That’s the title of an article I wrote about lighting and the new LEED 2009 requirements, published in the July issue of Electrical Contractor. You can check it out here.

Back in April, I posted about BUG (Backlight, Uplight, Glare), a new classification system for outdoor light fixtures currently being promoted by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). Based on the TM-15–the upgrade of the roadway shielding classification system by the Illuminating Engineering Society and the Lighting Research Center–BUG addresses light emitted from the fixture in [...]

Writing for the February 2009 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine, I make the case that lighting quality should be an equal partner to energy savings in an upgrade of an existing building. In fact, doing so can can result in a larger project and more work for the contractor. The article includes references to the [...]

The New York City Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IESNYC) announced the recipients of the 2009 Lumen Awards at the 41st Annual Lumen Gala held in New York City on June 10. The Lumen Awards publicly recognizes professionalism, excellence, and originality in lighting design. Over 600 leaders in lighting design, architecture, interior design, engineering [...]

The Department of Energy’s Building Codes Resource Center has published a summary of the ASHRAE guidelines for achieving 30% savings over ASHRAE 90.1-1999 in small office buildings. One of the interesting features of the website is a series of layout templates. Check it out here.

Excerpted from IALD Reflections, the newsletter of the IALD: Thank you, all of you, who took the time to weigh in on this issue. Your efforts, and those of our colleagues in the entertainment lighting industry, and members of the ALA, ESTA, IES and many other organizations, have paid off. I am pleased that we [...]

I got an email this morning explaining why Senator Averitt added the language to the bill. Apparently, residential builders and owners in the Senator’s district had complained about people representing themselves as lighting designers, selling bad equipment that did not perform, and producing a loss for the builders. Apparently, the Senator had no idea that [...]

Good news! It’s confirmed: The “lighting designer” language in Texas House Bill 2649 will be withdrawn and replaced with language requesting a study by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation of the feasibility of licensing in the industry, according to Texas State Senator Kip Averitt’s office. IALD President Jeff Miller said the combined grassroots [...]

Your voice has been heard. There have been hundreds of phone calls, letters and emails over the past 48 hours about this potentially disastrous bill. Now here’s an update for Thursday, May 28. The latest word via discussions on LinkedIn and emails I’ve received is: * Senator Averitt’s office has indicated that he will be [...]