighting Applications
• Plextronics, Inc.: Low Cost Printed Electrodes for OLED Lighting
• InnoSys, Inc.: Highly Efficient and Smart Power Supplies to Drive Phosphorescent OLED Lighting Panels
• Universal Display Corporation: Novel Energy Saving Phosphorescent OLED Lighting Products

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

9.      How to Select a Lighting System Designer - Most lighting-system consultants have specialties. As such, prospective clients would be well-advised to inquire about a consultants’ pertinent experience. But there’s more to it than that, as is explained in a guidance document, “ How To Select a Lighting-System Designer ,” available for free on the National Lighting Bureau (NLB)'s website. To date, some 300 lighting-system designers have taken advantage of this opportunity and are listed on the site.  http://www.nlb.org/index.cfm?cdid=10499

10.  Special Assessments Allow Businesses to Finance Energy-Saving Upgrades - The project is one of four being funded this year though a special assessment district set up by the city of Ann Arbor, MI that allows businesses to get long-term, lower-cost loans to make energy improvements. including lighting, insulation, heating and cooling systems, reducing water use and adding renewable energy sources, such as solar and geothermal. Kerrytown Market & Shops is replacing lighting fixtures, adding occupancy sensors to storage rooms and offices and installing light switches in areas that didn't have them so lights are not on continuously.  5/06 Detroit Free Press

11.  City Energy Benchmarking Law Provides Real Benefit - Last year, Philadelphia joined a growing number of cities—including New York, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington—that have adopted laws requiring commercial building owners to gather and report data on energy use in their buildings. Though Philadelphia is still developing final regulations for what is known as the Energy Benchmarking Law, the law applies to any building with 50,000 square feet of interior, commercial-use space. Building owners will need to collect data (including from tenants) on electric, oil, natural gas, steam, and water usage, and upload that data into the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager system. 5/09 Philadelphia Business Journal

12.  Detroit Lighting Authority to Get First $600,000 Next Week - The authority will get $600,000 on May 15 and another $600,000 in both June and August. The authority, approved by council in February, is charged with crafting a new plan to better illuminate the city as key to improving public safety. 5/06 Detroit Free Press

13.  31st Annual Energy Management Congress West June 19-20, 2013 Las Vegas Convention Center - Taking place at the magnificent Las Vegas Convention Center, the Energy Management Congress (EMC) West is the largest energy conference and technology expo held in the western U.S. specifically for business, industrial and institutional energy users. It brings together the top experts in all areas of the field to help you set a clear, optimum path to energy efficiency, facility optimization and sustainability, as well as innovation solutions to improve your ROI. http://www.energyevent.com/

News Updates for the Week of January 28

1.      America's Top 5 Energy-Efficient Football Stadiums - With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, it seems like an ideal time to take a look at how the football industry is advancing energy efficiency.
Here are America’s Most Energy-Efficient NFL Stadiums:

1st) MetLife Stadium: New York Giants and New York Jets

2nd) Lincoln Financial Field: Philadelphia Eagles

3rd) CenturyLink Field: Seattle Seahawks

4th)  Soldier Field: Chicago Bears

5th) Georgia Dome: Atlanta Falcons

http://ase.org/efficiencynews/americas-top-5-energy-efficient-football-stadiums

2.      2013 Rebate Programs Have Started - Electric utilities and government organizations across the nation have been busy updating their rebate programs for 2013. A majority have already released their new programs, with others to have them by the end of the month. While every program is different, some of the most common changes we have seen this year are T12 rebate amounts being reduced or removed and more programs adding new incentives for LED lighting solutions.  At this time, incentives for energy efficient commercial lighting cover 71% of the US. http://www.briteswitch.com/newsletter/Jan13-1.html

 

3.      LED Rebates - More Opportunities Than Ever - As LED lighting solutions have continued to penetrate the market, rebate and incentive programs in North America have taken notice and revised their program offerings. Over the past few years, these programs have added new incentives for many types of LED solutions and worked to refine requirements for these products. In fact, according to our North American Rebate and Incentive Database, the number of rebate programs for LEDs has increased by 54% since January 2012. http://www.briteswitch.com/newsletter/Jan13-2.html

4.      New Construction Can Get Rebates Too - Although a lot of people are aware of rebates for installing energy efficient equipment in older facilities, few people realize that rebates and incentives may also be available for new construction projects. Unlike retrofit projects which base rebates on how much energy is saved compared to the old equipment, new construction programs often base the incentives on the savings over a building code, most commonly a version of ASHRAE 90.1. Programs can cover equipment such as HVAC systems, interior lighting, exterior lighting, refrigeration, and water systems. http://www.briteswitch.com/newsletter/Jan13-3.html

      5.  Professor Invents the Best New Lightbulb in 30 Years - So far the main alternatives to the common bulb have been CFLs and LEDs. Soon, a fourth lighting option will be thrown into the mix. It's called the FIPEL, which is short for field-induced polymer electroluminescent technology. The new light source is made of several layers of very thin plastic. Each sheet is about 100,000 times thinner than the width of a human hair. The plastic is inserted between an aluminum electrode and a transparent conducting electrode. When a current is passed through the device, it stimulates the plastic to light up. It works like a microwave oven but instead of giving off heat, it gives off light.  Dr. David Carroll, a professor of physics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina developed the new light source.  
http://www.businessinsider.com/fipel-lighting-technology-david-carroll-wake-forrest-2013-1

6.      2013 Is Full of Opportunities and Risks for LED Lighting - Sales of LED lighting have been growing annually by 17% on average since 2011. In 2013, the global LED lighting market output will likely reach US$15 billion, including replacement and non-replacement light sources.. The market ratio of lighting fixtures and replacement light sources should be 8:2, according to Robert Yeh, chairman of Taiwan-based Everlight Electronics.  According to statistics, the penetration rate of LED lighting in 2013 will reach 25%. "According to the numbers I have," said Yeh, "currently the top 10 LED lighting firms in the world account for 37% of the market and in particular, Philips has a global market share of around 10%, ranking at number one. Japan-based Panasonic has a global market share of around 7.9% while Toshiba has a market share of 5.6%. Osram and Cree have market share of 4.6 and 2.4% respectively. On the other hand, the combined market share of other firms is around 62.7%, meaning the lighting market is very localized with low industry concentration." http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130115PD203.html

7.      DOE Unveils Building America Solutions Center - The Building America Solution Center Website http://basc.pnnl.gov/ offers a range of interactive resources including guides on critical industry topics as well as easily searchable images, CAD files, and case studies to help train and support home builders, remodelers, architects, designers, researchers, and code officials. Users will have access to proven innovations and best practices from Energy Department-approved building science research for hundreds of high-performance home technologies. The BASC allows users easy access to information on integrated energy systems that dramatically reduce annual energy use.

8.      California to Invest $2.5 Billion to Retrofit Energy-Wasting Schools - On November 6, 2012, California voters approved two measures: Proposition 30 http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/30/ increased income taxes on high earners for seven years and raised the sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years; Proposition 39 http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/39/ closed a tax loophole that favored out-of-state corporations, costing the state around $1 billion annually. Prop 39 stipulates that over the next five years half of the recovered revenue be spent on clean energy and energy efficiency projects in public buildings. After five years, all of the revenue flows to the state’s General Fund. Budget analysts expect Prop 39 to make available an estimated $2.5 billion for clean energy and energy efficiency projects. 1/22 Forbes

9.      LVIA Strikes $4.5 Million Energy-Saver Deal - The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority is about to embark on a terminal renovation project that has the perfect price tag: free. Well, sort of. The authority that runs Lehigh Valley International Airport agreed Tuesday to a deal to have Baltimore-based Constellation Energy install $4.5 million in new lighting, climate controls, power generators and other energy-saving devices. In return, Constellation will guarantee the airport enough annual energy savings to pay off the loan needed to fund the work. Nearly $1.2 million will be spent to replace fluorescent lighting with LED lights that are projected to save the airport $93,000 a year. 1/23 The Morning

10.  Lighting Coalition Asks EPA to Lower Energy Star Efficacy Specs for High CRI Lamps - Soraa is spearheading an effort, involving a number of major players in the SSL industry, asking the US EPA to lower the efficacy requirements in the evolving Energy Star Lamps version 1.0 specification--only impacting products with a CRI of 90 or better. The group believes that more users will adopt LED-based retrofit lamps if Energy Star-recognized options are available with a higher CRI, and therefore the net energy savings throughout the potential US customer base will increase even though the lamps in question use marginally more energy. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/16

11.  DOE Finds Up to 76% Energy Savings with Occupancy Sensors - The U.S. DOE has published a GATEWAY demonstration report that summarizes and compares experiences from field installations of occupancy sensor-controlled LED lighting in two parking structures and two parking lots. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/2012_gateway_sensors.pdf

12.  IKEA Announces 'All-LED' Lighting Agenda - The Swedish home furnishings giant announced its’ intent to sell only LED lighting in its stores by 2016. Come February, IKEA stores here and globally will be glowing with a much broader array of LED based fixtures, floor, table and desk lamps and portable illuminators. Soon you’ll start to see more LEDs designed into IKEA furniture, included in the flat packs and ready for assembly. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/gizmo/187891491.html

13. Lime Energy Exceeds Energy Efficiency Program Goal for National Grid - Lime Energy Co. http://www.lime-energy.com announced they have met both their original and revised annual savings goals set by National Grid, for their small business Direct Install Program. Lime Energy is the exclusive provider for the Western New York and Frontier regions of National Grid’s upstate New York State service territory, and delivered $11 million in National Grid incentive monies to customers in 2012. National Grid provides rebates of up to 70 percent of the project cost for small business customers to upgrade to more energy efficient equipment. National Grid also offers interest-free, on-bill financing. https://www.nationalgridus.com/niagaramohawk/business/energyeff/3_small.asp

 

14.  USGBC Releases 2012 List of Top 10 States for LEED – Today 1/23, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its annual list of the top 10 states for new LEED certifications in 2012, highlighting those regions that are transforming buildings and communities across the country. The full ranking, which includes 10 states plus Washington, D.C., can be found here: http://new.usgbc.org/articles/usgbc-releases-2012-list-top-10-states-leed

15.  LEDs Emerge as a Popular ‘Green’ Lighting - The lighting industry has finally come up with an energy-efficient replacement for the standard incandescent bulb that people actually seem to like: the LED bulb.  Among A-type bulbs, LEDs will outsell incandescents in North America in 2014, according to projections by IMS Research. And LEDs will become the most popular A-type technology by 2016, with North American shipments reaching almost 370 million, a more than tenfold increase from the roughly 33 million shipped last year, the firm estimates. 1/21 NY Times

16. DOE White Paper: Keeping Manufacturing in the United States - Over the last eight years, the U.S. DOE has directly worked to accelerate the growth of the emerging solid-state lighting industry, primarily through research, development and demonstration efforts. This support has led to numerous technological and market advancements that have supported the growth of U.S. industry and a distinct international lead in the production of quality products. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/ssl_whitepaper_july2010.pdf 

17.  IMARK to Enter Utility Market - IMARK Utility will focus on REA, co-ops and municipal utilities that buy their electrical supplies through electrical wholesalers. It will not target investor owned utilities (IOUs). The company said it has several members that conduct business in the utility market and also noted a shift in this market segment, which is resulting in a higher volume of electrical supplies being purchased through electrical wholesalers. http://www.imarkgroup.com/

 

18.  Expert Sees $2 Trillion Benefit for Country in Smart Grid - It will take much money and effort to create a nationwide "smart grid"--a modernized electricity grid that is finely monitored and run by state-of-the-art cyber-systems--but the eventual economic benefit to the nation could approach $2 trillion according to George Arnold, national coordinator for smart grid interoperability with the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Techology. 1/16 The Blade

19.  Existing-Home Sales Slip in December - Total existing-home sales declined 1.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million in December from a downwardly revised 4.99 million in November, according to the National Association of Realtors. They are 12.8% above the 4.38 million-unit level in December 2011. The preliminary annual total for existing-home sales in 2012 was 4.65 million, up 9.2% from 4.26 million in 2011. It was the highest volume since 2007 when it reached 5.03. 1/23 HCN

20.  New-Home Sales Slip 7.3% in December - Sales of new single-family homes in December slipped 7.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000, according to data released Friday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. An estimated 367,000 new homes were sold in 2012. This is 19.9% above the 2011 figure of 306,000. 1/25 HCN

21.  What Makes Strategies in Light Different - The world’s largest and longest-running conference and exhibition covering the LEDs and Solid-State Lighting sectors, Strategies in Light’s 14-year tradition of educational excellence provides an platform for information exchange, networking and new business development. Join us as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the invention of LEDs. http://www.strategiesinlight.com/register.html

News Updates for the Week of January 7

1.      The 2013 Next Generation Luminaires™  (NGL) Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Indoor Competition Design Competition - To recognize and promote excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED luminaires for commercial, industrial and institutional applications has officially launched! Written intents to submit are due by January 18, 2013 and must be submitted online. Entries will be judged by application category: http://www.ngldc.org/13/indoor/categories.stm New categories encourage new, innovative ideas for application of white LEDs to solve lighting design problems. For complete competition details, see the NGL 2013 Indoor Entrant Guide: http://www.ngldc.org/pdfs/NGL-13-entrant-guide-indoor.pdf  

2.      The Health Benefits of LED Lighting - Solid-state lighting (SSL) is shaping up to be a remarkably complex technology, combining the sciences of light and color with the potential to provide many features that were previously unattainable in a lighting system. Because LEDs emit light at precise wavelengths—that is, where a specific spectral composition of light is important—they are ripe for medical/health benefit applications. We are just at the threshold of understanding how light levels and colors affect people— he intricacies of the interaction between lighting and our circadian rhythms. When we don’t receive a strong, regular reception of light, our “body clock” malfunctions. If a lighting control system can adjust the spectral content of light as well as the light level throughout the day, imitating the daylong presence of sunlight, it can help our biological clock, or circadian rhythm, stay in sync. http://ecmweb.com/lighting-amp-control/health-benefits-led-lighting 

3.      How Smart LEDs Could Change Your Home  - The smart bulbs connect to a local network, and can communicate with a smartphone, computer or tablet. Owners can then use their phones or computers to control the brightness and, in some cases, color of the light. As an added bonus, users can program the lights to cut down energy costs, for example by turning off the lights at certain times of day. Users who will be away from home could even set the lights to turn on and off to ward off potential burglars.Several companies have all rolled out or plan to ship a connected LED bulb, including established players like Philips and Insteon, the early-stage and venture-funded Greenwave Reality, and crowdfunded projects LIFX and iLumi. 1/01 Live Science

4.      Atlanta Energy-Efficient Building Challenge Spreads Fast - Atlanta's Better Buildings Challenge was launched about a year ago. Since then, the voluntary program has grown to include about 70 buildings with 48 million square feet of space aiming to be more energy-efficient. The goal of the project is to reduce energy and water consumption by 20 percent by 2020. The effort focuses on a 400-block area in downtown Atlanta and extends far beyond office towers to include government buildings, hospitals and education centers. The city is clearing the way for financing options, too. Atlanta's economic development arm voted in April to allow building owners to tap up to $8 million in public dollars. And the agency's board in October signed off on a plan to create a separate pool of at least $200 million in private funds. 12/28 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

5.      Ohio Energy Efficiency Project to Be Finished by Spring - The Ohio Schools Facilities Commission approved the $1.9-million project under House Bill 264 guidelines, which permit school districts to make energy efficiency improvements that may be paid for with energy savings in 15 years or less. 1/02 ThisWeek Community News

6.      University of Tennessee Installs Bright Idea to Boost Energy-Efficiency - Contractors are currently working to install new energy-efficient lighting systems in four large buildings on campus. Federal grants are helping fund the $2.3 million project to replace the old lights in the communications building, student services, the Bailey education building, and HPER. UT said the combination of more efficient fixtures and energy-saving sensors should cut the campus utility bill by about $700,000 a year. http://www.wbir.com/news/article/248055/2/UT-installs-bright-idea-to-boost-energy-efficiency 

7.      Energy Visions in Kentucky - The idea is that Kentucky could widely initiate and adopt best practices in energy efficiency and production, as it has done successfully with school buildings across the state. They recently brought the attention of Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance to the state.  Kentucky has invested in high-performance schools, now numbering 120 across the state. SEEA can promote Kentucky throughout the region as a model for the development of energy-efficient schools. http://bizlex.com/2013/01/energy-visions-in-kentucky/ 

8.      Future Lighting and LG Innotek Sign Distribution Deal - Future Lighting Solutions (FLS) and LG Innotek have signed a worldwide distribution agreement through which FLS will sell LG Innotek’s entire portfolio of LED lighting products, ranging from LED packages to integrated solutions. FLS recently restructured its distribution agreement with Philips Lumileds, allowing FLS to distribute products from other LED manufacturers. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/4

9.      Top-Visited Websites - Facebook was the top-visited website for the third consecutive year, accounting for 79.1 billion total US visits in 2012. Google.com ranked second, with 78.5 billion visits, followed by YouTube (25.9 billion), Yahoo Mail (22.2 billion) and Yahoo (20.8 billion). The combination of Google properties accounted for 109.3 billion total US visits, while Facebook properties accounted for 79.1 billion and Yahoo properties accounted for 76.5 billion.  The top 10 websites accounted for 276.3 billion total US visits overall, or 32% of all US Internet visits in 2012, up slightly from 2011 levels. http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/9777/2012-top-search-terms-by-category-top-websites?adref=nlt010313 

10.  The Wind Industry Gets to Draw Another Breath - Wind not only got an extension of its tax credit in the federal budget compromise, but the rules were also restructured: while the extension runs for only one year, the nature of the deadline has changed. Projects do not need to be finished and feeding electricity to the grid by next New Year’s Eve; construction only needs to be started.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/ 

11.  DOE and EPA Release Annual Fuel Economy Guide with 2013 Models - The U.S. EPA and the DOE are releasing the 2013 Fuel Economy Guide, giving consumers clear and easy-to-read information to help them choose the most fuel efficient and low greenhouse gas emitting vehicles that meet their needs. The 2013 models include efficient and low-emission vehicles in a variety of classes and sizes, but notable this year is the growing availability of hybrids and the increasing number of electric vehicles. A complete version of the guide and details on the fuel economy labels: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/