August 2009

LUXIM Corp., manufacturer of plasma lighting, has announced the appointment of Randy Reid as vice president of marketing. Reid will report to CEO Tony McGettigan. As a member of LUXIM’s management team, he will develop the company’s marketing and alliance strategies, and implement program initiatives for the company’s LIFI technology. Reid joins Luxim from Metrolight, [...]

Businesses and people can make simple changes that could generate a 23% drop in energy consumption by 2020, save the economy $1.2 trillion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1 gigatons annually, according to a new study by McKinsey & Company. McKinsey & Company’s 165-page report, “Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy,” is available [...]

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes notched up two points in July to its highest level since September 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI rose two points to 17 in July as builders saw an improvement in current sales conditions but [...]

According to this article by Reuters, the California Public Utilities Commission has set a goal of having all new homes use zero net energy by 2020.

As of July 1, ballast manufacturers can no longer make ballasts for use with 34W T12 lamps in new fixtures that do not pass energy efficiency standards created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The same rule applied to ballasts for operation of full-wattage T12 lamps starting April 1, 2005. Check out all of [...]

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions edged slightly upward in July, rising 0.3 points to 41.7. This followed a retreat in June, which saw the index slip 6.6 points from May’s post-financial crisis high of 47.9. While the index has snapped back smartly from a cyclical low of 8 in [...]

Building Design & Construction’s July issue features an article by C.C. Sullivan and Barbara Horwitz-Bennett titled, “MEP Technologies for Eco-Effective Buildings,” includes several sections related to lighting. I was pleased to participate in the article as a source instead of an author this time, representing my client the Lighting Controls Association, for which I’m acting [...]

The stimulus plan appears to be having little influence on construction companies’ ability to expand payrolls to date, according to a new industry analysis of the impact of the federal program’s construction spending released by the Associated General Contractors of America. The disappointingly slow pace of construction spending outside of the transportation sector is one [...]

After a steep first quarter decline, NEMA’s Lighting Systems Index contracted an additional 4.3% during the second quarter of 2009. The drop marked the third consecutive quarter in which the index has fallen to a new all-time low reading. The index was down even more sharply on a year-over-year basis, plummeting nearly 25%, and has [...]