The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES)—recognized leaders in development of lighting industry standards—recently announced a new partnership to foster innovation, collaboration, and consistency in lighting technical standards.

In this episode of The Lighting Controls Podcast co-produced by the Lighting Controls Association and NAILD, Mitch Hefter, Sr. Systems Engineer – Design & Development for Signify provides a lesson in standards like DALI and DMX along with a refresher on acronyms like ESTA and USITT.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently published the 2022 Electrical Standards & Products Guide (ESPG), which is the electroindustry’s go-to resource for 1,000 standards and technical documents, product categories, and the manufacturers of those products. This year’s edition features 20 new documents published in 2021. 

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published two new standards for reporting energy data and tagging metadata.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published NEMA CPSP 4-2021 Harmonized Cybersecurity Standards and Conformity Assessment. This document emphasizes the need for globally harmonized industry consensus around cybersecurity process Standards and conformity assessments.

In this blog post at Cooper Lighting Solution’s website, Soroush Amidi, Director, Product Management walks you through the cybersecurity standards affecting implementation of intelligent lighting controls and smart buildings.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published the 2021 Electrical Standards & Products Guide (ESPG), a comprehensive guide that includes nearly 800 NEMA publications for electrical and medical imaging industries, as well as product categories and NEMA Member manufacturers of those products.

The ioXt Alliance, the Global Standard for IoT Security, recently announced the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has added ioXt security certification to its Networked Lighting Control System Technical Requirements (Version 5), also known as NLC5. Along with ioXt, NLC5 offers a full breakdown of all DLC-recognized cybersecurity certification options that are specifically designed for interior and exterior NLC systems associated with commercial and industrial buildings, roadways, and exterior environments.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) joined nine other Standards developing organizations to file a “friend of the court” legal brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, for copyright protection in the Standards development process. The case, Milice v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, involves a claim that industry Standards lose their copyright protection when referenced in Federal regulations.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published NEMA ESM1-1 2019 Electrical Submeter—General Requirements and NEMA ESM1-2 2019 Electrical Submeter—Active Energy Accuracy. NEMA ESM1-1 covers general metrological requirements (accuracy) and associated testing for electrical energy submeters detailing energy use. NEMA ESM1-2 covers metrological requirements and associated testing for AC meters rated at not more than 1,000 V that measure active energy used in electrical energy submetering applications.

This article provides general introductory knowledge about the lighting control requirements imposed by the 2016 version of ASHRAE/IES 90.1 and the 2018 version of the IECC.

Because of the strong energy savings potential offered by daylight harvesting, coupled with advancing technology, codes and standards are now beginning to address daylight harvesting—specifically, International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2009, ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2010, ASHRAE 189.1 and Title 24-2008.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published two new solid state lighting standards: 1) NEMA SSL 1-2010 Electronic Drivers for LED Devices, Arrays, or Systems, and 2) NEMA SSL 6-2010 Solid State Lighting for Incandescent Replacement—Dimming.
With these publications, NEMA establishes harmonized requirements and expectations for solid state lighting (SSL). Both are directed toward designers, manufacturers, and users of SSL products.

Green construction codes and standards are beginning to emerge on the national code stage. The standards go beyond energy standards such as 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to cover additional areas such as site sustainability, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and materials and resources. The first is ASHRAE Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, published by ASHRAE in January 2010 in conjunction with the USGBC and the Illuminating Engineering Society.

The Lighting Controls Academy is pleased to announce that Gary Meshberg has been re-elected the organization’s Chair for the 2026-2027 term.

In this extraordinary guest post, Cooper Lighting Solutions’ Martin Mercier describes the codes and options that make up emergency lighting and the role for lighting control systems, including wireless.

Craig DiLouie recently interviewed Scott Ziegenfus, Vice President of Technical Customer Experience (CX) at Current, about general lighting trends for an article for tED Magazine, the official publication of the NAED.

mwConnect, a leading innovator in wireless mesh technology, and Network Thermostat™ (NetX), a pioneer in connected smart thermostats for commercial applications, recently announced a strategic partnership to advance integration between HVAC system control and networked lighting control platforms. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the adoption of wireless mesh for building automation, enabling facility [...]

Leviton recently announced the Submetering Pro Certification Program, a comprehensive training initiative designed to equip contractors with the expertise to meet growing submetering code requirements in the multi-family, commercial and industrial sectors. The program is free for qualifying contractors.

In the world of building projects, the Control Intent Narrative (CIN) and Sequence of Operations (SOO) have long been essential and elusive. They define how a lighting control system will function, but too often they arrive late in the process (or not at all), are inconsistent from one project to the next, and are misaligned with energy codes or industry standards. The Lighting Controls Academy set out to change this dynamic with a new resource: Design Express.

The Lighting Controls Academy’s Craig DiLouie interviewed Flashnet, LLC’s Dominic Macaluso, Business Development Manager – North America, West Coast; Brent Conley, Business Development Manager – North America, East Coast; and Ovidiu Vrabie, Marketing Specialist about the company’s new inteliLIGHT® NEMA streetlight controller.

In this guest post by Current’s Scott Ziegenfus, he talks about the lighting trends that faded and the ones still going strong.

The Lighting Controls Academy’s Craig DiLouie recently interviewed executives at Flashnet, LLC about the company, its lighting control offering, and its distinct value proposition. Check out this interview to learn more about the LCA’s newest member.

Commercial building energy codes regulate the design of nonresidential buildings to minimize energy consumption. While the majority of U.S. states adopt model codes and standards, the State of California developed its own code: Title 24, Part 6 of the state’s Building Standards Code. The latest version was released in 2025 and will take effect January 1, 2026.

On August 28, 2025, from 2-3PM ET, CONSULTING-SPECIFYING ENGINEER will host a webinar, “Lighting and Lighting Controls: Principles and Practices,” sponsored by Lutron Electronics.

In February 2025, the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) released a new resource to facilitate integration between networked lighting controls (NLC) and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit includes tools and guidance applicable to new and existing construction projects. The toolkit’s goal is to support maximized energy savings with integration by ensuring clear project team communication.

This educational video, produced by the Lighting Controls Association at the 2025 LEDucation event in New York City, offers the building industry a brief booth tour of mwConnect’s new ZBD Sensor-Controller.

Networked lighting control systems play a crucial role in optimizing lighting energy use, enhancing occupant comfort, and interacting with building automation systems (BAS). However, simply installing a lighting control system does not guarantee it will function as intended. This is where a startup comes into play.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently published C137 TR 1-2024, Lighting Control User Interface Technical Report. The 15-page technical report recommends user interface elements for lighting controls utilized by end-users and occupants. It is applicable to hardware controls, software applications, personal control apps, displays, and documentation. The report provides recommendations for designing user interfaces [...]

For 25 years, the Lighting Controls Association, a council of NEMA, has educated the building industry about lighting control technology and application, notably through its Education Express courses. We are proud to announce that starting May 1, 2025, the Education Express curriculum will be incorporated into a new learning management system, NEMA Academy.

The Lighting Controls Association is proud to announce the latest offerings in lighting controls from industry-leading manufacturers in this year’s annual product guide. Check them out!

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) has released an innovative resource designed to boost energy savings in the commercial building sector by encouraging the integration of networked lighting controls (NLC) with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Research shows that adding NLCs to commercial lighting upgrades can cut a project’s new lighting load in half. Taking [...]

As part of a new Lighting Controls Association series of short articles providing an in-depth introduction to new products, Craig DiLouie talked to Kevin Arndt, Technical Product Manager, Barron Lighting Group about the company’s new LE-C6 UL924-compliant emergency lighting controller.

With the growing strain on the electric utilities driven by electric vehicle charging, electrification of heating, and energy-intensive technologies like AI and cryptocurrency mining, managing energy efficiently has never been more critical. Automated Demand Response (ADR) paired with advanced lighting controls offers a proactive solution to this challenge. By leveraging lighting control devices to reduce lighting at certain times, organizations can facilitate dynamic adjustments to energy consumption, helping to ensure utility grid stability while optimizing building performance.

Craig DiLouie recently had the opportunity to interview Adam Mack, Product Manager, Caséta Wireless, Lutron Electronics, about what’s new in home automation for upcoming articles in Electrical Contractor and tED magazines. Transcript follows.

As part of a new Lighting Controls Association series of short articles providing an in-depth introduction to new products, Craig DiLouie talked to Chad Watters, Product Manager Lighting Controls, mwConnect, about the company’s recently introduced Indoor Bluetooth NLC ZBD Sensor-Controller.

Craig DiLouie recently talked to Stephen Zhou, Executive Vice President, mwConnect about the company, its history and products, and its vision for the lighting controls industry.

The DALI Alliance (DALI), the TALQ Consortium (TALQ), and the Zhaga Consortium (Zhaga)–each focused on defining international lighting standards to ease investment decisions for public and private entities–recently announced the signing of a liaison agreement to collaborate on unifying data streams for smart street lighting systems.

In August 2024, the International Code Council published the 2024 version of the IECC, which has been updated every three years since 2000. As with previous iterations of the IECC, this new version reduces lighting power allowances, expands mandatory controls requirements, and issues clarifications.