A team of faculty and graduate students from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Center for Lighting Enabled Systems & Applications (LESA) and Boston University was awarded a U.S. patent titled “Sensory Lighting System and Method for Characterizing an Illumination Space.” The patent describes how the LED lighting system in a space can detect occupants’ presence, location, [...]

Guest post by Steve Mesh, LC Because of recent trends in the lighting industry, it is now possible to “dial in” a desired color temperature in certain light fixtures at specific times of the day or night. One of the main trends making this possible is the mixture of different color LEDs in architectural fixtures. [...]

By Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP Many utilities offer incentive programs to customers to get them to use less energy. This is based on the premise that it is often cheaper to pay customers to use less energy than to build new generating capacity to satisfy future power demand. The simplest and most popular type of [...]

Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the opportunity to interview Manuel Oomen, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Philips Lighting, on the topic of luminaire-integrated lighting controls. DiLouie: What types of luminaire-integrated controls are available for LED lighting? Oomen: For indoor lighting, integrated controls include presence detectors, (day)light sensors and receivers. For outdoor lighting presence detectors [...]

Hubbell Lighting recently introduced SiteSync™ Lighting Control for exterior spaces. SiteSync Lighting Control will replace Beaconnect, recognized by the industry as an innovative technology, having been selected to the 2014 IES Progress Report and securing a PIA award in 2015. The technology is well suited for site / area, auto dealerships, parking, retail, security and [...]

Guest post by Kevin Willmorth. Superficially, dimming seems to be a simple operation. Turn a knob, slide a bar, or touch a screen to change light levels – done and done. This simplistic form of dimming was once applicable to resistance loads (incandescent lamps) using rheostat controls. The combination creates a naturally feeling dimming profile, [...]

Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the opportunity to interview Bruce Bharat, Director of Product Marketing for Acuity Brands for an article about luminaire-integrated controls for tED Magazine. DiLouie: What types of luminaire-integrated controls are available for LED lighting? Bharat: Today, it’s possible to purchase commercial, industrial and outdoor LEDs with a large variety of [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy recently posted the presentations from the 2016 DOE SSL Technology Development Workshop, held November 16–17 in Denver. You can download them here. The controls-related presentations included: Connected Lighting: What Is It, What Makes It Different, and Where Is It Going? Moderator: Michael Poplawski, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Matt Petti, Eaton [...]

U.S. real GDP slowed to 1.6% in 2016, the lowest growth rate since 2011. However, the outlook for construction spending in 2017 continues to be positive for all market sectors. The AIA’s semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters, is projecting nearly 6% growth in nonresidential construction spending in 2017, [...]

In “Lighting Controls for Dummies,” a presentation at 2016 LEDucation in NYC, Andrea Hartranft, LC, IALD, of Hartranft Lighting Design, LLC, attempts to demystify lighting control vocabulary and provide a better understanding of solid-state dimming. Lighting Controls for Dummies from LEDucation on Vimeo.  

Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the opportunity to interview Susanne Seitinger, PhD, Philips Lighting, Professional Systems for an article about smart cities for Electrical Contractor Magazine. DiLouie: What is the concept of the smart city? Seitinger: A Smart City should reinforce the best of what a city can offer to the people who want [...]

The Fairhair Alliance and the ZigBee Alliance have signed a liaison agreement to collaborate on driving higher levels of product interoperability and standards unification in smart commercial buildings. The two organizations will explore opportunities to combine their technical specifications and take advantage of the ZigBee Alliance’s extensive testing, certification and branding resources and expertise to [...]

The EnOcean Alliance has significantly expanded, and strengthened its program in building automation and the Internet of Things, with IBM supporting the EnOcean Alliance as a Promoter Member. The EnOcean Alliance is a consortium of more than 400 companies that standardize and develop intelligent building solutions integrating energy harvesting wireless technology. Together, IBM and the [...]

In the fall of 2016, the Lighting Controls Association invited subscribers of lightingCONTROL, its monthly newsletter, to participate in a survey. The goal of the survey was to determine satisfaction with LCA services. LCA filtered the responses to separate manufacturers, manufacturer representatives and “other” (press, academic, etc.) respondents, which were regarded separately. The remainder included [...]

To accelerate advances in connected lighting systems, DOE developed a connected lighting test bed (CLTB) in 2016 to characterize the capabilities of market-available connected lighting systems. The results will increase visibility on what does and does not work, and create tight information feedback loops to inform technology developers about needed improvements related to interoperability, configuration [...]

Although some respondents noted weakness in their markets, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) indicates a decidedly positive shift overall as the current conditions index moved from 57.9 in November to 66.7 in December.

Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the opportunity to interview James Benson, GM Global Marketing – Current, powered by GE, Intelligent Cities for an article about smart cities for Electrical Contractor Magazine. DiLouie: What is the concept of the smart city? What are the basic capabilities and benefits? Benson: A smart city is a place [...]

The LIGHTFAIR International (LFI) 2017 conference will offer 77 courses totaling more than 190 education hours at Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center May 7-11, 2017. Highlighting the conference are two leading-edge forums that will explore some of the newest advancements in the industry: IoT & Smart Lighting Forum and Light & Health Forum. Each all-day forum [...]

The ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1 energy standard provides a model energy code to jurisdictions interested in regulating the energy-efficient design of commercial buildings. The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) recognizes 90.1 as an alternative compliance standard. ASHRAE recently published the 2016 version, which supersedes the 2013 version. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes the 2013 version [...]

The ZigBee Alliance, a non-profit association of companies creating, maintaining and delivering open, global standards for the low-power wireless Internet of Things (IoT), recently announced that eight member companies have achieved certification for 20 silicon platforms which form the basis for ZigBee 3.0 products. The large number of certifications gives product developers broad supply chain [...]

In a 25,000-square-foot commercial office on the Rensselaer Technology Park campus in Troy, N.Y., scientists from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are making plans to install LED lighting with fixture-integrated and network-connected lighting controls. The controls are being tested in a broad-based field evaluation to compare and quantify the additional benefits [...]

In 2016, ENERGY STAR hosted a series of webinars on important lighting and control topics including flicker, evaluating color quality, connected lighting and dimmable LED lamps. You can also sign up for the last 2016 webinar, which will be held December 29, 2016 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET. This webinar will cover the [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently published a white paper that discusses new requirements that help reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings. NEMA WD ARCP 1-2016 Automatic Receptacle Control to Meet ASHRAE 90.1-2010 and California (CA) Title 24 explains the controlled receptacle requirement now appearing within non-residential energy codes, as well as a summary [...]

Commercial building energy codes contain detailed mandatory lighting control requirements related to buildings such as K-12 schools. The high-performance school design movement extends these requirements by demanding additional flexibility to support the contemporary learning experience in today’s classroom. This application guide by the Lighting Controls Association describes various control strategies that can be applied to [...]

According to new research by Lutron Electronics, lighting for video conferencing (VTC) applications must accommodate the visual requirements of the people and the camera, and provide visibility of any display materials, especially to remote participants. Achieving the proper lighting balance requires the right combination of fixtures and the right combination of control strategies. While linear [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published NEMA WD 7-2011 (R2016) Occupancy Motion Sensors Standard, which promotes uniformity in the use and application of occupancy motion sensors used in lighting control systems, HVAC, and other devices. This standard explains field of view and coverage characteristics relevant to vacancy and occupancy sensors using passive infrared, [...]

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 The rapid emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has helped put connectivity in a prominent position on lighting’s cutting edge. [Earlier this year] in Santa Clara, CA, at DOE’s second Connected [...]

Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the opportunity to interview Yan Rodriguez, VP, Product & Technology, Acuity Brands Lighting for an article about LED flicker for Electrical Contractor Magazine. DiLouie: In your opinion, how big a problem is LED product flicker in the lighting industry as of 2016? What types of products (lamps versus luminaires, [...]

The interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO) has launched the Certified Lighting Controls Professional (CLCP) designation. With no prerequisites, the CLCP is open to all applicants. Intended to demonstrate a high degree of general knowledge in lighting controls, the CLCP is based on the Lighting Controls Association’s Education Express online education system. This high-quality [...]

This article published in TechCrunch identifies intelligent lighting as a platform for developing Internet of Things strategies in buildings. “The LED revolution is over. To no one’s surprise, LEDs have won. Solid-state lighting is changing how we light the world, successfully displacing traditional illumination sources across every part of the global lighting market. Over the [...]

Traditionally, outdoor lighting was automatically turned ON and OFF at the circuit level by an astronomical time switch or photosensor. Energy codes are now promoting power reduction during dusk-to-dawn lighting operation. Coupled with advances in wireless communication and intelligent control, the result is dramatic changes in how outdoor lighting is controlled. New construction Twenty-four states [...]

Strategies Unlimited recently published its annual market research report, Global Luminaires: Lighting Analysis and Forecast 2016. For 2015, the global luminaire market was assessed at US $62.9 billion with anticipated revenue growth of 2% from 2015 to 2022. The seemingly stagnant growth is due to all other technologies except for LED luminaires declining in demand [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published NEMA LSD 23-2016 Recommended Practice—Lamp Seasoning for Fluorescent Dimming Systems. This paper provides a recommended practice to season lamps for fluorescent dimming systems. This paper is an update to NEMA LSD 23-2010, developed by the NEMA Lighting Systems Division. NEMA LSD 23-2016 may be downloaded at no [...]

Vehicles are expected to play a big part in the Internet of Things. By 2020, 250 million connected vehicles will be on the road, creating new services and driving capabilities, according to Gartner, Inc. Infotainment is high in demand, though other capabilities are enabled, including crash warning, traffic violation warning and relaying weather, traffic and [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published NEMA SSL 7A-2015 Phase-Cut Dimming for Solid State Lighting—Basic Compatibility. This standard provides compatibility requirements when a forward phase-cut dimmer is combined with one or more dimmable light-emitting diode (LED) light engines (LLEs). An LLE, for the purposes of this document, comprises one or more LED modules, LED [...]

About two-thirds (64%) of the United States is covered by prescriptive lighting rebates, according to BriteSwitch, a rebate fulfillment company. These rebates can significantly reduce the installed cost of new lighting in existing buildings and improve payback by 20-25%, which would reduce a two-year payback to about 1.5 years. Rebates became popular in the 1990s [...]

The Northwest Lighting Network recently published an article about the potential of luminaire-integrated lighting controls. From the article: While traditional lighting control strategies can yield considerable benefits, Luminaire Level Lighting Controls (LLLC) show promise of both easier installation and commissioning and deeper energy savings beyond other lighting controls. And: The Design Lights Consortium will publish [...]

GDP ended 2015 strongly with an annual estimated growth rate of 2.4%. The overall U.S. economy continues to improve. Positive economic conditions continue to support growth in demand for nonresidential construction. The nonresidential construction sector enjoyed double-digit growth in 2015, and strong momentum is expected to continue in 2016. The AIA’s semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, [...]