The IES Illumination Awards program recognizes individuals for professionalism, ingenuity, and originality in lighting design. The Lighting Controls Association is proud to sponsor the Lighting Control Innovation Award, which recognizes excellence in design projects featuring innovative and effective use of lighting controls. Submissions open January 2, 2018.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and its counterpart industry associations in Canada and Mexico issued joint recommendations to their respective governments on the modernization and improvement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The Lighting Controls Association has announced that OSRAM’s Gary Meshberg, LEED AP, LC, IES has been re-elected Chair for the 2018-2019 term. Legrand’s Charles Knuffke has been elected Co-Chair. Maria Northup of NEMA serves as executive director, secretary and treasurer, and Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP, IES, principal of ZING Communications, Inc., serves as education director.

The general concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is expansive and virtually without limit. The basis of the technology is that devices, appliances, building systems, computer networks, vehicles and personal smart devices become connected together in such a way as to exchange and process information or facilitate integrative control functionality. The impact this will have on industries and individuals is potentially profound.

In this LCA column, Kevin Willmorth looks at the Internet of Things and the role lighting is likely to play in it.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting is part of a brave new world. The ascendance of LED fixtures has given rise to some new methods of providing and controlling light in our environments. Since LEDs are low-voltage devices that use direct current, they are a good match with a system that provides low-voltage DC power over Ethernet cables. Guess what? That’s a computer network! For several years, lighting (and computer) companies have been developing the idea of powering LED fixtures from what is essentially a computer network switch. As you might imagine, this gives rise to a host of questions about a variety of issues.

In this LCA column, Steve Mesh takes an in-depth look at power over Ethernet (PoE) systems.

The DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) new report, Energy Savings from Networked Lighting Control (NLC) Systems, estimates average lighting energy savings of 47% resulting from installation of networked lighting control systems. The report indicates high potential energy savings for networked controls, supports layered control strategies as a means to maximize savings, and may be used to justify new and larger utility rebates. Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP breaks it down in this month’s featured article.

In this LCA column, Kevin Willmorth breaks down opportunities and challenges when controlling TLED lamps.

The Lighting Controls Association welcomes EuControls Corporation as a new member.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, EuControls is dedicated to the design and manufacture of LED lighting control systems and devices based on field applications and growing demand for LED lighting. As a company dedicated to offering advanced technology products, the company’s solutions focus on intelligent and wireless lighting controls.

This Posting by Jim Brodrick, DOE’s SSL Program Manager, profiles Acuity Brands as an American manufacturer of LED products. Click to check it out.

Most commercial building energy codes require automatic lighting shutoff. This common-sense strategy also adds value to lighting upgrades in existing buildings. Remote switching is one method, with an option being switches residing in a metal cabinet-type enclosure called a panel. This panel can serve as the backbone for a complete energy code-compliant control system that responds to a wide range of control inputs for indoor and outdoor lighting control. It is typically sold as a new complete unit, though panelboard retrofit assemblies are available.

This article describes common panel-based lighting control systems.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently released its September Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI). For a second consecutive month, the index reflected an improvement in the current conditions measures with an overall increase of three points, from 65.6 to 68.8. The future conditions index increased from 62.5 to 75 with a few survey participants [...]

This educational video, produced by the Lighting Controls Association at the 2017 LIGHTFAIR event, introduces the building industry to emergency assistance services enabled by Echelon’s networked lighting control system. Click here to learn more.

Republication of Postings from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solid-State Lighting Program Headquartered in Greenville, SC, where more than 500 employees are based, Hubbell Lighting is a major manufacturer of LED and conventional luminaires and control solutions, and is one of the three largest lighting manufacturers based in the U.S. The company features a [...]

Republication of Postings from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solid-State Lighting Program by Jim Brodrick, SSL Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy A new GATEWAY report on a trial installation of tunable-white LED lighting systems in three Texas classrooms provides valuable insights into the use of this technology in a real-world setting. While reducing [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) offers a free publication on how to evaluate electrical equipment that has been exposed to water through flooding, hurricanes, and other events involving large quantities of water.

LD+A recently published an article by the California Lighting Technology Center’s Cory Jackson, discussing why commercial lighting remains sparse in demand response programs and what can be done. She writes: After nearly two decades of support and research focused on automated demand response (ADR), lighting remains underutilized as a demand response resource. Beginning in 2007 [...]

In “Connectivity is The Key,” LD+A lighting control columnists Gary Meshberg, LC (chair, Lighting Controls Association) and Craig DiLouie, LC (education director) describe the revolution in lighting controls occurring in the area of connectivity and what this means for the future of lighting. The authors write: While basic connected lighting capabilities have been available for [...]

In May 2016, the DesignLights Consortium® (DLC) released V.1.0 of its Networked Lighting Control Systems Specification, which formed the basis of a new Qualified Lighting Products List (QPL). The intent was to provide utilities and energy efficiency programs a resource to qualify networked lighting control systems so they could be covered in commercial sector lighting [...]

LightShow West has announced a new education series, Control Systems Summit: A Lighting Revolution, will take place Oct. 12 as part of the two-day trade show and conference at Kentia Hall in the Los Angeles Convention Center Oct. 11-12. Available for $195, the summit will include four hours of education, which carry a number of [...]

Guest Post by Kevin Willmorth Flicker presents itself in several forms, each with its own cause. For lighting decision makers, avoiding flicker requires understanding what causes it and what can be done to avoid it. For a good understanding of what flicker is and how we see it, NEMA’s position paper TLAs-2015 Temporal Light Artifacts [...]

Guest post by Steve Mesh, LC A relatively recent trend in the industry is to embed “luminaire-integrated” (embedded) controls into each fixture. This can be done in different ways, with different types of components, and with different types of control systems. The most basic version of “luminaire-integrated” controls consists of on-board sensors that tell the [...]

Republication of Postings from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solid-State Lighting Program by Jim Brodrick, SSL Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy It’s no secret that the explosion of connectivity triggered by the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) is also impacting the lighting industry — to such an extent as to constitute [...]

The most recent Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) collected new information about lighting control technologies and strategies in the United States in 2012. Compared with other investments in energy efficiency—such as upgrading heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems or replacing insulation—lighting controls are often “relatively easy, accessible, and affordable changes,” according to the Department of [...]

Occupancy and vacancy sensors are devices that detect when a space is unoccupied and accordingly automatically turn OFF (or dim) the lights, thereby saving energy. The device may also turn the lights ON automatically upon detecting the presence of people, providing convenience and a potential security aid. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, occupancy-based [...]

Guest post by Steve Mesh, LC Networked lighting control systems are all the rage these days. Rightfully so, given their enormous capability to control luminaires, energy use – and potentially much more. But what are the major elements that define a networked lighting control system? Understanding that will help the specifier to decide which system [...]

The 2017 DOE Connected Lighting Systems Workshop was held June 7–8, 2017, in Santa Clara, CA. Now you can download the presentations from the DOE SSL website and discover what the speakers had to say about key issues in connected lighting and what actions are needed to move it forward. Click here to get the [...]

A good lighting design includes a good controls design. Lighting controls play a critical role in lighting systems, enabling users manually or automatically to: • turn the lights ON and OFF using a switch; and/or • adjust light output up and down using a dimmer. This basic functionality can be used to generate these benefits [...]

This short video, produced by the Lighting Controls Association at the 2016 LIGHTFAIR event, introduces the building industry to the software behind the Synapse Wireless SNAP lighting control solution.

Guest post by Kevin Willmorth, Lumenique In small- and medium-scale lighting application, wired controls remain the foundation for robust controls system architectures. However, the growth of wireless controls is expanding rapidly, and for good reason. The advantages of wireless controls include the ability to move controls and loads and re-assign control-to-load connections without involvement of [...]

When evaluating an existing lighting system, the owner can do nothing, something or everything. Doing nothing abandons operating cost savings. Doing something entails replacing lamps and installing some automatic controls. Doing everything involves installing a new lighting and control system. As many owners opt for the “something” option, demand for LED replacement lamps continues to [...]

The Lighting Controls Association is proud to welcome McWong International, Inc. as a new member of the association. McWong International has bridged East and West to offer its customers a mix of quality, service and innovation. A California corporation, McWong develops and manufactures high-quality lighting control equipment and related electrical components. Products include occupancy sensors, [...]

Below is a transcript of an interview Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP conducted with Gary Trott, Vice President, Marketing, Intelligent Lighting, Cree, Inc. for an article developed for tED Magazine. The topic: luminaire-integrated lighting controls. DiLouie: What types of luminaire-integrated controls are available for LED lighting? Trott: As smart technology continues to expand into our workspaces, [...]

The Lighting Controls Association is proud to welcome Intermatic Inc. as a new member of the association. Intermatic Inc. manufactures energy-saving lighting controls for industrial/commercial/institutional and residential applications. The company offers timer-switches, sensors, photocontrols, power protection devices and meters through a network of distributors and retailers. Founded in 1891, Intermatic is headquartered in Spring Grove, [...]

Relying on tunable white light is the “best, most-affordable way to ‘future-proof’ your work and designs and ensure very high performance.” So said Terry Clark, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Finelite, Inc., while participating in the National Lighting Bureau’s Annual Lighting Forum as one of three panelists focused on new and emerging developments [...]

The Lighting Controls Association is proud to announce a new partnership with the California Community College System (CCCS) to educate tomorrow’s electrical workforce about energy-saving lighting controls throughout California. CCCS is the largest system of higher education in the nation, with 2.1 million students attending 113 colleges. This partnership aims to upskill an electrical workforce [...]

In 2015, the International Code Council published a new version of its International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This model energy code provides states and jurisdictions code-ready language to adopt in whole or in part. It has been updated every three years since 2000. Today, a majority of states base their commercial building energy codes on [...]

With Powerlink intelligent panelboards, a huge sports stadium is able to automate lights, televisions and more, improving their energy efficiency and gaining convenient, remote control. Learn how in the below video or click here.

This educational video, produced by the Lighting Controls Association at the 2016 LIGHTFAIR event, introduces the building industry to Douglas Lighting Controls’ Bluetooth Wireless Control System. This product is a complete stand-alone wireless system used to control lights in a variety of applications. The system includes wireless fixture controllers, switches, and occupancy/daylight sensors all using [...]

In an article recently published by Oracle’s Profit, Current by GE CTO David Bartlett saves LED lighting not only saves energy but also presents new capabilities due to it being a digital platform. He compares it to a smart phone, which bundles multiple functions into a single device. “It’s to the point where I don’t [...]