David Shiller

According to Reuters, the International Longshoremen Association have announced a decision by workers to strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, from Maine to Texas. These ports represent about half of all goods imported into the US via ocean shipping. While the majority of lighting industry imports come from Asia through unaffected West Coast [...]

  DOE previously provided guidance to general service lamp (GSL) manufacturers that the Department would not require certification in CCMS (the regulated product database) of GSL lamps that did not already require certification, until the effective date of new standards which come into effect July of 2028. DOE published a pre-publication final rule document, this week, withdrawing [...]

  Candiac, Quebec, Canada now boasts the first “smart” crosswalk in North America with lights embedded into the road surface, to improve pedestrian safety. Before pedestrians enter the crosswalk, sensors are triggered that turn on the lights to increase visibility for drivers to stop. The Candiac crosswalk is outside an elementary school to increase the [...]

  AUTHOR’S NOTE, 10/8/24: It has been brought to my attention that there are IP claims and ongoing legal actions occurring around CCT selectability switches. Before adding CCT selectability switches, fully review the IP landscape, claims, and ongoing litigation around this feature.  One of the strongest trends in commercial lighting has been the onslaught of [...]

  The American Lighting Association (ALA) has launched a program designed to define and promote circadian lighting for the home. The program is called Better Light, Better Sleep, and it was created with technical support from the Light and Health Research Center (LHRC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York [...]

While basic ERP and CRM systems have been around a long time, there are more and more software programs designed specifically for the lighting and electrical markets. Here’s a look at some that I’ve been hearing about and some that I’ve researched online. This is not intended as endorsements for any of them, but rather [...]

The Design Lights Consortium (DLC) has announced changes are coming to the technical requirements for two of its programs. DLC technical requirements are mandated by up to 80% of prescriptive commercial lighting rebate programs, making them critical for manufacturer products to qualify for most rebates. SSL V5.2 & V6.0 The DLC has announced two phases [...]

The number of trade shows and conferences devoted to lighting controls, Smart Home, IoT, and Smart Cities continues to grow. Here are some of the most relevant shows for the lighting controls industry, many of which began in the last 3-4 years: DLC Controls Summit The DLC Controls Summit is devoted to achieving the potential [...]

Many municipalities are instituting building performance standards (BPS) to drive emission reductions and energy efficiency in larger commercial buildings. New York City was one of the first municipalities in the nation to pass their BPS, known as Local Law 97 or LL97. LL97 requires the city to cut emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 80 [...]