New Posting for the Lighting Positions Network

1. Executive Positions from Jan Furste jan@netshare.com of NETSHARE - The following is a sample of open positions that have been posted with NETSHARE over the past week. This list changes every day…with some dropping off and some added. View the job listings here. Email your interest and resumes, reference the EnergyWatchBlog, directly to Jan Furste…

• President, Miami, FL, $225,000-$275,000 plus 30% bonus + equity
• President/General Manager, Kansas City, MO, $200,000-$250,000 plus 30% bonus + equity
• President and Chief Executive Officer, California, $250,000-$350,000 plus performance based cash + stock options
• Chief Executive Officer/Presidential Profile, Virtual - Midwest or Southeast preferred, $225,000-$250,000 plus $400K-$600K bonus
• General Manager, Stafford, Texas, $120,000-$150,000 plus 20% bonus

News Updates for the Week of March 11

      1. Lighting Equipment Shipments Improved during the Fourth Quarter of 2012 - NEMA’s Lighting Systems Index increased in the fourth quarter of 2012 after a decline in the third quarter, growing 1.9 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis and by 3.3 percent on a year-over-year basis. Lighting equipment demand has struggled to gain traction since the recovery began and remains well below the levels observed during the previous economic expansion. http://www.nema.org/News/Pages/Lighting-Equipment-Shipments-Improved-during-the-Fourth-Quarter-of-2012.aspx

2.      LED Lighting to Grow 40% in 2013, Philips Executive Says - Royal Philips Electronics NV LED  business will grow about 40 percent this year, Greg Sebasky, chief executive officer of it North America unit, said today in an interview. The company sees a “growth tipping point” with the debut this year of its 60-watt equivalent LED light bulb that will retail for about $10, Sebasky said. That will help the energy-efficient technology make up about 50 percent of Philips’ lighting sales by 2015, up from 25 percent last year, he said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-04/led-lighting-to-grow-40-in-2013-philips-executive-says.html

3.      CA Rulemaking on 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards - About Docket #12-BSTD-01…The California Energy Commission is opening a public process and rulemaking proceeding to adopt changes to the Building Energy Efficiency Standards contained in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, Part 6, and associated administrative regulations in Part 1. The proposed amended standards will be adopted in 2014. The CEC staff will conduct workshops to present potential revisions to the Standards and obtain public suggestions and comment. The scope, time, and date of these workshops will be publicly noticed.  http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2013standards/rulemaking/

4.      Bay Bridge Light Display Dazzles San Francisco - Thousands of people crowded the waterfront and connected online to watch Tuesday's 3/5 formal debut of "The Bay Lights," the massive 25,000-light display on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The 1.8-mile long, 500-foot-tall piece—billed as the "world's largest LED light sculpture"—will glimmer nightly until 2015. The project is the brainchild of Ben Davis, chairman of the nonprofit group Illuminate the Arts. Davis admitted a fondness for San Francisco's often-overlooked bridge—which opened six months earlier than its famous sister, the Golden Gate—and said the span's 75th anniversary provided a good opportunity to do something special. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/03/bay-bridge-light-display-dazzles-san-francisco-.html

5.      Performance Analysis Report (PAR )Surveys are Due April 15, 2013 - PAR provides members with an up-to-date picture of actual operations throughout the industry. Each year, industry statistics are compiled into a report from a confidential, financial performance survey administered by the Profit Planning Group--an independent third-party research provider. Participants have the option of receiving a personalized report comparing their operation with others of similar size and customer emphasis. http://www.naed.org/PAR

6.      LEDucation 7 is Next Week - LEDUCATION 7 is being held on Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 at the Hotel Pennsylvania - Penn Plaza Pavilion - 401 Seventh Avenue, New York City. (Located between 32nd & 33rd Streets - across from Madison Square Garden)  Exhibit Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  LED Presentations: 10:30 a.m. thru 7:00 p.m  http://www.leducation.org/

7.      LFE Solutions Launches New Website http://www.lfesolutions.com - LFE Solutions, Inc. provides solutions to ESCOs, solutions that range from custom fluorescent, induction and LED retrofit, new emerging technologies in solid-state lighting and wired and wireless controls for lighting and HVAC systems. Formed by Rob Quintal and Mike Doucette who bring more than 40 combined years of working for or with ESCOs, LFE Solutions exists to provide solutions solely and exclusively to the ESCO.

8.      LIGHTFAIR 2013 REGISTRATION IS OPEN - Registration for LIGHTFAIR International 2013, which will occur April 21-25, 2013 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, is now open: http://www.lightfair.com/lightfair/V40/

9.      LIGHTFAIR International 2014 Changes Date - LFI^® will take place June 1-5, 2014 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Staged alternately annually on the West Coast and the East Coast, LFI returns to Las Vegas in 2014 but will happen in June instead of May as in earlier years. www.lightfair.com

Something to Think About...

How Long Can Apple Stay On Top?

It's the biggest company now, but consumers are fickle, management makes mistakes and competitors don't sit still. Here's a look at the 7 companies who've been No. 1 in the past 20 years:

Philip Morris - March 1992. The company's current name, Altria Group (MO), wasn't coined until 2003. Marlboro remains the world's best-selling cigarette brand to this day.  Under Hamish Maxwell and Mike Miles, Philip Morris had generated five consecutive years of earnings growth of at least 20% annually, thanks in part to acquisitions of General Foods in 1985 and Kraft Foods in 1988. But domestic tobacco sales were slowing.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) - from April 1992 through October 1992

Wal-Mart Stores - November 1992 through January 1993. Twenty years ago, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) ascended to corporate champ. The company was ringing in record sales and earnings and expanding across the country with new stores, supercenters and Sam's Clubs. It is still the top retailer in the world with over $400 billion in sales.

AT&T- May 1993 through August 1993. This wasn't Ma Bell's first time to occupy the top spot -- she'd been queen of the markets in the early 1980s. That was before the phone giant -- with a nudge from the U.S. Department of Justice -- divested its local operating companies in 1984 while retaining its manufacturing arm and long-distance operations. The breakup resulted in the creation of seven regional holding companies (aka Baby Bells), as well as a six-year stretch of steadily declining long-distance rates.

General Electric - September 1993 to August 1998.  These were the reaping years for Jack Welch. He had been chief executive of General Electric (GE) since 1981, and the fruits of his reign ripened in the 1990s. He'd spent the previous decade slimming down the company and redefining it -- laying off employees, selling off manufacturing businesses and buying up financial-services companies.

Microsoft - September 1998 through March 2000.  Their ascent was fueled by 23 consecutive years of record sales and earnings (the company was founded in 1975; it went public in 1986). The colossus of Redmond, Wash., had its share of lovers and haters. In June 1998, it launched its Windows 98 operating system in 40 countries. The software would end up on the overwhelming majority of new personal computers.

GE took over #1 again until 2005

Exxon Mobil - February 2005 through August 2011. Oil prices hit an all-time high in 2008. That year, Exxon Mobil clocked record revenues and profits. The company has ranked among the 10 largest companies in the country for decades. It remains the world's largest publicly traded energy company.  Exxon Mobil's history stretches back more than 125 years.

Apple - September 2011 through today.  Walk the streets, sit in a restaurant, ride the train -- wherever you go, you'll see people using iPhones or iPads (or both). Wildly popular products explain why Apple (AAPL) is now at the top of the heap. The company's profits have grown at a stunning annualized pace of 59% over the past 10 years, and the company sits on an astounding $117 billion in cash.  Apple's market value of $548 billion exceeds that of its nearest rival, Exxon Mobil, by more than $125 billion. 

Who will push it aside?

News Updates for the Week of March 4, 2013

1.     Next Generation Luminaires Design Competition Announces 2012 Outdoor Winners - The competition began evaluating indoor and outdoor products separately in 2012, and the winners announced today are the 2012 outdoor winners — the first outdoor winners to be announced as part of a separate NGL competition.  Compared to previous years, the 2012 NGL outdoor results show a marked improvement in overall performance. The recognized products performed best in terms of color, illuminance, and light distribution and not quite as well in terms of glare, which was somewhat of a concern to the judges. The idea behind NGL is to make it easier for lighting designers and specifiers to find LED lighting products that are worthy of specification. For the complete list of winners in the outdoor category:  http://www.ngldc.org/12/outdoor/winners.stm

2.     Consulting-Specifying Engineer 2012 Product of the Year Winners - Consulting-Specifying Engineer Magazine recently announced the 2012 Product of the Year winners. These 32 individual products—selected by the readers of Consulting-Specifying Engineer—were culled from a field of 98 entries. Product categories include electrical distribution; emergency, on-site, and standby power; equipment level sensors and controls; fire, life safety, and mass notification; lighting; plumbing and water management; software design, modeling, and analysis; and test instruments, meters and data loggers. http://www.csemag.com/home/single-article/2012-product-of-the-year-winners/476ccdbf642fcd1fe53a81f2cef4b33c.html

3.     tED’s Lighting Line-Up Preview - The cover story for the March issue of tED explores how LED technology is steadily growing, with manufacturers offering advice on how distributors can best approach the lighting market.  The March issue of tED features the annual Lighting Line-Up. http://www.tedmag.com/galleries/Lighting-Line-Up-preview.aspx#8517957833

4.     Zhaga Publishes Interface Specs for LED Downlighting Modules - The Zhaga Consortium, an international group of lighting industry companies, develops interface specifications (Books) that enable the interchangeability of LED light engines made by different manufacturers. Zhaga has published its second interface specification for LED light engines: Zhaga Interface Specification Book 2 defining a SSL module primarily for downlight applications. Zhaga has also created a database of certified products, which are all commercially available. In October 2012, Zhaga published Book 1 and Book 3, which respectively include common definitions and generic information applicable to all the different interface specifications. http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/2/20

5.     There's Gold in Them Thar Tax Code - http://www.dsireusa.org/ Hundreds of tax incentives exist for clean energy. The trick is tracking them down, making sense of them, and putting them to good use. Here's some guidance on how to do this: Federal Tax Incentives. The so-called "fiscal cliff" bill (HR 8) enacted last month included a suite of sweeteners for clean-energy projects. Specifically, several tax incentives were extended through the end of 2013, including the Production Tax Credit, Bonus Depreciation, the Energy-Efficient New Homes Tax Credit for Home Builders, the Energy-Efficient Appliance Manufacturing Tax Credit and the Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit. Other federal incentives are currently in effect as well; here's a fuller list

6.     Silicon Nanocrystal LEDs - Scientists of KIT and the University of Toronto/Canada have now succeeded in manufacturing silicon-based light-emitting diodes (SiLEDs). Silicon dominates in the microelectronics and photovoltaics industries, but has been considered unsuitable for light-emitting diodes for some time. However, this is not true for nanoscopic dimensions: Minute silicon nanocrystals can produce light. These nanocrystals consist of a few hundred to thousand atoms and have a considerable potential as highly efficient light emitters. The SiLEDs have the advantage that they do not contain any heavy metals. In contrast to cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide or lead sulfide used by other groups of researchers, the silicon used by this group for the light-emitting nanoparticles is not toxic. Moreover, it is available at low costs and highly abundant on earth. http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/15356/title/silicon-nanocrystal-leds.aspx

7.     California Plans More Exacting LED Retrofit Lamp Guidelines - California has a new guideline for LED retrofit lamps that is more stringent than Energy Star guidelines in some areas. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has published the voluntary guideline (Voluntary California Quality LED Lamp Specification) and lamp manufacturers will have to comply to have their solid-state lighting (SSL) retrofits be eligible for utility rebates. The CEC does not intend to supplant Energy Star but to simply add some requirements in certain areas. There are no concrete plans for the CPUC to begin enforcing the news specification. But the CEC document says that utilities will start requiring compliance one year after the specification has been adopted and that could mean early 2014.  http://www.energy.ca.gov/2012publications/CEC-400-2012-016/CEC-400-2012-016-SD.pdf

8.     DOE to Host Webcast on Successful Selection of LED Streetlight Luminaires on March 6, 2013 - On Wednesday, March 6, DOE’s Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium will host a 90-minute live webcast on the factors involved in successful selection of LED streetlight luminaires. Presented by Eric Haugaard of Cree Lighting and Chad Stalker of Philips Lumileds, the webcast will guide participants through the modeling of a typical roadway layout — emphasizing key design elements for consideration. The webcast will begin at 1:00 PM Eastern Time and will include a 60-minute presentation, followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session with attendees. To register.  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/events_detail.html?event_id=7669

9.     Webcast: Highlighting Indoor SSL Applications - On Thursday, April 4, the U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) will host a webcast entitled “Solid-State Lighting: Highlighting Indoor Applications.” The webcast is part of FEMP's First Thursday Seminars series, which provides training for Federal energy and environmental professionals. The webcast will highlight new LED lighting developments with an emphasis on troffer applications, best practices to upgrade existing and install new lighting, as well as Federal priorities and tools and resources for success. The webcast is scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. To register or to learn more, visit:    http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/femp/training/course_detail_live.cfm/CourseDateId=537

10.     LIGHTFAIR 2013 REGISTRATION IS OPEN - Registration for LIGHTFAIR International 2013, which will occur April 21-25, 2013 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, is now open: http://www.lightfair.com/lightfair/V40/

 

11.  Energy Efficiency Program Aims to Make All Kentuckians More Aware  - Kentucky is one of three states to receive a U.S. DOE grant to use Cooperative Extension offices to funnel energy efficiency information to residents, dubbed “Energy Efficiency Awareness and Action Program.” If the program is successful in Kentucky, it could become a nationwide program.  The program uses online tools so that residents and commercial business owners can perform energy assessments in their homes and businesses. http://www.bae.uky.edu/energy/commercial/