Here’s my lead editorial from the July issue of Illuminate, which you may find interesting:
This year’s Lightfair International in New York City was memorable for many things, but topping the list in my mind is how LED products and standards swept the Lightfair Innovation Awards.
Calculite Solid-State Downlights by Philips Lightolier, a family of 4-in. round and square LED downlights producing 1,000 lumens of warm- or cool-white light output, were recognized as the Most Innovative Product of the Year. These downlights operate at an efficacy of 50 lumens/W, about 40% higher than competitive compact fluorescent luminaires.
The Technical Innovation Award was shared by Luminus’ SST-90-W 10W 6500K 100 lumens/W white light LED device, and Philips Lumileds’ Luxeon Rebel ES, a 4100K or 5650K 100 lumens/W white light LED device. The Design Excellence Award went to Peerless Lighting for Kite, an indirect/direct luminaire with an edge-lighted optic that emits 4,000 lumens of uniform, glare-free, high-CRI illumination. And the Judges’ Citation Award recognized LM-08-08, published by IES, a standard covering measurement of lumen maintenance of LED devices.
Five years ago, LED general lighting was more concept than reality. Over the past five years, efficacy rocketed from 20 to 100 lumens/W, while cost—in terms of dollars per kilolumen—is falling about 25% per year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Through 2007, LED lighting applications included niche markets such as exit signs, accent lighting, decorative lighting and color LED applications. Recently, white LED luminaires have begun to be introduced for numerous retail display, commercial, industrial and outdoor area lighting applications—accounting for more than 50% of the total LED luminaire market in 2008, according to Strategies Unlimited. Now white LED general lighting products are being recognized as the industry’s most innovative.
The revolution is far from over; the technology is moving so fast that next-generation products are entering the market every six months. Meanwhile, government and industry have taken other important steps to protect consumers during this time of rapid and explosive growth. Of particular interest are programs recognizing products that meet or exceed quality thresholds.
Because not all LED products on the market perform similarly or as they advertise, ENERGY STAR established criteria for solid-state luminaires so that consumers can easily identify LED products that perform as well or better than similar products using traditional light sources. At the time of writing, ENERGY STAR commercial market products have been introduced by Cooper Lighting, Cree and Juno Lighting. In all, more than 25 commercial and residential products have become ENERGY STAR-qualified; visit www.energystar.gov for a complete, current list.
While ENERGY STAR may provide confidence that a given product will meet or exceed certain performance criteria, it is no guarantee that it will perform well in a given application. For this reason, the Next Generation Luminaires competition—sponsored by DOE, IES and IALD—was created. Products were vetted by a panel of 14 lighting designers and other professionals in a real-world evaluation that considered aesthetics and overall suitability for market. Of the 68 entries from 29 companies, 22 were identified as “market ready,” or about a third. While this is not a very high score for the industry as a whole, it is sign that a significant number of products are available that meet the most demanding levels of evaluation. The Best in Class products were GE Lumination’s Immersion LED Jewelry Display Case Lighting, Journée Lighting’s AZARA LED Luminaire, and Winona LED’s STEP03 Steplight. For more information about these and other market-ready LED products, visit the competition at www.ngldc.org.
Finally, DOE’s SSL Quality Advocates program encourages manufacturers to display the Lighting Facts™ label values (lumens, watts, efficacy, color temperature and color rendering) on their products. More than 60 manufacturers have taken the Quality Advocates pledge, agreeing to have its LED products tested to the LM-79 standard and submit the test report verifying the data they display on the Lighting Facts label. At the time of writing, 25 products were submitted by nine manufacturers: Appalachian Lighting Systems, Bulbrite, Cree, CRS Electronics, GE, Kenall, Kim, Radionic and Glen Lighting. Visit www.lightingfacts.com for more information.
Architects and lighting designers should reward companies and products that are positively recognized by these programs to encourage development of quality products and, frankly, to avoid getting burned. The good news is there not only are many good solutions available, there are also good programs available to help you find them.
