David Shiller

Three recent announcements involve biomimicry to improve propeller and wind turbine designs. They all raise the question of whether these types of innovations could make their way to ceiling fan blade designs? Judge for yourself. ABB Dynafin Propeller Switzerland’s ABB Marine introduced a multi-blade Dynafin propulsion concept (see above). The innovative concept mimics the motions [...]

The 4th annual ArchLIGHT Summit has opened attendee registration. The conference and trade show event will be held September 17-18, 2024, at the Dallas Market Center. It is a specifier-centric event for lighting designers, architects, engineers, and interior designers. You can register and view the full schedule of events, here. Attendees will have access to [...]

  The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has published three new lighting standards: ANSI/IES TM-40-24 IES Technical Memorandum: IES Method for Determining Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) and Distance from the Planckian Locus of Light Sources Prior to the publication of this Technical Memorandum, no method for calculating CCT (nor Duv) has been formalized by a relevant [...]

  On April 12th, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a final rule for General Service Lamp (GSL) standards. The new standards will raise GSL efficacy requirements from the current 45 lpW (aka the backstop), up to 83 – 195 lpW, depending on lamp type and lumen output. The previous 45 lpW backstop was [...]

  IES & DOE Research Symposium May 15-16, 2024 Held in Portland, OR, topics will include: research trends for next-generation lighting tools, new recommendations & methods to evaluate health impacts, innovative approaches to environmental stewardship & support of sustainable lighting practices, novel tools for post-occupancy evaluations, and design for resiliency. Register here. Lighting Education Tour [...]

  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for wireless consumer Internet of Things (IoT) products, including lighting, on March 14, 2024. The program is called the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program and it is designed to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions, as well as incentivize manufacturers to meet higher [...]

In late January, LightNOW posted about signs of trouble ahead for the Multifamily real estate market. There are now indications that trouble has arrived. Apartment loans at least 30 days past due or in non-accrual have jumped 81%. Banks are increasingly taking losses on apartment loans. This will likely lead to distressed selling, as well [...]

  Over the past six years, both major and minor league baseball stadiums have been getting lighting upgrades to meet newer MLB lighting standards that also apply to the minor league parks (MiLB). To-date, more than 50 Minor League stadiums, and 16 Major League ballparks have upgraded to LED lighting that meets the MLB lighting [...]

  Here are 7 time-tested approaches to growing a commercial lighting business: Create a go-to-market plan to add a new product category, service, or to expand into a new channel of distribution. Try lead generation (lead gen) using digital automation. Produce a monthly press release and distribute it to your primary customer trade press. Produce [...]