News Updates for the Week of March 3

1.      2013 Outdoor Competition Winners - Next Generation Luminaires congratulates the winners of the 2013 Solid-State Lighting Design Competition! Twenty-six commercial LED outdoor lighting products received awards for excellence, including six Best-in-Class winners. The judging panel selected the luminaires on the basis of color quality, appropriate illuminance, light distribution, glare control, appearance, serviceability, value, and energy efficiency and lumen maintenance. The awards event took place during the 2014 Strategies in Light Conference on February 27, 2014. http://www.ngldc.org/13/outdoor/winners.stm Best in Class:

2.      Voters Overwhelmingly Support Energy Efficiency - The poll released by NEMA and NAM commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates, found that 9 in 10 likely voters support energy efficiency as a key part of the solution addressing our energy challenges. Results showed a desire for greater adoption of efficient technologies throughout our economy, including the federal government, where tax dollars can be saved. A national survey among 1,000 likely voters clearly illustrates broad support for energy efficiency that cuts across demographic and political lines. Two-thirds are more likely to vote a candidate for Congress who supports energy efficiency policies. http://www.nema.org/Policy/Documents/National-NEMA-NAM-Memo.pdf

3.      ASE Test Develops Industry's First SSL Test System - ASE Test, a division of Automation South Electronics, has developed the industry's first automated test system that is specifically designed for quickly testing the electrical performance of LED drivers, LED arrays and LED fixtures. Designated the ASE SSL 3.0 Test System, this flexible test system can be used for design, design validation and volume manufacturing testing to verify quality of production.  http://www.asetest.net/

4.      Indoor Lighting Can Affect Decision Making - Facility managers may want to take care while adjusting indoor lighting. According to new research, the way a room is lit can affect decision making, with bright light acting is a possible catalyst for more intense emotions.  Researcher Alison Jing Xu says the effect bright light has on our emotional system may be the result of the light being perceived as heat, and the perception of heat can trigger our emotions. The majority of everyday decisions are also made under bright light. So turning down the light may help people make more rational decisions. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057740813001174

5.      Hubbell Lighting Launches Lighting Upgrade Program for Colleges and Universities - Hubbell Lighting announced a new energy efficient lighting program to cut electricity costs by 84%, enhance the quality of light and reduce the financial risk of upgrades. The initiative, called createchange® consists of two innovative offerings from Hubbell Lighting: 

• A suite of unique audit tools and other product selection resources that allow schools to precisely forecast the economic impact of various lighting retrofit strategies and identify any utility rebates that are available.
• A 90-day risk-free trial program called "Compare in the Air", which allows customers to validate cost saving estimates in buildings or outdoor environments with up to four Hubbell Lighting products. http://www.hubbelllighting.com/solutions/retrofit/applications/education

6.      CUNY Gets ARPA-E funding for Metacapacitors for LED Lighting - City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute is developing less expensive, more efficient, smaller, and longer-lasting power converters for energy-efficient LED lights. LEDs need more sophisticated converters because they require a different type of power (low-voltage direct current, or DC) than what's generally supplied by power outlets. CUNY Energy Institute is developing sophisticated power converters for LEDs that contain capacitors made from new, nanoscale materials. http://www.arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=arpa-e-projects/metacapacitors-led-lighting

News Updates for the Week of February 17

1.      DOE Webinar on Early Lessons Learned in Bringing SSL to Market - On Thursday, February 20, at 1:00 p.m. EST, the U.S. DOE Solid-State Lighting Program will host a 60-minute live webinar entitled Solid-State Lighting: Early Lessons Learned on the Way to Market. DOE has just published a report summarizing key efforts to date and identifying 12 lessons about LED market development thus far, with an eye toward rapid market growth – enabling huge energy savings and improved lighting service – in the future. The webinar will describe the 12 lessons and attendees will be able to submit questions, comments, and their own takeaways from the LED lighting market experience to date.  For more information, or to register, visit the DOE SSL website

2.      The Port Authority of NY and NJ Awards Contract for $2.1 Million Lincoln Tunnel Lighting Upgrade - Constellation announced that it has been awarded a contract by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the installation of 2,300 energy efficient LED lights in the Lincoln Tunnel. Facilities Solution Group (FSG), located in Perth Amboy, N.J., installed the system. Green RG Management, based in North Arlington, N.J., provided the LED lighting fixtures. Green Econometrics, in Clifton, N.J., conducted the energy efficiency analysis of the project. Bernie Erickson, Northeast Regional Manager for FSG stated, "FSG values our longstanding relationships with both Constellation and the Port Authority, and we were pleased to play a part in this exciting project." 2/03 BUSINESS WIRE

3.      NPPD, Others Offer Incentives for LED Bulbs - The Nebraska Public Power District and its wholesale customer utilities are offering incentives to residential electric customers for the purchase and installation of LED bulbs with a $5 account credit for each Energy Star-qualified 60-, 75-, or 100-watt LED equivalent to the standard bulb they buy, with up to 10 credits available per residential account this year. NPPD www.nppd.com  and its wholesale customer utilities are contributing approximately $100,000 toward this campaign in 2014.  2/10 Public Power Weekly

4.      Orlando Is One of 10 Cities Picked for $9 Million Energy Project - The City Energy Project will pay for a building-efficiency expert to work full time in each of the cities and to finance additional expertise as each city rolls out plans to lessen the energy used by municipal and privately owned buildings. The other cities are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City. They were selected for "ambitiousness" and range of sizes and types. http://www.cityenergyproject.org/

5.      Grissom Air Reserve Base Paves Way for Energy Savings - The U.S. Department of Defense has an annual energy budget of approximately $20 billion, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of the federal government's total energy consumption.  U.S. military bases alone rack up a $4 billion energy bill annually. One of the most innovative and groundbreaking projects at Grissom was the recent installation of a $100,000 geothermal heating and cooling system. It's the first unit of its kind ever installed on an Air Force Reserve Command base. Other energy-saving upgrades include the installation of low-flow plumbing, better HVAC controls, energy efficient lighting, and infrared heating systems. Grissom spent more than $900,000 last year on those projects.  1/30 AP

      6.      LED Lighting Emphasizes Natural Beauty in Museo Del Duomo Zumtobel Arcos Xpert LED spotlights have been deployed during the just completed two-year renovation of the Museo del Duomo -- the Museum of the Cathedral located at the Milan Cathedral in Italy. The UV- and IR-free lighting with a CRI of 94 highlights the historic sculptures, paintings, and scale models of the cathedral with the oldest model dating to 1519. Zumtobel supplied a variety of LED lighting products for the renovation including Panos Infinity downlights, Tecton row lighting, and Linaria fixtures in side rooms.  http://www.ledsmagazine.com

7.      Toshiba Progresses in Louvre Project, Lights Mona Lisa with LEDs - A custom controllable SSL fixture now provides adaptive lighting on the famous Mona Lisa painting, and linear LED fixtures have been installed in the Red Rooms.  The Louvre Museum in Paris, France will ultimately see most of the lighting converted to LEDs. Toshiba said that the design uses 32 LEDs along with a control system and optics that ensure uniformity of lighting and frame the painting. The dynamic system was developed to enable museum workers to adjust the spectrum of the light to compensate for color shift that is due to ambient lighting and the way that lighting hits the protective glazing on the famous painting.  See the video: https://www.toshiba.eu/lighting/en/news-events/mona-lisa

      8.      Osram LEDs to Light The Sistine Chapel's Michelangelo Frescoes - The project, involving custom-designed fixtures optimized for beam control and with a color spectrum that will highlight the pigmentation in the frescoes, will be completed next year, although a pilot project entitled LED4Art has already proven the concept. While LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) has long offered efficiency advantages compared to legacy sources, it's a fairly recent development in which LED fixtures have become accepted in museum or historical settings where artwork is omnipresent.  http://www.ledsmagazine.com

      9.      IKEA to Donate Solar Lighting to Refugees with Each LED Bulb Purchase - For the 10.5 million refugees around the globe, much of their lives are spent in the dark. In partnership with the United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR), IKEA announced that for every LEDARE LED lightbulb sold in its stores, it will donate €1.00 (U.S. $1.34) to UNHCR refugee camps for solar lighting, fuel-efficient cooking stoves and other renewable energy technologies. http://www.ikeafamilylivemagazine.com/gb/en/article/35914

      10.  DOE’s Solid-State Lighting: Early Lessons Learned on the Way to Market - This study identifies and characterizes 12 key lessons that have been distilled from DOE’s SSL Program results. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/ssl_lessons-learned_2014.pdf

 

11.  Public Lighting Authority to Install LED Lamps in Detroit - The state-created Public Lighting Authority is looking for LED suppliers to speed up the $160 million relighting project of Detroit. The authority decided to exclusively use LED lamps and accelerate the pace of installation with a goal of completing all city neighborhoods with 50,000 new LED lights to be installed over the next two years. Fewer than half of Detroit’s 88,000 streetlights are believed to work. 2/12 Detroit News

12.  York County PA Commissioners Poised to Spend $2.4 Million for Efficiency Projects - The board is considering making an amendment to an existing contract with Harrisburg-based McClure Company.  The county has already spent about $6.1 million on facilities upgrades, under McClure's guarantee that the company would pay the difference if county coffers didn't save the $380,000 per year McClure said would be saved.  Under the current proposal, projects include heating and air-conditioning improvements, more interior and exterior lighting upgrades at various facilities, and transformer replacement. 2/13 The York Dispatch

13.  Linear Fluorescent Lamp Shipments Retreat During Third Quarter of 2013 - NEMA’s shipment indexes for T5, T8 and T12 lamps retreated during 2013Q3, decreasing by 7.3%, 9.4% and 5.5%, respectively. Year-over-year (y/y) performance showed mixed results for the different lamp types. The T5 lamp index increased by 5.7% compared to 2012Q2. T8 lamp shipments improved as well increasing by 10.7%. Shipments of T12 lamps continued to decline, registering a decline of 6.3% (y/y). http://www.nema.org

14.  2014 Lighting for Tomorrow Competition - Since 2002 the annual Lighting for Tomorrow competition has encouraged manufacturers to develop well designed, energy efficient lighting products - the best decorative energy efficient lighting fixtures in the market. The 2014 competition seeks lighting control devices, solid state lighting (SSL) fixtures, replacement lamps, and retrofit kits. This year there is a particular interest in securing high lumen LED lamps, LED lamps under $10, LED fixtures under $50, high efficacy LED products, high CRI LED products, OLED fixtures, and senior friendly lighting products. Guidelines: http://www.lightingfortomorrow.com/