December 2011

On August 10, 2011, the Utah Uniform Building Codes Commission voted to adopt the 2011 National Electrical Code. Only a single amendment was approved by the Commission: to revert to the wording in the 2005 Edition of the National Electrical Code for ampacity of service conductors and main power feeders for individual dwelling units. On [...]

Guest post by Jim Brodrick, Department of Energy Results of the latest round of CALiPER testing were released recently, and as usual they can tell us a thing or two about the current state of solid-state lighting. As you may know, DOE’s CALiPER program supports testing of a wide array of SSL products available for [...]

Lunera Lighting, Inc. has announced the appointment of Doug Hickey as Executive Chairman of the Board and Michael Keddington as CEO. Hickey has more than 20 years of operational experience holding senior-level positions in the telecom, Internet and technology space. Most recently, he was a partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and CEO of Critical [...]

The 2013 LIGHTFAIR International event will take place April 23-25, 2013 in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Staged alternately annually on the West Coast and the East Coast, LFI returns to Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Convention Center in 2013. I love New York, but I have to say attending the show in Philadelphia was [...]

Axis Lighting has announced the appointment of Howard Yaphe as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 22, 2011. Yaphe joins Axis Lighting owners Morris and Joseph Feldman to form the company’s new leadership team. Yaphe brings 22 years of experience at Canlyte, now a division of Philips Lighting North America, where he began his lighting career [...]

Columbia Lighting’s Serrano offers a stylish, 3-element diffuser that combines a performance-optimized center optic with two high-transmission, lenticular side lenses to provide high optical efficiency and a batwing distribution. Two center lens options are available to customize the aesthetic. Developed as part of Columbia Lighting’s createchange series, Serrano can deliver energy savings of up to [...]

After a sharp dip in September, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) climbed nearly three points in October. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the October ABI score was 49.4, following [...]

President Obama has signed a bill repealing the 3% withholding mandate. H.R. 674, championed by Rep. Wally Herger, R-CA, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR and supported by the American Institute of Architects, is aimed at killing a looming federal requirement that would have forced federal, state, and many local agencies to withhold 3% of nearly [...]

Results from NEMA’s latest business conditions survey showed the economic environment facing the North American electroindustry improved for a second straight month in November. Though the Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions slipped to 56 from 57.4 in the previous month, it nonetheless cleared the 50 mark above which more panelists [...]