IES & DOE Research Symposium May 15-16, 2024 Held in Portland, OR, topics will include: research trends for next-generation lighting tools, new recommendations & methods to evaluate health impacts, innovative approaches to environmental stewardship & support of sustainable lighting practices, novel tools for post-occupancy evaluations, and design for resiliency. Register here. Lighting Education Tour [...]

  Sure, you’re a hardcore lighting person, but what about the teenagers in your life? Camp CANDLE is an architectural lighting design summer camp for high school students. It’s located at Penn State University, with one of the top lighting / architectural engineering programs in North America. The goal of Camp CANDLE is to increase awareness [...]

  Superdupertube is a linear LED luminaire with a housing made of hemp, considered a highly sustainable fiber. The product is a collaboration between a Swedish lighting manufacturer named ateljé Lyktan, and the product design firm Snøhetta. Hemp ended up being selected because of its durable fibers and minimal environmental impact, reducing CO2emissions by over 50% compared [...]

  There are a several E Ink trends in the display industry that could have implications for lighting:  Smart Surfaces Sustainable Product Development and Environmental Impact Incorporation of signage into Smart Cities. Smart Surfaces Displays of the future will personalize, customize, and provide information on top of other surfaces, making surfaces “intelligent” (or at least [...]

  Square Roots, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup, recently introduced a groundbreaking program supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program aims to demonstrate the feasibility of removing light from commercial indoor vertical farming by utilizing gene-edited (CRISPR) plants that grow heterotrophically. These plants can add biomass through carbon uptake from acetate [...]

 Three companies in Finland have collaborated to demonstrate the successful commercialization of bio-based packaging materials for light fixtures that are recyclable, plastic-free, and biodegradable. The three companies involved are: Secto Design – a company specializing in sustainable wooden design lamps, moved its Petite product line’s products from traditional fossil-based packaging into new packaging made of [...]

    Companies are beginning to produce fiber textiles, also known as biofabric, from fungus mycelium and plant roots. The following are two interesting examples. My Glo produces luminaires (light shades) and other home décor items from fungus mycelium. See the image above and directly below. The mycelium light shades are flame resistant, help clean [...]

  The US Department of Transportation awarded $653 million in grants on November 3rd to upgrade 41 water-based ports around the country. The funding is through the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which provides planning support, capital funding and project management assistance, and comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The projects will boost [...]

By Maria Bragina, General Manager, Sundrax Electronics In the rapidly evolving lighting industry, the demand for efficient and reliable connection options has led to the standardization of specialized connectors like NEMA and Zhaga. This article explores the evolution and significance of NEMA connectors, shedding light on their historical roots and modern adaptations. Origin of NEMA [...]