Research

Produced by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), the 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) shows growing adoption of energy-efficient lighting in homes. The 2015 RECS shows that a majority of U.S. homes feature more than one type of lamp, primarily a mix of incandescent and CFL. But LED adoption was growing, with [...]

LED area and roadway lighting promises energy and maintenance cost savings, but the longevity of the LED light source presents a hitch. Traditionally, luminaires are cleaned upon relamping. If relamping does not occur, dirt buildup becomes a more important maintenance factor. That being said, it is claimed LED luminaires are less prone to dirt accumulation. [...]

tED Magazine recently published a lighting supplement that featured a 2017 Lighting Outlook, based on surveys conducted by the magazine and LightNOW of lighting manufacturers, electrical distributors and electrical contractors. The results show a positive outlook for the year among all three market segments (example manufacturer results shown below). Click here to check it out.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot Report on LED industrial luminaires, based on DOE’s Lighting Facts database. Key findings: • The efficacy of LED industrial luminaires is notably higher than what’s typical of their incumbent counterparts. About 23% of the industrial luminaires listed with LED Lighting Facts listed products [...]

My contribution to the April issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR presents TM-30, the proposed method for evaluating color rendering and saturation, and describes a recent study that suggests saturation is critical to truly evaluating color quality. Specific gamut shapes may be critical to modeling human color preference. The study found that Rf is a good predictor [...]

Quantum mechanics tells us that light behaves as both a particle and a wave, and scientists have tried to observe both aspects at the same time. In 2015, scientists at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne in Switzerland achieved a snapshot capturing both properties. Learn more here.

Researchers have discovered that pulsing light reduces toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease in laboratory mice, raising hopes of future application to humans. Click here to learn more.

New LED lights that are being installed in milk display cases across the country do more than just reduce energy bills — they also help milk taste better, Virginia Tech researchers have found. The exposure to certain light changes the flavor profile of milk. Milk fresh from the dairy should taste sweet and rich but [...]

Below is one of my contributions to the January issue of tED Magazine, the official publication of the NAED. Reprinted with permission. A study recently published in the journal Lighting Research & Technology explored human preference related to light source color. The results challenge the ability of the color rendering index (CRI) metric to predict [...]