I wrote an article for the March issue of Electrical Contractor about the Lighting Quality Advocates program and the Lighting Facts label.
The Quality Advocates Initiative was created by the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance and the Department of Energy to encourage LED product manufacturers to voluntarily follow certain guidelines and labeling to report performance claims. Products are tested using the IES LM-79 standard, and the testing data verified as part of registration. Once registration is complete, the product can carry the Lighting Facts label, which summarizes performance data covering light output, input watts, efficacy, color appearance and color rendering.
The label promotes accurate and consistent reporting of product performance. Lighting decision makers benefit by knowing with greater certainty how a given product will perform, more easily comparing different products, and being given more data about performance that serves as a reminder to consider the product’s entire story, not just its wattage.
Currently, there are roughly 450 products approved for the Lighting Facts label. Of these, about 45% are replacement lamps and 55% are luminaires and other products.
Be warned, though, that rogue Lighting Facts labels are popping up, even among reputable product manufacturers. Each product is given an ID number for verification; use it.
Check out the article here.
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