Energy + Environment

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) recently announced the release of Technical Requirements V4.2 for solid-state lighting products, affecting qualification for listing in the Qualified Products List. From the DLC website: New Testing and Reporting Requirements for Hazardous Location Lighting Under the V4.2 requirements, products applying to a Specialty Use designation with a Hazardous descriptor must undergo [...]

BriteSwitch recently reported three major rebate trends in 2017, including: * Rebate coverage reaching all-time high in United States * LED lamp replacements for HID soaring * Average dollar amounts declining for TLED and screwbase LED replacement lamps as costs decline Click here to learn more about these trends.

The Trump Administration’s recent budget outline proposes a 30+% cut in Environmental Protection Agency funding, which threatens to defund the ENERGY STAR program. In a recent blog post, Steven Nadel, Executive Director the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), disagrees, stating, “ENERGY STAR has been very successful in its current form; why risk this [...]

The Northwest Lighting Network recently published a short list of best practices for lighting retrofits provided by senior lighting specialist Jeff Anderson. He says to be comprehensive about the retrofit. Instead of focusing on the most visible opportunities, look at everything from exit signs to portable lighting. Consider all options for upgrade, noting that different [...]

Rebate support company BriteSwitch recently posted an answer to the question they often get, “Where are the best lighting rebates in the country?” Their analysis didn’t produce a winner but did result in some interesting observations: • The three states with the biggest populations have the worst lighting rebates • Northeastern rebates are generous but [...]

LED lighting is not only changing lighting as we know it but is also influencing building power delivery systems. As with many other devices prevalent in today’s commercial spaces, LED lighting and integrated controls are low-voltage systems powered by AC systems. This has created interest in low-voltage power alternatives, including power over Ethernet (PoE) and [...]

Below is my lighting column published in the July issue of tED Magazine. Reprinted with permission. Founded in 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR is a voluntary product labeling program designed to help consumers identify and promote energy-efficient products. These products include lamps and residential luminaires. Consumers recognize the ENERGY STAR label [...]

In the first year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Interior Lighting Campaign exceeded an initial goal of replacing 100,000 fluorescent indoor lighting troffers. Participants are now working toward a goal of 1 million and have already upgraded 650,000 troffers for a total national energy savings of 1.3 trillion BTUs or the equivalent of $13.5 million [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration has released summary tables providing energy consumption estimates from the 2012 CBECS. The data show that despite a 14% increase in total buildings and a 22% increase in total floorspace since 2003, energy use in the estimated 5.6 million U.S. commercial buildings was up just 7% during [...]