LightNOW: News and Opinion for the Lighting Industry

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Women In Lighting

Women In Lighting – Updates

Suelynn Shiller

November 25, 2022 1:00 AM November 25, 2022

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Updates from ALA Women In Lighting & WILD.

Updates from American Lighting Association’s Women In Lighting & WILD:

American Lighting Association’s Women in Lighting Mentor Program is accepting applications for both Mentors and Mentees until November 30^th. Mentors are lighting industry veterans who share their knowledge, expertise, and industry best practices with those who are new to the industry. Mentees learn from industry veterans and have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss issues and share ideas. Everyone is welcome to participate.

A brief questionnaire assists the mentoring program committee in making matches that work well for both parties. Even those who have participated in the past are asked to complete the new questionnaire in order to participate in the January – April 2023 session. Complete that questionnaire today here.

ALA’s Women in Lighting Committee has announced that nominations are open for their annual WILLA Award. The award recognizes one individual for her role in the lighting industry, support of ALA, mentoring of other women in the industry, and devotion to her community through philanthropy and or volunteerism. Both the nominator and the nominee must be ALA members. The deadline for nominations is January 31, 2023.

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Women In Lighting & Design (WILD) announced the results of the recent election for board seats. Congratulations to the new Board!

Kelly Roberts, President

Alessa Aguayo, President-Elect

Amber Poirier, Secretary

Sriti Singh, Treasurer

Cindy Foster-Warthen, Marketing Chair

Haley Laurence, Outreach Chair

Lois Hutchinson, Programs Chair

Srushti Totadri, Membership Chair

Rachel Bauer, Chapter Chair

WILD has also announced that PRG+, their working group that focuses on creating resources for parents, their colleagues, and employers, is hosting a takeover of the WILD private LinkedIn Group from November 28th – December 2nd. Group members are encouraged to post relatable stories, memes, and quotes about what it means to be a parent working in our industry. Join the group today and be part of the conversation next week!

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Codes + Standards

IES Approves Seven Standards

David Shiller

November 24, 2022 1:00 AM November 24, 2022

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The IES announced the publication of seven recently approved standards.

Image: IES.org

The IES announced the publication of seven recently approved standards:

ANSI/IES RP-1-22 Recommended Practice: Lighting Office Spaces. Includes New content for Home Office Lighting
ANSI/IES RP-27.1-22 Recommended Practice: Risk Group Classification and Minimization of Photobiological Hazards from Ultraviolet Lamps and Lamp Systems. New Standard which provides metrics to minimize risk exposures to ultraviolet (UV) “light”.
ANSI/IES RP-6-22 Recommended Practice: Lighting Sports and Recreational Areas. Includes new content for Broadcast lighting for sports areas, pickleball courts, and more.
ANSI/IES RP-29-22 Recommended Practice: Lighting for Hospital and Healthcare Facilities. Includes new content about patient & facility controls, MRI rooms, decontamination methods, and telemedicine lighting.
ANSI/IES LM-93-22 Approved Method: Optical and Electrical Measurements of Far UV-C Excimer Sources. A new optical/electrical testing method for “far UV-C (200nm-230nm) light sources for potential disinfection applications, lower photobiological risk, and less ozone generation.
ANSI/IES RP-38-22 Recommended Practice: Lighting Performance for Small to Medium Sized Videoconference Rooms. Re-affirmation of RP-38-17.
IES G-1-22 Guide for Security Lighting for People, Property, and Critical Infrastructure. Re-affirmation of G-1-16.

All seven standards will soon be available at the IES Webstore and Lighting Library .

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Agriculture Codes + Standards

DLC Horticultural Lighting Technical Requirements V3.0 Final Will Be Released November 30, 2022

David Shiller

November 23, 2022 1:00 AM November 23, 2022

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On Wednesday, November 30, the DLC will release the final version of the horticultural lighting Technical Requirements V3.0 to support the acceleration of energy efficient lighting in controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

Increase efficacy threshold
Report application (intended use) information
Require product-level controllability capabilities
Require LM-79 and TM-33 reporting
Surveillance Testing Policy

Learn more at the final release webinar scheduled for Wednesday December 14 from 1-2pm ET.

More information about the horticultural lighting technical requirements is available here.

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Controls

New PoE Consortium Promotes The Benefits Of PoE

David Shiller

November 22, 2022 1:00 AM November 22, 2022

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Seven smart-building companies are joining forces to bring more attention to the value of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) lighting and technology.

Image: PoEConsortium.com

Seven smart-building companies are joining forces to bring more attention to the value of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) lighting and technology. The companies created an industry organization known as the PoE Consortium. Their collective mission is to educate stakeholders on the benefits of PoE over traditional high-voltage electrical infrastructure, including more interoperability for smart buildings.

The founding members of the PoE Consortium are:

Igor, specializing in enterprise smart building infrastructure, software and online services
GENISYS PoE, a PoE lighting system manufactured by Innovative Lighting
Mecho, a leader in the commercial shading industry
MHT, a PoE-based smart building lighting, technology, and software controls company
Platformatics, specializing in data collection and storage for complex building systems
PoE Texas, delivering PoE enabled amenities and building automation
Sinclair Digital Services, a design and implementation firm with a focus on DC microgrids, battery energy storage systems, and associated Software Platforms.

The PoE Consortium maintains an online hub of resources for education and training here. Explainer articles, project calculators, and case studies are currently available on the site. Soon, the site will include training and qualification courses for installers and integrators to ensure the quality of PoE projects.

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Light + Health Products + Technology

Product Monday: Virtual Sky With Moving Clouds

David Shiller

November 21, 2022 1:00 AM November 21, 2022

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Artificial Sky offers a product, Virtual Sky, that utilizes LED luminaires which appear to be a blue sky with passing clouds overhead, birds flying, and sunrise and sunset effects. Virtual Sky can remotely change from overhead dimmable white task lighting to an ultra-realistic blue sky with moving clouds that mimic daylight entirely.

Image: ArtificialSky.com

The purpose of Virtual Sky is to create lighting which naturally changes over the course of the day to expose people within the building to a range of white light that echoes the natural daylight outside, not only properties of daylight but actual moving views of nature as well.

The company claims the Virtual Sky has circadian health benefits and has been installed in senior care, hospital, hospitality, warehouse, office, and factory applications. Learn more here.

Image: ArtificialSky.com

Image: ArtificialSky.com

Image: ArtificialSky.com

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Construction + Economy Lighting Industry

Southern California Shipping Port Backlogs Gone; East & Gulf Ports Backlogged

David Shiller

November 18, 2022 1:00 AM November 18, 2022

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The backup of container ships off the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA was one the biggest sources of U.S. supply chain congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic and a contributor to inflation. Now, though, it’s over, thanks to a drastic decline in import demand nationally.

The number of ships waiting to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell from a peak of 109 ships in January to just four vessels in late October, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California (see graph). The biggest impact came from fewer containers reaching U.S. seaports for container imports. Additionally, a growing share of shipments is heading to ports on the East and Gulf Coasts of the US.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together handled 686,133 loaded import containers in September, down 18% from a year earlier and the lowest level since June 2020, according to port figures. Container imports to the US in September declined by 11% from a year earlier and by 12% in August. The cost of shipping a container from China to the United States has fallen to about $2,700 compared to last year’s high of around $20,000.

Bottlenecks continue to delay cargo at other major U.S. seaports and at inland freight hubs. Ports including Savannah, Houston, New York, and New Jersey have coped with backlogs triggered by diverted cargo from SoCal ports.

With demand slowing, shipping lines have canceled between 26% to 31% of their sailings across the Pacific over the coming weeks, according to Sea-Intelligence, a Denmark-based shipping data group, signaling that carriers are preparing for a continued drop in bookings.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal, here.

Image: Wall Street Journal

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Dark Sky Energy + Environment

Federal Government Develops Window Film To Prevent Bird Collisions With Windows

David Shiller

November 17, 2022 1:00 AM November 17, 2022

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It has been well documented that artificial light at night (ALAN) can disorient birds and increase bird collisions with buildings, especially windows. The reflectance of windows can lead birds to not realize that windows are solid objects to be avoided. New window film developed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) can prevent deadly bird-window collisions.

Image: FacilitiesNet.com

Every year nearly one billion birds collide with glass in the United States. Since 1970, an estimated three billion birds have vanished from the continent’s total population, and collisions are a significant contributor to this decline. Glass windows are dangerous to birds because they reflect their surrounding environment – like forest, clouds or sky.

A new adhesive window film creates a pattern of small dots on windows, and birds recognize them as barriers and steer clear.

Factors that can influence the rate of bird collisions include: the number of windows, lighting practices at night (lights disorient birds), and the building’s surrounding habitat. You can read more about the USFWS bird collision prevention program here.

Image: Mourning Dove dander print left on a window after a collision. Jeanne Donaldson/Portland Audubon

Image: Maintenance professionals install Feather Friendly material at the Northeast Regional USFWS Office in Hadley, MA. Leah Riley/USFWS

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Codes + Standards Energy + Environment

ENERGY STAR Proposes Sunset Of Lamps, Luminaires & Ceiling Fan Light Kit Programs

David Shiller

November 16, 2022 1:00 AM November 16, 2022

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On Monday, November 14, 2022, ENERGY STAR issued a memo proposing to sunset its Lamps, Luminaires, and Ceiling Fan Light Kit programs.

On Monday, November 14, 2022, ENERGY STAR issued a memo proposing to sunset its Lamps, Luminaires, and Ceiling Fan Light Kit programs. It’s not uncommon for ENERGY STAR to sunset product categories after DOE has issued appliance efficiency standards that eliminate most of the savings potential for an ENERGY STAR category. Such a DOE standards increase also eliminates savings potential for utilities, triggering an end to rebates for a category.

In this case it was the DOE 45 lpW general service lamp “backstop” that is causing ENERGY STAR to propose sunsetting the lighting categories. Here are the key take aways from ENERGY STAR’s proposal:

ENERGY STAR is taking comments on the proposal and timeline through January 6, 2023.
The proposal is to sunset ENERGY STAR for lamps, luminaires, and ceiling fan light kits effective the end of 2024.
To stop accepting new certifications for these products at the end of 2023.
To remove lighting requirements from the ENERGY STAR specifications for ceiling fans and ventilation fans, at the end of 2023.
EPA believes many utilities will cease residential lighting rebates by the end of 2023.

The full EPA proposal memo is available here.

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Awards Lighting Design

Two Lighting Design Award Programs Now Accepting Entries

David Shiller

November 15, 2022 1:00 AM November 15, 2022

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Two lighting design award programs have announced that they are currently accepting entries, IESNYC and International Lighting Design Awards.

Two lighting design award programs have announced that they are currently accepting entries:

The first is The New York City Section of the IES Lumen 2023 Awards. Submission Deadline: January 13, 2023. Since 1968, the IESNYC Lumen Awards program has publicly recognized lighting design members whose exceptional professionalism, ingenuity and originality in lighting design has culminated in some of the world’s most innovative lighting projects. IESNYC invites you to submit your most innovative, inspiring, and outstanding lighting designs. Awards are presented in the following categories:

Lumen Award of Excellence
Highest level of achievement for a permanent architectural application

Lumen Award of Merit
Meritorious achievement for permanent architectural application

Lumen Citation
Special recognition for a permanent or temporary lighting installation, technical detail, portion of a single project, or other work.

For details on Eligibility, Submission Requirements, Rules, Schedule, and Helpful Tips click on this link. This link can also be found on the iesnyc.org website.

2023 IESNYC Lumen Awards Project Eligibility – The Lumen Awards are open to any interior or exterior architectural lighting design project completed within two years’ time of the submission deadline of January 13, 2023.
Projects may be re-submitted during the years a project is eligible.

Anyone can enter a project for consideration, but wherever possible, we require the lighting designer responsible for the lighting scheme be credited.

Eligible projects must be designed by a New York City* based designer(s) for a project located anywhere in the world. —OR— The project must be located in New York City* regardless of the location of the designer(s).

*Within the five boroughs of NYC and counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester.

The second award program taking entries is the International Lighting Design Awards. On November 1^st, 2022, the IALD released the Call for Entries for the 40th Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards and their online submission site. You create a profile on the IALD Awards submission site to begin your entry.

EARLY ENTRY DEADLINE: 14 December 2022, 11:59 P.M. Chicago/US Central
REGULAR ENTRY DEADLINE: 31 January 2023, 11:59 P.M. Chicago/US Central
EXTENDED/LATE ENTRY DEADLINE: 15 February 2023, 11:59 P.M. Chicago/US Central

You can download the submission guide HERE.

You can find the Call for Entries submission page HERE.

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Products + Technology

Product Monday: Cooper Lighting Solutions Releases 3D Printed Decorative Pendants

David Shiller

November 14, 2022 1:00 AM November 14, 2022

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Cooper Lighting Solutions introduces a pendant line using 3D printing technology, which allows for distinctive designs, textures, and shapes. The Shaper PRENTALUX brand, meaning “printed light,” includes 20 products with numerous texture and color choices, as well as multiple lumen outputs and color temperatures.

Image: Cooper Lighting Solutions

Additive manufacturing allows the specifier or end user the ability to choose textures, company logos, design patterns, as well as the shape, transmittance, and color that meets the customers’ requirements. This makes the line especially appealing for national accounts, where clients can connect with their corporate branding identities through lighting their interior design. Subtle or bold logo textures can be customized to help create company culture.

The manufacturing process is more sustainable, reducing the CO2 footprint by up to 75% compared to traditional aluminum die casting production methods. The smart designs use no paint and fewer parts overall, minimizing resource use and potential waste. Furthermore, the lightweight polycarbonate requires less energy to ship. The reduced resource and transportation footprint, together with the standard use of LED lights, make 3D printed luminaires a greener lighting solution.

Shaper 3D Printing products are positioned for hospitality settings as well as when performance lighting is needed. The line has already received three award recognitions: