News Updates for the Week of November 26

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1.      Philips Lighting’s CEO Bruno Biasiotta Announces Reorganization - With greater attention to the customer experience, Philips Lighting is creating a one lighting go to market organization focused around geographies and differentiated by channel.

• They will begin to move towards a single Professional sales team by providing access to the entire Philips portfolio, also maintaining partnerships with independent agents. Leading this division is Ed Crawford. 
• The Consumer sales team, led by Kerry Vachon, will represent the full portfolio for the Consumer channel.
• The OEM sales team will report into the Lighting NA market organization. 
• The National Accounts and Services group will expand its activities and establish and invest in Turnkey Projects & Solutions (TP&S) to build solutions selling capability as a growth platform. Bill Schoettler is in charge here.  
• Danny Garst will head up a centrally led Customer Fulfillment and Sales Support Centers. Customer Fulfillment to offer a one Philips point of contact, while continuing to focus on forecast accuracy and on time order delivery. Sales support to focus on functional excellence and capabilities.  

2.      FMI Releases 2013 Construction Outlook - FMI, the Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, has forecast an 8% increase in construction activity for 2013. Robust growth in residential construction, as well as a few strong markets in nonresidential and non-building construction, will contribute to the expansion, the report said. http://www.fminet.com/resources

3.      City Announces $10 Million Available for Energy Efficiency Loans - A new public-private initiative is offering Knoxville businesses a funding source to help finance energy efficiency improvements such as heating system upgrades and building retrofits. Through the city's partnership with Pathway Lending, a total of $10 million in loans will be available for businesses in Knoxville and Knox County.  Low-interest loans from $25,000 to $2.5 million are available through a the "Mayor's Energy Efficiency Challenge." Details are available at www.pathwaylending.org

4.      Incandescent Lamp Shipments Index Remains Resilient Through Third Quarter - NEMA’s index for traditional A-line incandescent lamps increased 20.2 percent during Q3 2012 rebounding from a slide of 18.2 percent in Q2 2012. Meanwhile, the CFL index registered a decline of 3.3 percent compared to the previous quarter. Halogen A-line lamp shipments gained momentum, increasing by 83.3 percent on a quarterly basis. The index for halogen A-line lamps has increased in 7 out of the last 8 quarters. http://www.nema.org

 

5.      Nexxus Lighting Changes Name to Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. - Nexxus Lighting, Inc. (NEXS) announced that the company has changed its name to Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (RVLT), effective November 15, 2012. www.rvlti.com

6.      DOE Updates the Latest L Prize Lamp Test Results, Rebate Offers - The US DOE continues to test the Philips Lighting LED 60W-equivalent retrofit lamp that won the L Prize with no failures reported over more than 20,000 hours of operation. The full lot of 200 sample lamps are all still operating. The tests have reached what the agency considers the equivalent of 18 years of household use with no failures. Moreover, the average lumen maintenance remains above 100% of their initial output. The DOE also released a summary of rebates available for the solid-state lighting (SSL) product that range as high as $20 per lamp. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/13

7.      Existing Home Sales Rise in October - According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales in the U.S. rose 2.1% in October.  Existing home sales grew to seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units, according to a report issued Monday morning. The figure is up 2.1% from September’s rate, and up 10.9% from the 4.32 million level in October 2011. 11/19 HCN

8.      Housing Starts Rise Again - The residential construction surge from September stayed the course in October, as the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 894,000. The figure is up 3.6% from a downwardly revised September estimate of 863,000. More impressive, it is up 41.9% from the October 2011 rate of 630,000. Like the September figure, the October figure is the highest since July 2008. 11/20 HCN

9.      Daimler to Introduce Luxury Car Lit Entirely with LEDs - The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class will be the first car to be fitted completely with LEDs as standard, while optional extras will include adaptive LED headlamps that adjust according to other road users. The car will use over 190 LEDs that will illuminate the road ahead, as well as the vehicle’s exterior, interior and luggage compartment. Of course, Daimler’s rivals have also been hard at work introducing LED lighting into their vehicles. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/15

News Updates for the Week of October 22

1.      New Ballast Energy Standards to Take Effect November 2014 - In November 2011, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued new rules regulating the efficiency of fluorescent lamp ballasts, which take effect November 14, 2014. The rulemaking creates a new metric for measuring ballast efficiency and establishes a higher standard of efficiency that will impact many of today's fluorescent T8, T5 and T12 ballasts. Ballasts that do not comply will be prohibited from manufacture and import, but existing inventories can be sold until they are exhausted. The following ballast types are at greatest risk:

• majority of T12 electronic ballasts; 
• majority of outdoor-sign and residential-only ballasts; and 
• T8 and T5 programmed-start ballasts lacking a cathode cutout design.

http://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/new-ballast-energy-standards-coming-in-2014/

      2.      Shipments of LED-Based Street Lights will Surpass 17 Million by 2020 - According to a new report from Pike Research, unit shipments of LED lamps for street lights will rise from fewer than   3 million in 2012 to more than 17 million in 2020. At the moment, however, nearly all smart street lighting projects are still in a pilot phase, with only a handful of large-scale installations in place to date. LED street lights currently cost roughly four times as much as their high pressure sodium counterparts, placing them out of reach for many cash-strapped municipalities. For this reason smart systems are being installed primarily to reduce maintenance costs, improve monitoring, and enhance public safety, rather than energy savings alone. The report, "Smart Street Lighting", analyzes the global market opportunity for lamp upgrades and networked lighting controls across five categories of public outdoor lighting: highways, roads, parking lots, city parks, and sports stadiums. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/smart-street-lighting

3.      New Report on OLED Lighting Materials Market - Industry Analyst firm NanoMarkets has issued a new report on the OLED lighting materials market. In the report the firm projects that the OLED lighting materials market will grow from its current value of approximately $1.7 million in 2012 to over $1.1 billion in 2019 and surpass $1.3 billion in revenues in 2018 as OLED lighting moved beyond luxury luminaires and designer kits and into larger, general illumination applications. Additional details about the report are available on the NanoMarkets website at: http://www.nanomarkets.net/index.php/market_reports/report/oled_lighting_materials_market_forecast_2013

4.      Bipartisan Legislation to Revamp Tax Deduction for Energy-Efficient Upgrades to Commercial Buildings - A bill introduced into the Senate seeks to extend tax deductions for building upgrades, make it easier for taxpayers to get the deductions, and give more money back. The bipartisan legislation is called the Commercial Building Modernization Act (S.3591) and it would reform the existing Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction, which is widely known by its federal tax code section: 179D.  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s3591is/pdf/BILLS-112s3591is.pdf

5.      Solid-State Lighting GATEWAY Demonstrations - DOE GATEWAY demonstrations showcase high-performance LED products for general illumination in a variety of commercial and residential applications. Demonstration results provide real-world experience and data on state-of-the-art solid-state lighting (SSL) product performance and cost effectiveness. These results connect DOE technology procurement efforts with large-volume purchasers and provide buyers with reliable data on product performance. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/gatewaydemos.html

6.      Residential Energy Efficiency Market to Reach Nearly $84 Billion per Year by 2020 - The rising energy consumption of the housing sector, which has an impact on nearly every aspect of a country’s economy, is driving diverse and increasing interest in residential energy efficiency for both new homes and retrofits of existing ones.  Globally, more than half of the energy consumption in buildings – which is expected to rise from 31,983 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 51,253 TWh by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – comes from residential buildings.  According to a recent report from Pike Research, the energy efficient housing sector will expand rapidly over the remainder of the decade, growing from an annual market value of $14 billion in 2012 to almost $84 billion in 2020. More than 118 billion square feet of energy efficient residential space will be created over that time period.  http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/energy-efficient-homes

7.      Energy-Efficiency Improvements Can Make New Orleans Business Owners Eligible for Low-Interest Loans - NOLA Wise, a $15 million city-run program has made low-interest loans available to New Orleans business owners to make energy-efficiency improvements. Potential upgrades range from new insulation to tune-ups of heating and cooling systems, as well as improved lighting and sealing leaky doors and windows. Under the arrangement, participants could add solar panels through the program if they can achieve at least a 15 percent energy savings from the work. http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/to_make_energy-efficiency_impr.html

8.      LED Upgrade Produces Substantial Energy Savings in Cleveland Airport's Parking Garage - When the Airport Authority for the City of Cleveland, Ohio looked into LED parking-garage interior lighting systems, it knew an upgrade would save significant energy compared to the existing metal halides. A new type of specially designed parking-garage luminaire employing LED arrays—the Endura ceiling-mounted LED interior luminaire from Beacon Products, a division of Hubbell Lighting—was chosen. As a result of the LED retrofit, the Hopkins Airport parking garage has cut lamp replacement times and costs in half. 10/15 EC&M's ElectricalZone

9.      Milwaukee Downtown Businesses Pledge to Cut Energy Use - The operators of several downtown Milwaukee buildings, including Wisconsin's tallest, are signing on to a national pledge to reduce their energy use. Those commitments could attract aid for the building owners from a stimulus-funded energy savings initiative directed by the city of Milwaukee--Milwaukee Energy Efficiency, or Me2. This summer, Milwaukee announced it was joining the Better Buildings Challenge, a national initiative in which building owners are pledging to cut energy use by 20% by 2020. To date, the Me2 program has approved 67 business projects for Milwaukee businesses, including offices, factories, gas stations, laundries, condominiums, and health care facilities. The Me2 program says it has awarded grants totaling $1.7 million, stimulating $7.4 million of business investment. 10/18 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

10.  LumenOptix CEO to Present at NREL’s 25th Industry Growth Forum - At the U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 25th Industry Growth Forum in Denver, Colorado on October 23^rd, LumenOptix Founder and CEO Jay Goodman will present information on the company’s American-made Retrofit Downlight Luminaire, or “LRD,” a unique and modular LED retrofit solution that enables a downlight of any make, model, or size to be upgraded in just minutes to energy-efficient, maintenance-free LED technology.

11.  USG Corp. Partners with GE Lighting - Two of the building industry’s largest manufacturers are collaborating on a new ceiling system designed for use in commercial applications. USG Corp. will offer its Logix Integrated Ceiling System with GE Lumination’s LED Linear Recessed Luminaires. The system is ideal for office, retail, healthcare and hospitality environments. 10/16 HCN

12.  Nexxus Lighting Announces Distributor Agreement with Polybrite - Nexxus Lighting has executed a distributor agreement with PolyBrite International. Under the agreement, Nexxus will begin offering all of PolyBrite's Borealis LED lighting solutions to Nexxus' customers. Key components of the expanded product line are indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, including LED recessed flat panels, low-bay and canopy lighting systems, and area site and roadway luminaires. In addition, Nexxus will feature Borealis' new LED T8 tubes, A19, R20, R30, candelabra and other decorative lamp products, along with its premier Array line of LED replacement lamps. 10/17 HCN

13.  More than 11 Million EV Charging Stations Will be Installed Worldwide by 2020 - The past year has seen a major uptick in deployments of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).  This acceleration is a direct result of developments in the market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs): More than 135,000 PEVs will be sold globally in 2012, and growth is expected to continue at a steady pace.  According to a new report from Pike Research, the EVSE market will expand steadily, as well.  Unit sales of EVSE will rise from under 200,000 in 2012 to almost 2.4 million in 2020.  By 2020, the study concludes, 11.4 million EV charging stations will be in operation worldwide. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/electric-vehicle-charging-equipment

14.  Ford C-Max Energi Ranked America’s Top Fuel-Efficient Plug-In Hybrid - Ford recently announced that its plug-in vehicle was given a rating from the US EPA of 108 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) for city use, along with a100 MPGe overall rating. When stacked up against other vehicles, Ford noted that the C-Max Energi 100 MPGe outpaces the Toyota Prius by 5 MPGe. The C-Max Energi, along with the Ford Focus Electric (110 MPGe in the city) are two of just a handful of cars that have a prestigious US EPA ranking of 100 MPGe or more. Ford is expected early next year to bolster its lineup of top-notch electric and plug-in hybrids with the Ford Fusion Energy plug-in hybrid. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_C-MAX_Energi_Hybrid.jpg

15.  Boom in Chinese Energy Efficiency Market Predicted - China's growth has continued seemingly without pause. Over the course of 2011, its GDP reached US$7.4 trillion. This is a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. China's energy efficiency sector is set to deliver an estimated US$31.4 billion in 2012, which is a 54.2% growth over five years. The number of companies and consultants in the energy-saving field has grown rapidly, and the profit margin for this year is being projected at 13.8% of wealth generated. http://www.esi-africa.com/node/15519

16.  Latin America Commercial Fluorescent Lighting Market 2011 – 2017 - This report is an effort to identify factors, which will be the driving force behind the commercial fluorescent lighting market and sub-markets in the next few years in Latin America. The report provides extensive analysis of the industry, current market trends, industry drivers and challenges for better understanding of the market structure. This report highlights the industry trends and forecast for seven geographic markets, namely Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Panama.    

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/3hwgvg/commercial_fluorescent_lighting_market_lati

17.  America's Top 7 Energy-Efficient Baseball Stadiums - Major League Baseball (MLB) has emerged as a vanguard of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)'s Sports Greening Project, which has sparked a sustainability movement across a slew of professional and collegiate sports leagues. The MLB was the first professional sports league to partner with NRDC on the initiative in 2005. Rankings are based on sheer numbers of energy-efficient features, as well as the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

1.      Marlins Park: Miam​i Marlins

2.      Target Field: Minnesota T​wins

3.      Nationals Park: Washingto​n Nationals

4.      AT&T Park: San Francisco Giants

5.      Safeco Field: Seattle Mariners

6.      Miller Park: Milwaukee Brewers

7.      Busch Stadium: St. Louis Cardinals

Runners Up: Fenway Park: Boston Red Sox; Citi Field: New York Mets; Yankee Stadium: New York Yankees; Progressive Field: Cleveland Indians http://ase.org/efficiencynews/americas-top-7-energy-efficient-baseball-stadiums

News Updates for the Week of December 5

1.      The Math Changes on Bulbs - Companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., GNC Corp. and Caesars Entertainment Corp. are shelling out for the advanced new lights. Consumers can get by using CFL bulbs in their lamps. But for specialized commercial applications like refrigeration, parking lots and lobby lighting, the answer is LED, some businesses say. Last month, Wal-Mart opened its first U.S. store lit entirely with LEDs, a 40,000 square foot store in Wichita, Kansas. The world's largest retailer will use only LED lights in the parking lots of new stores around the world. GNC Holdings Inc. and Starbucks Corp. have converted all of the lighting in their outlets to LEDs. A year ago, Home Depot introduced a LED bulb that gives off as much light as a 40 watt incandescent bulb—but it cost an eye-popping $21. Today, that bulb sells for $9.97. 11/30 The Wall Street Journal

2.      Consumer Confidence Heads in the Right Direction - The Conference Board reported Tuesday morning that its Consumer Confidence Index increased to 56.0 in November, up from 40.9 in October. That's not the only metric improving. The Expectations Index rose to 67.8 from 50.0, and the Present Situation Index increased to 38.3 from 27.1. Consumers appear to be entering the holiday season in better spirits, though overall readings remain historically weak. The November confidence metric of 56.0 was also ahead of November 2010, when the index stood at 54.3. 11/29 HCN

3.      U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.6 Percent; Economy Adds 120,000 Jobs - Small businesses and startups that were skittish about the economy this summer started hiring in bigger numbers this fall, helping drive the unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest in two and a half years. 12/2 Washington Post

4.      $1 Million Remains for Energy Rebates in Tennessee - The money is for consumers who have upgraded to a qualifying Energy Star appliance since April 22, 2010. According to the Energy Division of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, about 17,500 rebates totaling $4.1 million have been paid to Tennesseans through the program. Rebates range up to $250. New applications must be postmarked by Jan. 14. http://www.e-rebates.org/teearp

5.      GLOBALCON Conference and Expo - The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), along with sponsors, Hess, Constellation Energy, North America Power Partners (NAPP) and others to present GLOBALCON 2012 on March 7-8, 2012 in Atlantic City, NJ. It will feature a multi-track conference program, free expo and exhibit hall workshops, and networking opportunities. www.GLOBALCONEvent.com

6.      CSA Opens New LED and Lighting Certification Lab in Atlanta - CSA International has opened a certification and product-testing laboratory capable of testing LEDs and lighting products to 75 standards including Energy Star requirements. The 30,000 square-foot facility will have the capability to test thousands of lighting products for safety, light output, heat output, endurance and light dispersion. The laboratory provides full LM-79 testing, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) testing and third-party Energy-Star testing. It can certify a variety of lighting products from street lights and airport runway lights to automotive lamps and flashlights. http://www.csa-international.org  

7.      Nexxus Lighting Announces Factory Direct Commercial Web Portal - Nexxus Lighting, Inc. announced its new www.ArrayLEDdirect.com commercial web-portal to sell direct and to expand their commercial customer base for the Array® brand of specification grade LED replacement light bulbs. The new portal also provides commercial customers with a unique set of services and support based on their specific business needs, including new cost saving tools and ROI calculators that demonstrate the tremendous cost savings potential LED lighting can bring to their specific application, facility or end customer. ArrayLEDdirect.com will go live on December 14, 2011, but beginning today commercial customers can pre-register on the site and receive special discounts and other incentives on initial orders.

8.      Cree LMH2 LED Modules Bring Unrivaled Efficacy and Light Quality - Cree, Inc. announces the commercial availability of the new LMH2 LED module family, designed to speed time-to-market for high-quality LED luminaires. The LMH2 is the only LED module delivering 80-lumens-per-watt system efficacy combined with CRI greater than 90. The modules feature Cree TrueWhite® Technology.  The LMH2 is available at 850 and 1250 lumens and in color temperatures of 2700 K, 3000 K, 3500 K and 4000 K and is designed for 50,000 hours of operation and dimmable to five percent. www.cree.com/modules 

9.   Solais LED Lamps Receive Energy Star® Certification - Solais Lighting, Inc., a manufacturer of lightweight, specification-grade LED lamps featuring exclusive, actively-cooled Luxiance® thermal management technology, announced LED lamps receiving Energy Star® certification 

      on the following popular models: 

• “LR38” PAR38 Replacement – 21 Watt, 25-degree, 3000K, 1250 lumens 
• “LR38” PAR38 Replacement – 21 Watt, 25-degree, 3000K, 1100 lumens 
• “LR30LN” PAR30 Long-Neck Replacement – 18 Watt, 25-degree, 3000K, 975 lumens

     10.  Samsung Brings LED Retrofit Lamps to US Market - Samsung Electronics America (SEA), Inc., based in Ridgefield Park, NJ, has announced the availability of the company’s first LED lamps for the US consumer market. Samsung’s initial 

      product line includes A19, PAR20/30/38 and MR16 lamps, which are available from Lowe’s. Samsung’s line of retrofit lamps includes a directional 550 lm (40W-equivalent) A19 lamp priced at $19.98 as well as PAR20, PAR30 and PAR38 lamps with 400-lm, 890-lm and 1100-lm outputs and prices of $27.98, $49.98 and $59.98, respectively. In related news, Toshiba has introduced two omnidirectional A19 retrofit lamps that feature a traditional bulb design and are designed to Energy-Star specifications. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/8/11/28

11.  Obama Announces $4B in Energy Upgrades - The $4 billion investment announced today includes a $2 billion commitment, made through the issuance of a presidential memorandum, to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers. In addition, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders today committed to invest nearly $2 billion of private capital into energy efficiency projects. This announcement builds on a commitment made by 14 partners at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in June to make energy upgrades across 300 million square feet, and to invest $500 million in private sector financing in energy efficiency projects. 12/2 UPI