Craig DiLouie

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) showed more acceleration in the growth of design activity nationally. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the August ABI score was 53.8, up from [...]

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process. The commissioning process as detailed in Standard 202 applies to all construction projects and systems and [...]

The Department of Energy will host its eighth annual two-day SSL Market Introduction Workshop for utility and energy efficiency program managers at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon November 13-14, 2013. A free half-day of pre-workshop sessions will be held on November 12 for those new to or who want a refresher on solid-state lighting. [...]

I recently contributed a feature article to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR on color tuning as a capability of LED white light systems. The article talks about the potential utility this capability brings to architectural lighting applications, product developments and research. Check it out here.

Shipments of traditional A-line incandescent lamps, as measured by NEMA’s lamp shipment index, decreased for the third consecutive quarter in Q2 2013, reaching a low point for the series. Second quarter activity showed a decline of 8.6% from the previous quarter. Moreover, the index fell by 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), [...]

The RV Series retrofit commercial LED downlight from Lithonia Lighting, the latest addition to the company’s RELIGHT collection, allows RV Series LED downlights to be installed into the existing mounting pans (allowing replacement of 8-in. apertures), requiring approximately five minutes or less to install each luminaire. It features a one-piece housing and one-piece reflector that [...]

I recently had the opportunity to interview Kurt Vogel, Director, Product Development – Relight, Acuity Brands Lighting, for an article I wrote about the office building lighting upgrade market for The Electrical Distributor (TED) Magazine. The interview was extremely informative, and I wanted to share it with you complete here. DiLouie: How would you characterize [...]

The IES recommended practice for office lighting has undergone a major revision for the 2013 edition, including new material addressing recent changes in office environments such as computer-based tasks, new office layouts, new light source and control strategies, etc. Check it out here.

The University of California, Davis, is collaborating with the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to develop a lighting efficiency demonstration and training center in Singapore. Leaders from the three institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on September 12 stating goals and strategies for advancing sustainable lighting solutions [...]