Controls

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 [...]

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has revealed the results of new market research that provides a clear picture of America’s need for information about energy and cost saving through modern lighting systems. The research, conducted in conjunction with Today’s Facility Manager magazine, focused on nonresidential building owners and managers. Findings indicate that 41% of [...]

I recently wrote an article for the April issue of Electrical Contractor, about some aspects of integrating lighting control and energy management systems. This is a hot topic because codes now require automatic shutoff of lighting and demand response is going to grow in importance in the future, but EMS traditionally has not done a [...]

Lighting designer Jim Benya, a regular contributor to Architectural Lighting Magazine (my alma mater) and a thought leader in the lighting community, wrote an excellent article about residential lighting controls for the magazine’s April/May issue, which was released at Lightfair. Calling residential a leader in lighting control, he identifies three ways to approach control: * [...]

At Lightfair, I will have the pleasure of presenting a workshop on lighting controls commissioning with Gary Meshberg of Encelium Technologies and David Weigand of Leviton, as part of the Lightfair Institute. The workshop (course #L09W21), “Commissioning and Controls,” will be presented on Monday, May 4, from 2-5PM. This workshop will focus on providing a [...]

PureSpectrum, Inc. will be launching a new line of high-performance compact fluorescents at Lightfair. The company says its new products are fully dimmable, priced affordably, have high power factor, turn on instantly and work in place of any traditional incandescent lamp. One of my biggest complaints about household CFLs is dimming issues, so I’ll definitely [...]

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and PG&E recently demonstrated streetlights installed on Turk Street (between Taylor and Jones) in the Tenderloin District, networked using Echelon’s LonWorks technology. The new LED streetlights, remotely controlled and monitored, promise to reduce the city’s energy and maintenance costs while improving lighting quality and safety. Streetlights are among a city’s [...]

The Lighting Controls Association has announced that EE205: Personal Lighting Control has been added to the Association’s popular online Education Express distance education courses. Residing at the Association’s website, 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 LEED, energy codes [...]

Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. has entered into an agreement (subject to regulatory approval) to acquire 100% of the outstanding capital stock of Sensor Switch, Inc., the $37 million controls manufacturer, for $205 million. Sensor Switch, based in Wallingford, CT, offers energy-saving control solutions such including occupancy sensors, photocontrols and distributed lighting control devices. “The acquisition [...]