December 2009

I.D. Magazine, the oldest design publication in the U.S. at 55, will close after publication of its January/February issue. Subscribers to I.D. will receive Print magazine for the balance of their subscription. Gary Lynch, Publisher & Editorial Director, made the announcement to readers and advertisers on behalf of F+W Media Design Community. “Certainly the downturn [...]

I just discovered General Electric’s nifty blog and learned about a big sale of LED lighting systems to more than 8,000 Starbucks stores, replacing existing incandescent and halogen lamps. So far, Starbucks has completed installation in more than 1,000 stores and will expand to international stores in March 2010. It’s all part of Starbucks’ goal [...]

Guest post by Jim Brodrick, reprinted with permission from Postings: from the desk of Jim Brodrick If you’ve ever shopped for white paint, you know there’s not just one universal white, but hundreds of different shades. White paint can be bold and bright, have hints of yellow or blue, or have subtleties that are hard [...]

Philips Lighting has introduced its new family of Energy Advantage ceramic metal halide lamps featuring exclusive AllStart™ Technology. A direct retrofit lamp to both probe start and pulse start metal halide ballasts, the new lamps provide true universal operation regardless of orientation without compromising light quality and make installation and maintenance easier than ever. Rated [...]

NEMA’s Lighting Systems Index (LSI) increased 3.3% on a quarter-to-quarter basis during the third quarter of 2009. This marks the LSI’s first increase in nine quarters. Nonetheless, the index is only one quarter removed from its lowest reading on record and declined 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. After adjusting for seasonal influences and inflation, emergency [...]

Generation Brands, a provider of light fixtures and ceiling fans for the building construction and home improvement industries–and some of its subsidiaries–have filed voluntary petitions to implement an agreed restructuring of its balance sheet under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. According to the company, its creditors, other than the Company’s lenders and noteholders, [...]

To help end users in the education, healthcare, military, municipality and government markets, Hubbell Lighting has published two booklets intended to guide them as well as lighting specifiers through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The books focus on ARRA stimulus plan lighting solutions and specifications. The specification guide identifies the full [...]

The November issue of Electrical Contractor published an article here that I wrote about the Department of Energy’s Commercial Lighting Solutions for Retail webtool residing here. I was pleased to contribute to the webtool with general language about lighting control recommendations. The DOE’s CLS for Office version is about to be released in a beta [...]

Another Christmas blast from the past. This one’s for you, Andrew.