Codes + Standards

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 [...]

  The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) recently announced its full-stack standard for wireless lighting control, Bluetooth Networked Lighting Control (NLC). It is designed to meet the scale, reliability, and security demands in commercial settings. Bluetooth NLC enables multi-vendor interoperable wireless lighting control systems and unlocks the potential for mass adoption of wireless lighting control. The standard creates [...]

Last week, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) unveiled the Works with WELL Program, a new product licensing opportunity designed to help product manufacturers validate and showcase how their products align with the WELL Building Standard, based on IWBI licensing criteria. Nearly 40 early-adopting companies have enrolled more than 1,000 products in the new program. To earn [...]

By Jeroen van Gils, Founder & Managing Director of LiFi.co In a world where high-speed data transfer and reliable connectivity have become the backbone of our daily lives, the announcement of the IEEE 802.11bb standard for LiFi (Light Fidelity) signals a technological revolution. Born from the union of light spectrum technology and wireless communication, LiFi [...]

  The IES has released six new standards during the past IES fiscal year. At a high level, three address ultraviolet (UV) sources, one addresses light pollution / sky glow, one is about controls, and one is about daylighting. Here are the six:   ANSI/IES RP-27.1-22 Recommended Practice: Risk Group Classification and Minimization of Photobiological Hazards [...]

I recently had the opportunity to interview Andrew Antares, Project Manager of Technical Development, DesignLights Consortium (DLC), for an article I developed for the November 2023 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine, the official NECA publication. The topic: new sample language that municipalities can use to address “light pollution” as a potential byproduct of outdoor lighting.

The current California energy code (Title 24 Nonresidential) requires luminaires or lamps that are used for plant growth to have a photosynthetic photon efficacy (PPE) of at least 1.9 micromoles per joule (µmol/J) for indoor grow facilities with more than 40 kW of horticultural lighting load. Luminaires or lamps used for plant growth in greenhouses [...]

  You may have heard that the IEEE has released a new and important LiFi standard for light communications, 802.11bb. What you may not have heard is that the standard is based on a portion of the infrared spectrum, which effectively separates LiFi from visible light sources. Light fixtures will no longer hold any advantage [...]

  In previous LightNOW reporting, I’ve written about EPA’s sunsetting of the ENERGY STAR Lamps and Luminaires specifications, along with the plan to launch a new recessed downlights specification. EPA has now released a second draft of the ENERGY STAR Recessed Downlights Version 1.0 specification (Version 1.0) intended to replace the Luminaires Version 2.2 specification (the existing [...]