News Updates for the Week of November 28

 

1.     Switching to Efficient Lighting - Shopping for energy-efficient lighting can now be as quick as screwing in a light bulb. These apps not only help you find a light bulb that fits your lighting needs, but also calculate savings from replacing your current bulb and estimate the payback period:  CFL Light Bulb Savings Calculator for CFL options, EnerSave for LED options, Light Bulb Finder is an award winning app that places an order for your light bulbs. http://ase.org/topics/lighting

2.      Energy Efficient Lighting for Commercial Markets - For more than 130 years, the world has relied on variations of incandescent and gas-discharge lamps to illuminate commercial buildings. With the rise of the general-illumination white LED lighting only a few years ago, the lighting industry is experiencing its first revolutionary change since the commercialization of the fluorescent lamp in the 1930s. As the semiconductor and software industries converge on the traditional lighting world, Pike Research expects that the lighting industry will see more change in the next five years than in the previous 50. By the end of our 10-year outlook, LED solid state lighting will not only capture over 50% of the global market, but the extraordinary lifetimes of these lamps will drive a steady decline in the commercial lamp market despite a steadily growing base of new buildings and access to electricity in emerging countries. This Pike Research report describes the key factors that are influencing the market for energy efficient lighting around the world. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/energy-efficient-lighting-for-commercial-markets

3.      DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium - The DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium shares technical information and experiences related to LED street and area lighting demonstrations. The Consortium also serves as an objective resource for evaluating new products on the market intended for street and area lighting applications. Cities, power providers, and others who invest in street and area lighting are invited to join the Consortium and share their experiences. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/consortium.html

4.      Ceres, California, to Use CEC Loan to Purchase 2,200 Betaled Streetlights - The city council of Ceres, California, approved the use of a low interest loan from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for the purchase of LED streetlight fixtures earlier this week. The loan will allow the city of Ceres to convert all city-owned streetlights to LED streetlight fixtures, starting in January 2012.   Funds totaling $1.193 million will be used to purchase and install over two thousand LED streetlight fixtures manufactured by BetaLED, a division of Ruud Lighting/Cree of Sturtevant, Wisconsin. http://www.newstreetlights.com/index.htm

5.      Sacramento Parking Garage LED Installation - In the area of outdoor SSL deployments, the city of Sacramento, California has completed the installation of LED lighting in five of eight city-owned parking garages according to the Sacramento Press. The remaining three garages will be retrofitted by February. The total cost of the project is $1.3 million. But the city received utility incentives and federal and state grants to cover the cost of the SSL installation.

6.      Existing Home Sales Improved in October - According to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales in October rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million.  Compared to a year ago, the current figure is up 13.5%. An ongoing positive trend is a steady decline in the number of homes on the market.  11/22 HCN

7.      Special Offers and Rebates from ENERGY STAR Partners - To encourage customers to buy energy efficient products, ENERGY STAR partners occasionally sponsor special offers, such as sales tax exemptions or credits, or rebates on qualified products. Partners also occasionally sponsor recycling incentives for the proper disposal of old products. The search is provided as a service to consumers to find such special offers or rebates where they exist, based on information that partners submit to ENERGY STAR. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=rebate.rebate_locator  

8.      Google Pulls the Plug on Its Green Energy Program - Google has decided to power down its 4-year-old REhttp://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/11/23/google-pulls-plug-its-rec-green-energy-program 

9. Shipments of LED Lamps and Luminaires to Exceed 500 Million Units in Asia Pacific by 2021 - While energy-efficient products are an expensive form of lighting for many customers in the Asia Pacific region, the higher costs are increasingly justified by the higher efficacy and performance compared to traditional lighting products. As a result, demand for LED products is growing among customers in developed countries such as Japan and Korea. Moreover, a number of regional and national government programs are in place to promote LED lighting, and these initiatives will serve as a key driver of the market in the coming decade. LED is now viewed as an affordable and efficient technology with long-term benefits. According to a new report from Pike Research, sales of LED lighting systems will increase rapidly over the next 10 years, accelerating sharply after 2015. Unit shipments, including lamps and luminaires, will rise from 66 million in 2011 to 542 million in 2021 – an increase of more than 700%. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/energy-efficient-lighting-in-asia-pacific

10. Fuel Economy Leaders: 2012 Model Year - Rankings are based on combined city and highway fuel economy estimates (weighted by 55% city and 45% highway). http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/overall-high.htm

News Updates for the Week of August 22

1. Cree Acquires Ruud Lighting, Inc. to Accelerate the LED Lighting Revolution - Cree, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Ruud Lighting, Inc., a leader in LED outdoor lighting, at an estimated net cost of approximately $525 million. Combining two highly complementary LED innovators, the acquisition allows Cree to extend its leadership position and increase the adoption of energy-efficient LED lighting. 8/17 BUSINESS WIRE

2. Income Up at Nexxus Lighting; Attributed to Lowes - Sales of Array products in the second quarter of 2011 grew more than six-fold or approximately $2,786,000 to approximately $4,066,000 as compared to approximately $1,327,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2010. . This growth represents the launch of our Array products for sale through the consumer market channel. We completed the initial shipments of our Array products to approximately 1,100 Lowe's stores across the United States in the second quarter of 2011. Lowe's offers seventeen different Array products, including our PAR 38, R30, R16, MR16 and GU10 lamps that have qualified for the Energy Star rating. The ramp of sales to the consumer market may have adversely affected our ability to service other commercial market customers. Sales to commercial market customers declined as a result. Sales of Lumificient products decreased 5% from approximately $897,000 in the second quarter of 2010 to approximately $850,000 in the second quarter of 2011 as market conditions softened as compared to the first quarter of 2011. 8/12 PRNewswire

3. Lutron Services Company Expands National Authorized Service Network through Agreement with SYLVANIA Lighting Services Company - Lutron Services Co., Inc. (LSC) recently announced that SYLVANIA Lighting Services Corp. (SLS) has become an Authorized Service Center Subcontractor. Under the agreement, SLS will perform services related to Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. commercial lighting controls products, including system start-up services, system programming, warranty and post-warranty support services. In addition, SLS service maintenance customers now have the opportunity to explore a broader set of services within one convenient SLS support plan that can include Lutron Field Service Engineers performing technical support and inspection of Lutron interior lighting controls systems.

4. Chelan County, WA PUD to Distribute Energy-Saving Light Bulbs to Customers - Chelan County PUD has announced that the company will distribute free energy-saving light bulbs to customers. Customers can visit any PUD office in Wenatchee, Leavenworth or Chelan to receive a bag of 20 CFLs. In the average home, lighting accounts for about 20 percent of the electric bill. The easiest way to start saving energy is to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, the company said. 8/17 Datamonitor

5. ASHRAE is now writing a guideline, SGPC 10, Interactions Affecting the Achievement of Acceptable Indoor Environments. Larry Spielvogel, PE See the attached notice.

6. Existing-Home Sales Decline in July - The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing-home sales declined in July compared with June, but have improved compared with a year ago. Total existing-home sales, which are based on transaction closings of single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.84 million in June to 4.67 million in July, a decrease of 3.5%. However, existing-home sales for July 2011 were 21.0% above the 3.86 million-unit pace in July 2010. 8/18 HCN

7. City Making Streetlights More Energy-Efficient - The city of Merced, CA said it will begin retrofitting its streetlights today to install energy-efficient lights. The city contracted with Siemens Industry for a $7.2 million energy-efficiency project to lower its utility bills, boost efficiency and become greener, according to a news release. The city owns more than 5,600 streetlights. 8/17 http://www.mercedsunstar.com/

8. Energy Efficiency: A Rare Bipartisan Issue - At this time of partisan wrangling in Congress, energy efficiency stands as a rare issue that crosses party lines to garner bipartisan consensus. That comes as no surprise to efficiency advocates, who know that energy-efficiency programs are one of our best national investments. By lowering energy costs, they return more money to the economy than they cost taxpayers. The ENERGY STAR program that labels the most energy-efficient products on the market is a prime example. At a cost to the federal government of well under $100 million annually, ENERGY STAR products cut energy costs for consumers and businesses by a whopping $17 billion in 2009 alone! 8/16 AOL Energy

9. New LED Lasts 25,000 Hours - Omni-directional LED A-Line lamp from OSRAM SYLVANIA, available in two wattages equivalent to 40w and 60w incandescents. Energy efficient, dimmable and available this summer. http://www.sylvania.com/BusinessProducts/Innovations/LEDLampsandRetrofits/

10. MEA Announces Its Clean Energy Programs for Fiscal Year 2012 - The Maryland Energy Administration’s has announced its fiscal year 2012 clean energy programs. The programs include Save Energy Now and the Lawton Loan program (targeting the industrial sector), grants to homeowners installing solar, wind and geothermal (the Residential Clean Energy Grants program). http://www.energy.state.md.us/News/documents/AugustNewsletter.pdf

11. Encelium Technologies to Exhibit at Iidex/Neocon Canada Sept. 22-23 - A web-based application, Polaris 3D provides an industry first 360-degree, three-dimensional view of lighting energy use in a building or complex. The software is used to commission, configure and manage Encelium’s ECS, which has been proven to cut lighting energy expenditures by 50 to 75 percent and significantly reduce CO2 emissions. With Polaris 3D, users will no longer need to navigate through single floors, or a ‘tree architecture,’ to reach a specific control zone. Instead, they will get a 3D, colorized thermo-graphic view of system parameters to identify areas and trends of lighting inefficiencies throughout a building. http://iidexneocon.com/

12. Philips recalls Reflector Flood Lamps - On August 11, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a voluntary recall from Philips Lighting Company of Somerset, N.J. Philips has recalled about 1.86 million EnergySaver (aka Marathon or Marathon Classic) compact fluorescent dimmable reflector flood lamps due to a laceration hazard. According to the CPSC news release, “The glue that attaches the glass outer envelope or globe to the body of the lamp can fail allowing the glass outer envelope to fall and strike persons and objects below, posing laceration hazard to consumers.” The products involved in the voluntary recall were manufactured from March 2007 through May 2010. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11302.html

13. Mitsubishi Electric Lighting - will spend $6.5 million to expand its factory for LED products in Shizuoka Prefecture, according to a July 26 article from Asia Pulse. The item claimed that 20% of the company’s total sales are LEDs.

14. Siemens - A Bloomberg report quoted an ING Groep NV analyst saying that Siemens, with a $19 billion “acquisitions war chest,” would soon take advantage of the recent plunge in valuations and begin buying.

15. Philips Introduces Fortimo LED HBM High-Brightness Module - Philips today announced a new addition to its Fortimo LED family - the Fortimo LED High Brightness Module (HBM). Fortimo LED HBM is an easy to design-in, compact, high lumen LED module for white light applications. The product delivers all the benefits of LEDs without the complexity and recurring R&D costs of lens optics-based LED solutions. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/products/32205

16. How Commercial Lighting Is Evaluated - Graphic from OSRAM Sylvania, as posted to http://www.environmentalleader.com/

News Updates for the Week of November 15

1. LEED Revision Tightens Energy-Efficiency Standards With New Credits, Categories - The first of two public comment sessions opened this week on changes proposed for the U.S. Green Building Council's rating system for sustainable and energy-efficient buildings. The update to the LEED rating system will build upon a 2009 revision. The proposed changes, put together by USGBC's technical advisory committees, include three new credit categories and a variety of reworked and new credits and prerequisites. They touch each of the rating system's sections, including building design and construction, operations and maintenance, and LEED for homes. 11/11 NY Times

2. Construction Market to Increase 8% in 2011- McGraw-Hill Construction recently released its 2011 Construction Outlook, which predicts an increase in overall U.S. construction starts for next year of 8% to $445.5 billion, following the 2% decline predicted for 2010. http://ecmweb.com/ezone/construction-outlook-20101109/?cid=nl_ezone&smte=wl

3. Emerging Lighting Technologies by Frost & Sullivan - This research service presents recent global developments as well as industry trends in the field of emerging lighting technologies for various applications. The following technologies are covered in this research:
• Light emitting diode
• Organic light emitting diode
• Fluorescent lamps (compact fluorescent [CFL] and linear fluorescent)
• High intensity discharge lamps
• Halogen lamps
• Incandescent lamps
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/fff9c6/emerging_lighting_technologies

4. Xcel Energy Offering Rebates for LED Lamps - Electric utility Excel Energy is now offering businesses rebates in Colorado and Minnesota for the installation of EnergyStar-approved bulbs. The rebates vary by state but information at the utility's website offers some insight into the types of rebates now available. Lighting Science Group, Satellite Beach, Fla., said in a press release that its Definity LED line meets the standards necessary for the Xcel rebate program because the company’s PAR38 LED received the LED lighting industry’s first EnergyStar label and that it recently received approval for use of the EnergyStar label for its PAR30 and MR16 LED bulb types.
http://enews.penton.com/enews/electricalwholesaling/green_biz/2010_november_8_green_opportunities/display

5. New Poll - Seventy-nine percent of U.S. federal government leaders charged with making recommendations or final decisions on agency purchasing believe that energy efficiency is among the most effective ways to meet energy needs, reduce energy costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new Zogby International poll sponsored by the Alliance to Save Energy and Schneider Electric. www.schneider-electric.us/go/government

6. WI PSC Backs Bigger Investment in Energy Efficiency - Wisconsin's energy efficiency programs would receive increased funding from electricity ratepayers in the next four years under a proposal adopted Thursday by the Public Service Commission. Under the proposal, funding for energy efficiency programs would expand to $120 million in 2011 from $100 million this year, with the goal of expanding incentives aimed at reducing energy bills. Funding would then increase to $160 million in 2012, $204 million in 2013 and $256 million in 2014, under the PSC proposal. 11/06 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel