Something to Think About

Tough Work of Turning Around a Team by Bill Parcells, Harvard Business Review, November 2000 - 

 

Even small successes can be extremely powerful in helping people believe in themselves. In training camp, therefore, we don’t focus on the ultimate goal–getting to the Super Bowl. We establish a clear set of goals that are within immediate reach: we’re going to be a smart team; we’re going to be a well-conditioned team; we’re going to be a team that plays hard; we’re going to be a team that has pride; we’re going to be a team that wants to win collectively; we’re going to be a team that doesn’t criticize one another.

 

When we start acting in ways that fulfill these goals, I make sure everybody know it. I accentuate the positive at every possible opportunity, and at the same time I emphasize the next goal that we need to fulfill. If we have a particularly good practice, then I call the team together and say, “We got something done today; we executed well. I’m very pleased with your work. But here’s what I want to do tomorrow: I want to see flawless special teams work. If you accomplish that, we will be ready for the game on Sunday.” 

 

When we set small, visible goals, and people achieve them, they start to get it into their heads that they can succeed. They break the habit of losing and begin to get into the habit of winning.

News Updates for the Week of March 5

1.      Turning the Tables: U.S. Manufacturers Find Plenty of Help Selling Abroad - “Made in the USA” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “Sold in the USA.” Many U.S. manufacturers are finding a ready market for their products overseas, where certain big-name brands carry a cache because they’re American-made. But this welcome mat also extends to small- and medium-sized manufacturers in a number of home improvement and building product industries. The International Trade Administration (ITA) http://trade.gov/ a division of the Commerce Department, has representatives around the world looking for--and vetting--trading partners for U.S. companies. The ITA does market intelligence reports for certain products, estimating the size of the competition. It will also conduct due diligence on possible trade partners, and advise on custom issues, shipping needs, and required export licensing and documents. 2/28 HCN

2.      New “LED Fixture Locator” Portal Provides Ability to Search, Compare, and Select LED Fixtures - Lighting Internet Technology Enterprises, LLC (LITE) launches the “LED Fixture Locator.”  Located at www.LEDFixtureLocator.com, the new LED Fixture Locator complements the existing LED Lamp Locator www.ledlamplocator.com by providing lighting professionals with access to updated information on thousands of LED fixture products from hundreds of leading LED fixture manufacturers worldwide.  

3.      ZigBee LED Lighting Control Standardized - The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, is developing a new open standard designed for LED lighting control–ZigBee Light Link. This forthcoming standard will help manufacturers develop a variety of lighting and control products, giving resellers and consumers a wide selection of interoperable, wirelessly controlled lighting products for the home. The Alliance seeks a standard that will be as easy to use as a common dimmer switch.  www.ZigBee.org/LightLink

4.      Read The Label: Inform Consumers about New Lamp Labeling - Common household lamps now carry uniform labeling to facilitate educated decisions focusing on light output and energy costs, not watts, helping consumers transition to more efficient lamp types. As common household incandescent lamps start to be phased out starting this month (Jan. 1, 2012) (100 watts), 2013 (75W) and 2014 (40–60W), consumers need to make informed choices about what substitutions are right for their sockets.  The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, resulting in new requirements under the Appliance Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 305). The result is the Lighting Facts label, similar to the Nutrition Facts labels found on many food items. www.ftc.gov/os/2010/06/100618lightbulbs.pdf http://www.ecmag.com/index.cfm?fa=article&articleID=13394

5.      The U.S. Energy Service Company (ESCO) Pike Research Report Market - The energy service company (ESCO) market for energy efficiency project installations and services exceeded $5.1 billion in 2011, according to a new report by Pike Research. This market is expected to continue to grow faster than the domestic economy and reach $16 billion in sales by 2020. This report describes the continuing evolution of the ESCO market, detailing drivers and barriers to deeper penetration of energy efficiency in the U.S. economy. Key industry players are profiled in depth and market forecasts extend through 2020.  http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/the-u-s-energy-service-company-market

6.      NEMA Publishes ANSI ANSLG C78.21 Incandescent Lamps and ANSI ANSLG C78.40 Electric Lamps - Providing physical and electrical characteristics of incandescent lamps, ANSI/ANSLG C78.21-2011 describes PAR and R bulb shapes. The standard covers lamps with clear, frosted and lens end bulbs, clear and prescription lenses, and with various reflector coatings. ANSI ANSLG C78.40-2011 sets forth the physical and electrical requirements for single-ended metal halide lamps operated on 60 Hz ballasts to ensure interchangeability and safety. The data given also provides the basis for the electrical requirements for ballasts as well as the lamp-related requirements for luminaires. Download at: www.nema.org/stds/c78-21.cfm and www.nema.org/stds/c78-40.cfm

7.      35 Years at the Alliance to Save Energy - For 35 years, the Alliance has led the movement to do more while using less energy. In honor of their 35th anniversary, check out the biggest headlines from the Alliance’s history online for each year since 1977 below to advance energy efficiency in the United States and around the world. http://ase.org/index.php?q=35-timeline

8.      ICF International Wins $11.5 Million Energy Efficiency Contract - ICF International has been awarded a contract extension to continue supporting the energy efficiency portfolio for Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO). The contract has a value of $11.5 million and a term of 36 months. ICF will continue to promote increased energy efficiency in the commercial, industrial, and residential consumer markets. Efforts will include programs for lighting and appliances, heating and cooling, new construction, and home energy audits and home performance, as well as commercial programs that help SMECO's larger and small business customers to use energy more efficiently in their facilities. 2/28 Sun Herald

9.      Tax Credits for "Green Buildings" in Michigan - The push for energy efficient building practices in Michigan is under way with the introduction of legislation House Bill 4286. This bill seeks to amend the Michigan Business Tax Act (2007 PA 36) by providing tax credits for "green" housing practices. In this bill "green" in reference to building practices means that there is an emphasis on site conservation with sustainable planning. Tax credits are awarded based on the acquisition of a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council www.Legislature.mi.gov

10.  Energy Efficiency Financing Available for Racine, WI Businesses - Local businesses will now be able to get help implementing energy-efficient projects thanks to Racine Energy Efficiency (Re²) a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings grant. Under the Re² Smart Security Financing program, collateral is provided by businesses implementing energy-efficiency projects, allowing for no-money-down financing and mitigating a financial institution's risk. Racine businesses undertaking energy-efficiency projects between $10,000 and $1 million are eligible to participate. Any energy-savings projects such as new lighting, HVAC, refrigeration equipment, etc., must meet an estimated 15 percent in energy savings to be eligible for the financing program. 2/29 Journal Times

11.  LG Electronics Named 2012 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year - LG Electronics has been named 2012 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. EPA. The EPA is honoring LG, a global technology leader in consumer electronics and home appliances, for its outstanding contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by manufacturing energy-efficient products and helping to educate consumers about those products. 2/29 The Sacramento Bee

12.  Energy-Intensive Midwest Manufacturing Needs Efficiency Shot, Report Finds - Midwest states tend to be heavy on manufacturing but light on energy efficiency programs, according to the World Resource Institute's "Midwest Manufacturing Snapshot: Energy Use and Efficiency." In the Midwest, which accounts for 22 percent of the U.S. population but 30 percent of the country's manufacturing value-added activity, the report found that there is significant room for energy improvements. http://www.wri.org/publication/midwest-manufacturing-snapshot

13.  CLTC's Siminovitch Named First Rosenfeld Chair in Energy Efficiency at UC Davis - Professor Michael Siminovitch has been appointed the first Arthur H. Rosenfeld Chair in Energy Efficiency at the University of California, Davis. Siminovitch was selected for his innovative work in the field of energy-efficient lighting. The Rosenfeld Chair recognizes Siminovitch’s contributions as a teacher  and a mentor at UC Davis, and as director of the university’s California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC). A nonprofit, CLTC develops energy-efficient lighting technologies and works to get them into widespread use. From solid-state lighting (SSL) solutions and “smart” controls to the CALCTP green jobs training program and case study demonstrations, the Center works with a broad range of organizations (including lighting manufacturers, utilities, energy regulators, and other university research labs) on a variety of projects.

Monthly Special Feature

LED Market Grew Almost 10% in 2011, with 44% Growth in Lighting - The worldwide high-brightness LED market grew from $11.3 billion in 2010 to $12.5 billion in 2011, a growth rate of 9.8%, according to market-research firm Strategies Unlimited. Demand for LED components (i.e. packaged LEDs) in the lighting market grew 44%, from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion. However, looking ahead, the annual revenues for packaged LEDs are likely to stay approximately flat for the next five years. The growth in revenue from the lighting sector will be largely offset by a decline in the backlighting sector. The latest HB-LED market update was revealed during a pre-conference Investor Forum at the Strategies in Light event in Santa Clara. Analyst Ella Shum of Strategies Unlimited will go into more detail on HB-LED market developments in the keynote session of the conference on Wednesday February 8. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/2/6

Leading LED suppliers for 2011 - On the supply side, 10 companies accounted for more than 68% of the LED market in 2011. Strategies Unlimited arrived at these figures after analyzing market demand as well as the supply-side activity of 54 LED component suppliers. The rank order of the top 10 suppliers in the LED market for 2011, by revenue of packaged LED components, is:

1. Nichia
2. Samsung LED
3. Osram Opto Semiconductors
4. LG Innotek
5. Seoul Semiconductor
6. Cree
6. Philips Lumileds
8. Sharp
9. Toyoda Gosei
10. Everlight

LED supply by region - Geographically, Taiwanese and Chinese suppliers gained market share at the expense of the other regions. China’s improvement in product quality, coupled with gains in the domestic market, fueled the growth from 2% market share to 6% in one year. Korean companies lost share in the slowing market, even though they were the most aggressive in increasing capacity during the ramp-up in 2010. The expansion by Philips Lumileds, Cree and Osram Opto into 6-inch substrates slowed as there was a great deal of excess capacity in their existing 4-inch lines. The Japanese LED business has trended down or flat. However, Nichia and TG are major beneficiaries of the boom in tablet computers. Osram Opto gained a major design win, which propelled its visible LED component business to more than $1 billion.

Market growth by segment - 

Mobile - This segment stayed flat in 2011, at $3.4 billion. The overall decrease in the mobile phones market was offset by a sharp rise in tablet display and flash applications. A major development in this segment is the move to OLED displays. Approximately 50% of smartphone displays are expected to be OLEDs by 2016.

TV/Monitor backlights - The LED revenue for TV and monitor backlights was $3 billion in 2011, but it is projected to drop substantially by 2016. The key disruptive factor in this segment is the introduction of low-cost, direct-backlit technology, targeted at sub-42-inch LCD TVs. This new technology can result in significant savings in the bill of materials (BOM), reducing the gap between LED- and CCFL-backlit TVs. These TVs are known as “chubby TVs” since they are thicker than the slim edge-lit design the industry has been touting for the past few years.

Lighting - The same supply conditions that reduced the price of LEDs increased the demand for packaged LEDs in lighting applications from $1.2 billion in 2010 to $1.8 billion in 2011. System efficacy, rather than LED efficacy, was the gating factor in 2011. The LED luminaire and replacment lamp market was $9.3 billion in 2011, an increase of 45% over 2010. The market for LEDs in lighting is expected to demonstrate substantial unit growth over the next five years, but revenue growth will be much lower due to pricing pressure.

Automotive - Revenue reached $1 billion in 2011 We expect a 5-year CAGR of 34% for LED headlamps. In addition to the styling issues, this is part of the trend to convert all front lighting to LEDs, as it will provide more front-end room for the car designer and reduce the overall system cost. Revenue for interior automotive lighting will show a modest decline over the next five years as instrument panel adoption reaches saturation and the market declines with prices.

Future growth - The revenues for the LED packaging industry are expected to be flat in the next five years. With excess capacity in the industry there is a threat of unsustainable prices. Consolidation–both vertical and horizontal–can help improve margins. To further improve profit margin, product strategies such as LED packages tested for high temperature, narrow binning, high CRI, directional /multidirectional LEDs, and embedded controls are being tried by the market.

LED Lighting Experienced Strong Growth Surge in 2011 - Strategies Unlimited has reported 69% year-on-year growth in total sales of LED lamps and luminaires, and expects further growth in the next few years for LED lighting products and LED components for lighting. Despite a decline in the overall market for lighting products in 2011, the LED lighting market (including both LED lamps and LED luminaires) had an exceptionally good year in 2011, growing by 69% year-on-year. Vrinda Bhandarkar, Director of Research for LED Lighting with market-research firm Strategies Unlimited, said that the total revenue from the LED lighting market was $5.5 billion in 2010 and $9.4 billion in 2011. The results were presented during the Solid State Lighting Investor Forum at Strategies in Light 2012, which opened today.  Moreover, the LED lighting market is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% from 2011 to 2016. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/2/9

Commercial and industrial lighting was the biggest growth sector. Bhandarkar said that almost 23 million LED-based downlights were sold worldwide during 2011. Compared with previous forecasts, the growth in sales of LED lamps has been scaled back, since the products are still expensive and alternatives are available. However, sales of LED luminaires of many types were higher than previously expected. Bhandarkar said that users are beginning to appreciate the benefits of LED lighting, beyond light output. “LEDs allow you to think about quality of light and control, not just quantity of light,” she said.

LED components for lighting

The total market for LED packages used in lighting applications reached $1.8 billion in 2011, up from $1.2 billion in 2010, according to Ella Shum, Director of LED Research with Strategies Unlimited. This sector of the LED market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% from 2011 to 2016, when it will reach $3.3 billion. The revenue growth for LED components (13%) is less than for LED lighting products (20%) because the average number of LEDs per lamp or luminaire will decrease, and LED pricing will continue to fall. The growth in LEDs for the lighting sector will help to offset the decline in LED revenue from backlighting (which includes LED backlights for TVs and monitors) and mobile sectors (the latter includes notebooks and tablets). Overall, said Shum, the total market for packaged LEDs will grow from $12.5 billion in 2011 to $13.3 billion in 2012. It will stay roughly flat in 2013 and then decline slowly (see chart). The overall CAGR from 2011 to 2016 is forecasted to be -0.2%.

News Updates for the Week of February 27

1.    AEE's GLOBALCON Conference & Expo - Energy, Power, Facility Management Strategies & Technologies - March 7-8, 2012, Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ http://www.globalconevent.com/registration/

2.    DOE Report Compares Life-Cycle Energy Consumption of LED Lamps with Incumbent Lighting Technologies - The U.S. DOE has published a report comparing the energy consumed over the entire life cycle for LED lamps, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and incandescent lamps. Entitled Review of the Life-Cycle Energy Consumption of Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent, and LED Lamps, it is based on existing life-cycle assessment literature of lighting products. To download a PDF of this report, go to www.ssl.energy.gov/tech_reports.html. The DOE report “2010 U.S. Lighting Market Characterization” (LMC) provides comprehensive and detailed estimates of the national inventory of installed lamps as well as their associated energy use and lumen production. The LMC focuses on four sectors: residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and outdoor. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/2010-lmc-final-jan-2012.pdf

3.    Engineers Take Aim at a Barrier in LED Technology - The problem is what’s called efficiency droop. LEDs function most efficiently at low currents. Turn the current up to levels needed for room lighting, and the efficiency falls off markedly. The lights don’t dim, but as you turn up the amount of electricity, you don’t get more light, so the efficiency goes down, a problem that has made it impossible for LED bulbs to be as cost-effective as incandescent or fluorescent home lighting. Other theories suggest a process called carrier leakage, in which at high currents the carriers start to spill away from areas of high performance, or another process, called carrier delocalization, where electrons simply fail to find a paired hole at high electric currents because they are pulled away from the active region where electrons and holes are supposed to recombine and emit light. 2/20 NY Times

4.     Mexico Proposes New Energy Efficiency Standards for LED Lamps - Mexico’s Ministry of Energy is seeking comments by 20 March on a proposal to establish new mandatory minimum energy efficiency standards, test procedures, sampling, conformity assessment and labeling requirements for light-emitting diode lamps for general lighting purposes. http://www.hktdc.com/info/vp/a/intmk/en/1/1/1/1X07TMCU/Mexico-Proposes-New-Energy-Efficiency-Standards-For-LED-Lamps.htm

5.     Made in the USA Report - In February, Home Channel News published a special "Made in the USA" report, including the products, the stories and the people behind the concept of domestic manufacturing and marketing. The only electrical companies on the list are #15. Leviton dimmers, wall plates and residential wiring products, West Jefferson, N.C.; Tualatin, Ore. Leviton products can be found in the White House and the Statue of Liberty, as well as nine out of 10 homes in the America. #33. Coleman Cable, El Paso, Texas; Texarkana, Ark.; Hayesville, N.C.; Lafayette, Ind.; Bremen, Ind.; Waukegan, Ill.  Based in Waukegan, Ill., Coleman operates and manufactures wire and cable products in six manufacturing facilities in the United State. #45. Mulberry Electrical Products, Union, N.J.; Hatfield, Pa.; Freeport, N.Y. The 85-year-old family owned and operated company makes metal and plastic wallplates, weatherproof box covers and conduit bodies. http://www.homechannelnews.com/sites/homechannelnews.com/files/USA_2012_Digital.pdf

6.    Philips Joins The Climate Group’s LED Lighting Campaign - Philips Lighting has become the first corporate partner to join The Climate Group’s three-year Clean Revolution campaign http://thecleanrevolution.org/. The partnership aims to speed up the global switch to LED lighting, which offers extraordinary opportunities for significant cuts in both energy use and worldwide carbon-dioxide emissions, according to the participants. The Climate Group is an independent, not-for-profit organization working with governments and business leaders to advance policies, technologies and financing that will accelerate low-carbon economic growth. The participants believe in a swift and massive scaling-up of clean energy technologies and infrastructure to improve efficiency and use of our natural resources. http://www.theclimategroup.org/programs/LightSavers/

7.    Saving Taxpayers Money with More Efficient Federal Buildings - There are 445,000 federal buildings in the United States, and taxpayers foot the $7 billion annual bill for their heating, cooling, and operation. The goal of the Smart Energy Act, a bipartisan bill introduced February 14 in Washington, D.C. is to promote efficient energy use in the nation's federal buildings and provide additional funding and loans for energy efficiency improvements in the private sector. An additional part of the bill sets a national goal to double the use of combined heat and power-efficiently capturing the energy that's wasted in industrial processes or electricity production and using it to generate heat and electricity. Using this method will help facilities like hospitals, universities, and military bases cut energy costs. www.fresh-energy.org

8.    KCP&L Scales Back Energy Conservation Incentives - Kansas City Power & Light's much-heralded proposal to help its customers use less electricity is in disarray, just two months after it was announced. In December, KCP&L asked state regulators to approve plans that would lock in conservation incentives for its nearly 600,000 Missouri customers. Now the utility is withdrawing the plan for its 270,000 customers in the Kansas City area. Under the KCP&L proposal, customers would be encouraged to conserve energy by getting rebates to buy energy-efficient equipment and lighting. To pay for the program's upfront costs, KCP&L was asking regulators to let it raise electricity rates. But KCP&L, in a new filing with the Missouri Public Service Commission said the conservation plans would have raised rates up to 4 percent, which it could not justify at this time for its Kansas City customers. KCP&L could reconsider in a year or two and again seek approval to bring those customers into the energy conservation program. 2/23 - The Kansas City Star

9.    City of Dothan, Alabama Installing Energy-Efficient Streetlights - New energy-efficient streetlights are going up on West Main Street. The new streetlights are 157-watt LED lights by Lighting Orient, an LED light manufacturer and will replace 250-watt high pressure sodium bulbs. The grant from the DOE was for $600,000; about $100,000 of that is being used for the streetlights. 2/23 McClatchy-Tribune Regional News

10.  Loan Program Targets Energy Efficiency Projects - The nonprofit Self-Help Credit Union http://www.self-help.org/about-us launched a low-interest loan program Thursday to finance energy-efficiency projects in metro Charlotte. Self-Help, based in Durham, will use a $5.5 million loan and grant from Bank of America, combined with other resources, to offer $15 million in energy loans in Charlotte, Atlanta and six other cities. In Charlotte, the money will be targeted at retrofits of commercial, community and multifamily buildings. 2/17 The Charlotte Observer

11.   Lemnis Lighting Launches Low-Lumen LED Retrofit Lamps in the $5.00 Range - The 240-lm, 5W Pharox BLU 200 and 360-lm, 6W Pharox BLU 300 are available immediately on the Lemnis website http://pharox-led.com/us/ priced at $4.95 and $6.95 respectively. The low-lumen output of the initial Pharox BLU offerings will limit the sockets in which they can be serviceably deployed. Lemnis is a relatively small organization depending on partnerships for manufacturing and much of the design work. Lighting manufacturer Philips and Lemnis Lighting have signed a license agreement giving Lemnis access to Philips’ large portfolio of patents related to LED systems and controls. Lemnis has joined Philips’ licensing program for LED-based luminaires and retrofit bulbs. At the same time Philips has obtained access to the LED-lamp architecture and control patents of Lemnis. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/2/22