News Updates for the Week of March 17

 1.     LEDs Chart a New Path for Tunnel Lighting - LEDs are proving their benefits in most outdoor area lighting applications, but the point sources integrated in solid-state lighting fixtures are an especially good match for tunnel applications. The words "dark" and "dingy" appropriately describe many highway tunnels around the world. So when you see a tunnel that is brightly illuminated, with no shadows or dark spots, you may wonder why all tunnels are not well lit. In fact, new installations in many parts of the world demonstrate that well-specified LED tunnel lighting helps a driver's eyes adjust easily and quickly, keeps disruptive maintenance to a minimum, and saves energy while improving light quality. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-2/features/ssl-outdoor-ssl/leds-chart-a-new-path-for-tunnel-lighting-magazine.html

2.      NEMA’s Lighting Systems Index Gains Traction During Fourth Quarter - Increasing by 1.8 percent compared to the previous quarter. The index increased 4.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. Index components for emergency lighting, fixtures and miniature lamps posted gains, while ballasts and large lamps retreated q/q. Overall performance during calendar year 2013 placed the index nearly 17 percent above the depressed level of the recession during 2009. http://www.nema.org/News/Pages/Lighting-Systems-Index-Gains-Traction-During-Fourth-Quarter.aspx

3.      The ENERGY STAR Lighting Road Mapping Web Page Is Now Live - The page offers meeting materials including a high level summary of discussions from the January 30, 2014 meeting at NEMA headquarters. Stakeholders can visit at: www.energystar.gov/products/specs/lightingroadmapping To facilitate ongoing engagement on the topics addressed in the first meeting, Alex Boesenerg of NEMA will be setting a series of conference calls, beginning March 27, 2014 from 1:30-3:00pm ET. If you are interested in participating, contact Alex.Boesenberg@nema.org

4.      DOE Announces $10 Million Funding Opportunity for Innovative Commercial Building Technologies - To help demonstrate and deploy energy-efficiency technologies for commercial buildings, including projects that will bring next-generation building systems and components to a broader market faster. Under this opportunity (DE-FOA-0001084) , DOE seeks to fund demonstration and deployment activities for technologies that are ready for market. Applicants must submit a concept paper by March 31, 2014, in order to be eligible to submit a full application by May 19. More information can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov

5.      DOE Announces New Energy Efficiency Standards for MH Luminaires by Craig Dilouie - The U.S. DOE recently issued new energy efficiency standards for ballasts sold as part of new metal halide luminaires. (To be clear, replacement ballasts are not covered.) The new rules strengthen current standards while expanding their scope, and will affect availability of 50-1000W luminaires. The deadline for compliance is Feb. 10, 2017. The new DOE energy efficiency standards will shake up the metal halide category, promoting efficient pulse-start options, particularly electronic ballasts. http://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/doe-announces-new-energy-efficiency-standards-for-mh-luminaires/ http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/product.aspx/productid/49

6.    UL Launches Enhanced Type TL LED Driver Certification Program - UL has announced an addition to its UL Recognized Component Program that is meant to simplify the process of modular LED driver selection for solid-state lighting (SSL) product development teams. The optional Type TL Program places some minimum requirements on modular LED drivers that would allow a luminaire manufacturer more flexibility in swapping from one driver to an alternative assuming both had the Type TL certification. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2014/03/ul-launches-enhanced-type-tl-led-driver-certification-program.html

7.      Totally Tubular: Linear LEDs - With an urgent demand for energy efficiency, lighting continues to stake its claim as a solution. T8 and T5 fluorescents—both important evolutions in improved lamps and ballasts—have been landmark offerings and have successfully illuminated interior spaces for decades. Now lighting installers have a new option: a number of major and smaller lighting companies offer linear LED tubes, some with retrofit kits.  Their chief advantage has been their lumens-per-watt, sometimes bettering high-quality fluorescent lamps. http://www.ecmag.com/section/lighting/totally-tubular-linear-leds

8.      Staples Buying into LED Lighting - The decision did not come without a great deal of research and testing, after which the company realized that LED technology could provide the most effective option for its needs at its corporate headquarters, a 650,000-square-foot building in Framingham, Mass. Staples replaced more than 150 parking lot lighting fixtures in its three parking lots—two employee lots and one for visitors—on campus. The project resulted in a 14 percent energy reduction from the retrofit and was so successful that the company is rolling out LED retrofits elsewhere at its corporate headquarters, as well as at Staples facilities nationwide.  http://www.facilitiesnet.com/lighting/article/Staples-Buying-Into-LED-Lighting--14821

9.      2014 Star of EE Award Nominations - The deadline for the Alliance’s Star of Energy Efficiency Awards competition closes Friday, March 28th. These prestigious awards honor those entities who have demonstrated a significant and tangible commitment to the cause of energy efficiency. This year’s awards will be presented September 24, 2014 in Washington, DC at the Alliance to Save Energy’s 22nd Evening with the Stars of Energy Efficiency Awards Dinner. http://www.ase.org/dinner/nomination

10.  tED Magazine Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary - As part of the celebration, tED magazine will have a special section each month throughout 2014. They are also asking for your contributions to a year-long series of stories. As a first step, they are asking that you to visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tedmagazine or Twitter page at www.twitter.com/tedmagazine

11.  Smarter, Brighter, Faster, Stronger - In a fast-evolving industry full of data with few who understand it, Lumigent provides clients with the tools to become their own lighting experts with its audit-to-proposal platform. What Lumigent offers is software that makes lighting specifications and report-generation quick and easy so that building owners can more easily understand the benefits of implementing an energy-efficient lighting and controls project.  http://gbdmagazine.com/2014/26-lumigent/

 

      12.  This Is What Lighting Will Look Like in the Future Thanks to OLED Technology - OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is an extremely thin light emitting technology already making its way into cell phones, televisions and other electronics. How soon the technology will be more affordable is unknown. Here is a YouTube video showing the Plus Pendant in action: http://www.designntrend.com/articles/11500/20140310/this-is-what-lighting-will-look-like-in-the-future-thanks-to-oled-technology.htm

13.  Better Materials for OLED Lighting - LEDs have been replacing traditional lighting at a rapid pace, offering longer life, more efficiency, lower cost, etc. OLED lighting promises to complement LED lighting by offering better color performance, power efficiency, unique shapes and designs, as well as a thin, lower weight and elegant profile. To enable OLED technology in this emerging lighting market, there is a need to replace traditional materials with new, better-performing materials such as silver nanowires. See more at: http://www.ledjournal.com/main/blogs/better-materials-for-oled-lighting/#more-9722

14.  UV-LED Advancements Extend the Promise in Curing - The year 2013 witnessed an expansion of LED usage in UV curing applications with higher-power emitters enabling faster cure times across a variety of life science and industrial applications. http://www.ledsmagazine.com

News Updates for the Week of November 18

1.      Hundreds of LED Lights Illuminate NYC’s 1 World Trade Center Spire - Hundreds of red, white and blue LED modules are illuminating lower Manhattan as officials test the lights atop 1 World Trade Center. The port authority of New York and New Jersey said Friday the beacon is packed with nearly 300 modules and their glow can be seen for up to 50 miles. The beacon and spire together stand 408 feet tall and bring the building, formerly called the Freedom Tower, to its symbolic height of 1,776 feet and is deemed the nation's tallest building. 11/08 AP

2.      Con Ed 2012 Rates Highest of Any Major US Utility - Con Ed's 2.1 million residential customers in New York City and Westchester County paid an average of 25.65 cents per kilowatt hour in 2012, the data released Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That's more than twice the national average price of 11.88 cents per kilowatt hour. Con Ed said in a statement that more than 25 percent of the bill consists of government-imposed taxes and fees. Long Island Power Authority customers also paid some of the country's highest rates at 19.03 cents per kilowatt hour last year. 11/12 AP

3.      Status of the LED Industry 2013 - Growth of the LED industry has come initially from the small display application and has been driven forward by the LCD display application. In 2012, General Lighting has surpassed all other applications, representing nearly 39% of total revenue of packaged LEDs. Indeed, the LED TV crisis of 2011 (following an overestimation of the market) had the benefit of decreasing LED prices and intensifying the competitive environment. As a matter of fact, LED-based lighting product prices have decreased more rapidly than expected, increasing the penetration rate of the technology. Yole Développement estimates packaged LED will reach a market size of $13.9B in 2013 and will peak to $16B by 2018. Growth will be driven mainly by General Lighting applications (45% to 65% of total revenue during this period), completed by display applications. http://www.researchandmarkets.com/publication/m9qh8qc/status_of_the_led_industry_2013  

4.      Philips On ‘The Future of Light’ - Based upon expert interviews and more than 50 case studies, the report summarizes 12 trends which have been grouped into four themes showing the way lighting can be used to create experiences, tell stories, convey information and promote wellness. The PSFK report highlights projects which collectively demonstrate the numerous benefits of light, ranging from healthy sleep patterns and feelings of safety, through to macro issues, including the readdress of resource scarcity and climate change. http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=11760

5.      Christmas Lights Are Going Green - The shift is showing up at stores, which are selling more of the efficient LED lights. Wal-Mart is devoting half of its shelf space for Christmas lights to LEDs and offering a string of 50 mini LED lights for $5, down from $6.30 last year.  Costco is selling no incandescent Christmas lights at all. General Electric, which has peddled holiday lighting for more than a century, expects that two out of every five strings of lights sold this year will be LEDs. 11/11 The Kansas City Star

6.      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. LED-based lighting will enable higher illuminance levels on iconic artwork in famed Rome cathedral while preserving the historically-significant work and utilizing 60% less energy. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/11/7

7.      tED Magazine Prepares to Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary - In 2014, tED magazine will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Each month, the magazine will have a special feature looking back on 50 years of bringing you news about electrical distribution industry. http://www.tedmag.com

8.      MaxLite Launches Mobile Website - To meet the rapidly changing needs of customers and other lighting professionals that work in the field, MaxLite® has launched an easy-to-navigate mobile website that dynamically displays data sheets, images and information from the company's extensive product library for use with any type of smartphone. Rather than using downloads, the website will provide information dynamically and instantaneously. MaxLite's mobile website is updated daily with new product and application images, specification information, promotions and other corporate information that is vital to its distributors, specifiers and sales representatives. View the mobile website from your personal computer at http://m.maxlite.com

9.      Eaton LED Solutions Improve Lighting for Georgia Auto Dealership - Power management company Eaton and its Cooper Lighting division are proving that LED fixtures can provide more than just energy savings with a recent project for Georgia-based car dealership, Nalley Honda-Buick-GMC-Isuzu located in Brunswick. To showcase automobiles and reduce energy expenses, Eaton's Cooper Lighting business teamed up with Georgia Power to install 76 Streetworks Galleon LED fixtures, resulting in impressive illumination and an overall energy savings of 60 percent. 11/15 http://www.tedmag.com

10.  Top U.S. Organizations Using Most Green Power -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its updated lists of the top Green Power Partnership (GPP) organizations choosing to use clean, renewable electricity. The top 10 partners appearing on the Top 100 list include:

1)      Intel Corporation

2)      Microsoft Corporation

3)      Kohl's Department Stores

4)      Whole Foods Market

5)      Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

6)      U.S. Department of Energy

7)      Staples

8)      City of Houston, TX

9)      Starbucks Company-Owned Stores

10)  Apple Inc.

For more on the Top Rankings visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/index.htm.

11.  One-day Immersion in LED Lighting Education and Solutions - For specifiers of commercial, architectural and decorative LED lighting products. http://www.ledspecifiersummit.com/

12.  ASHRAE/IES Publish 2013 Energy Standard 90.1-2013 - Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, incorporates 110 addenda, reflecting changes made through the public review process. Appendix F gives brief descriptions and publication dates of the addenda to 90.1-2010 reflected in this new edition. The most significant lighting changes include improvements to daylighting and daylighting controls, space-by-space lighting power density limits, thresholds for toplighting and revised controls requirements and format. http://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/products/1865966

      

      13.  Raleigh Orthopaedic Selects Cree LED Lighting - Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, one of the city's largest orthopaedic practices, chose LED lighting from Cree, Inc. for the facility's new state-of-the-art headquarters and surgery center. The North Carolina facility installed more than 1,000 Cree® CR Series LED architectural troffers throughout the 98,000-square-foot clinic. According to Raleigh Orthopaedic, the newly installed LED troffers will decrease the clinic's lighting energy usage by 54 percent compared to outdated fluorescent technologies. http://www.tedmag.com

14.  Chicago City Infrastructure Trust Eyes ComEd Efficiency Fund - The money would come from ComEd customers who pay, on average, $1.24 a month on their bills for energy efficiency programs. The fund totals almost $160 million annually, money that currently is used for programs such as swapping out light bulbs and providing rebates on appliances.  11/12 Chicago Tribune

News Updates for the Week of December 31

1.     32,256 Philips LEDs Light the Iconic 2013 Times Square - Philips continues to bring innovative LED technology into the lives of millions by lighting the world-famous Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. New Year’s 2013 marks the 13th consecutive year Philips has served as the official Lighting Partner to the iconic Times Square Ball. The LED lighting on the Times Square Ball demonstrates the latest in innovative LED technology and ushers in a new era of lighting that delivers energy savings, greater light quality, longer bulb life, and dimmability to existing lighting fixtures.  The same innovative technology used in the Ball is commercially available to consumers to use in their home, and continues to become the new standard in lighting. 12/27 BUSINESS WIRE

2.      Draft 3 Version 1.0 ENERGY STAR Specification for Lamps - The ENERGY STAR Lamps Version 1.0 specification shall take effect in early 2014. To qualify for ENERGY STAR, a product model shall meet the ENERGY STAR specification in effect on its date of manufacture. Comments on Draft 3 are due via email to lamps@energystar.gov no later than Friday, January 18, 2013. https://www.energystar.gov/lamps

3.      The 2012 ENERGY STAR Summary of Lighting Programs - The Summary provides an overview of a variety of programs offered by utilities and other energy efficiency program sponsors in the United States to promote ENERGY STAR certified light bulbs and fixtures, decorative light strings, and ceiling and ventilating fans with light kits.  The Summary includes information provided by energy efficiency program sponsors and describes their current program offerings for 2012-2013 and beyond. Each ENERGY STAR lighting program is summarized with a focus on incentives, marketing and consumer education efforts, program contacts, and other relevant program details. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=activity_search.basic

4.      Optional Guided Tour of L.A.'s Streetlights and Operations Center/Museum on January 29 - The city of Los Angeles has the largest LED street lighting retrofit project in the U.S., if not the world, with more than 106,000 luminaires replaced to date. Led by Senior Street Lighting Engineer Orlando E. Nova, the tour will visit selected outdoor installations and hear about the city's aggressive efforts to integrate remote monitoring systems, adaptive lighting, and controls. 2013 DOE Solid-State Lighting R&D Workshop, January 29-31, 2013 • Long Beach, CA. Register at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/longbeach2013_tour.html

5.      tED Magazine's Greenest of the Green Award - Apply for tED's 2013 Greenest of the Green award. Nominations for the 2013 contest will be accepted from Dec. 3, 2012 through Jan. 18, 2013 through electronic submission portal: https://www.formopro.com/mr.asp?2.270235.8 The 2013 Greenest of the Green award will be presented at the 2013 NAED National Meeting; the winning company will be featured in the April 2013 issue of tED. http://www.tedmag.com/greenaward2013/

      6.      Energy-Efficient Lighting Explained: A Guide for Business People Who Aren't Lighting Techies - FREE (reg. $189) - Provided by Real Energy Writers and The Daily Energy Report, this educational guide reveals why lighting is one of the most cost-effective energy efficiency investments you can make today. You will learn about current lighting technologies, the industry's political issues, and what you can do to reduce energy costs. https://www.noesisenergy.com/site/content/energy-efficient-lighting-explained

7.      Cheap Rare Earth Metals Provide a Boost to the LED Industry - A glut of manufacturing capacity and near-collapse in rare earth metal prices is driving down the cost and hence encouraging the rapid take-up of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting. LED lights are based on semiconductors and therefore do not require traditional lamp manufacturing expertise. This has opened opportunities for LED chipmakers to challenge the incumbent incandescent light bulb manufacturers such as Philips, Osram and General Electric. http://oilprice.com

8.      Lightfair International 2013 Expands - LIGHTFAIR^® International (LFI^®) will expand its product presentation and increase its scale in 2013 with the addition of two high-profile categories occupying newly added Hall F space in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center. The 2013 additions of solar power and software accelerate LFI’s continuing growth as the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference. The new categories will advance its footprint.  Solar and software naturally complement the core LFI product mix with systems and technologies integral to the lighting industry’s broader reach into energy and control innovations. http://lighting.com/lightfair-international-2013-expands/

9.      India Lighting Industry Expects Healthy Growth in 2013 - The LED Industry is expected to reach around US $ 500 million by 2015 in India. Within the segment, LED street light and LED solar light's demand to increase by leaps and bounds in coming years. The industry as a whole faced a tough time specifically in project sales. At the same time, the consumer category still witnessed a reasonable growth, with CFLs continuing to be the growth driver. The advent of reliable LED products will play a significant role in the industry growth in coming years, as major players in the industry are already offering very good value propositions in the market, making this segment very vibrant and dynamic. The lighting industry in India is growing at nearly 17-18% per annum over the last two to three years. 12/29 The Times of India

 

10.  OLEDs on the Road - The automotive industry is one of the markets where new technologies can appear and interact directly with the consumer. One technology that is struggling to find its feet in the consumer world, but could benefit by inclusion in vehicles, is OLED lighting. While there are questions about its efficiency, and high price, being included in an already expensive item would bring it to the attention of the mass market. German manufacturer Audi is known for its innovations in vehicle lighting, having been the first to include LEDs in tail lamps, and then again in the sidelights of a vehicle. It has now begun to pioneer the use of OLED lighting in vehicles-not just as a lens, but to also create cars that can respond to the driver's mood. http://www.plusplasticelectronics.com/lighting/oleds-on-the-road-71130.aspx