Over a year ago, a group of building controls manufacturers formed the EnOcean Alliance to promote interoperable wireless sensor networks based on the EnOcean wireless standard. Today, 113 companies, including Leviton, Masco, Distech Controls, Philips Ledalite and Osram Sylvania have engineered products that use wireless and energy harvesting sensors, switches and controls. According to EnOcean, [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published LL 9-2009 Dimming of T8 Fluorescent Lighting Systems. This new standard is the first coordinated guidance from industry on the dimming of T8 fluorescent lighting systems; LL 9 covers ranges between 100% and approximately 35% output (60mA lamp current). The publication was a result of discussions between [...]

Building Design & Construction’s July issue features an article by C.C. Sullivan and Barbara Horwitz-Bennett titled, “MEP Technologies for Eco-Effective Buildings,” includes several sections related to lighting. I was pleased to participate in the article as a source instead of an author this time, representing my client the Lighting Controls Association, for which I’m acting [...]

I got my hands on a very informative graphic from Lutron describing how LED drivers–electronic devices that conditioning incoming power to match the circuit design and configuration of the LED array in the light fixture–interact with the LED lighting system. Drivers may be integral to power supplies, separate of power supplies but integral to the [...]

Archi-Tech Magazine has published an article I wrote about fluorescent dimming. Check it out here.

Royal Philips Electronics has announced that it has acquired Teletrol Systems Inc., a supplier of integrated solutions for simultaneous multi-site management of lighting and energy usage. The Teletrol product portfolio will strengthen Philips’ range of sophisticated control solutions for institutional customers, including the networked management of lighting and environment facilities, including heating and air conditioning. [...]

Recently, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), PG&E, BetaLED and Echelon Corp. came together to demonstrate how smart streetlight technologies and systems can reduce energy use and carbon emissions while increasing street safety. Streetlighting can consume up to 40% of a city’s electric bill. Echelon is promoting a concept [...]

The Lighting Controls Association (LCA) has announced that EE300: Lighting Control of LEDs has been added to the Association’s popular online Education Express distance education courses. Residing at the Association’s website, www.aboutlightingcontrols.org, Education Express provides in-depth education about lighting controls and controllable ballast technology, application, system design and commissioning, as well as meta-issues such as [...]

The Lighting Controls Association recently published a whitepaper I wrote about a new California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) study on bilevel occupancy sensors. CLTC studied control strategies in eight private offices and found that combining occupancy sensing and bilevel switching produced the highest energy savings—about 50% more than using an occupancy sensor alone. These are [...]