First, the bad news. Due to the weather-related slow start in the nonresidential building market during the first part of the year, and the prolonged weakness in the institutional sector, construction spending projections for the rest of the year have been lowered slightly. Now the good news. The commercial construction sector is still looking at [...]

The Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section (IESNYC) recently announced the recipients of the 2014 Lumen Awards. Ten New York City-based design firms – AKF Lighting Design, Arup, Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, Cooley Monato Studio, Focus Lighting, Kaplan Gehring McCarroll Architectural Lighting, L’Observatoire International, PHT Lighting Design, Renfro Design Group, and Tillotson Design [...]

Guest post by the New Buildings Institute Researchers continue to broaden their knowledge about the ways light impacts the circadian system and rhythms such as the sleep/wake cycle. Generally, it’s been shown that exposure to strong light levels during daytime hours makes us more alert and focused through the day, while minimal light exposure in [...]

JESCO Lighting Group LLC and Challenger Lighting Company, Inc. recently announced that each manufacturer’s interior lighting products and systems for use specifically in the FF&E (“Fixtures, Furnishings & Equipment”) hospitality markets, nationally and internationally, are now available to each company’s design-specification and other clients. Challenger Lighting’s product line as a hospitality-market contract-lighting manufacturer includes custom [...]

Residential architects are reporting that business conditions are stabilizing and there is a healthy demand for remodeling and renovation projects. These findings are from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Trends Survey for the fourth quarter of 2010, which focused specifically on kitchens and bathrooms. The AIA Home Design Trend Survey is conducted [...]

Room surface finishes can play a significant role in maximizing the efficiency of a lighting system because lighter finishes can produce relatively higher light levels and perceptions of brightness. In fact, in an existing space with a large area of dark surfaces can improve light levels and visual comfort almost immediately by simply repainting those [...]

Is the market at or near bottom? Good news is always welcome these days. While still deep in negative territory, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose five points in April to the highest level since October 2008, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index [...]

LEED 2009 (LEED 3.0) is coming April 27. The new version of the LEED rating system will incorporate all of the rating systems that address commercial buildings–New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Schools and Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance–into three LEED 2009 systems: * Green Building Design & Construction * Green Interior Design & Construction * Green [...]

Sky Factory Offers EcoSlim Luminous SkyCeilings, an edge-lit product that the company says provides authentic illusions of sky displayed in an ultra-thin, toxin-free system. The new version of the product (EcoSlim) offers a low-profile design that eliminates ceiling clearance limitations, paving the way for renovation and retrofit installations. The image tile is only a quarter-inch [...]