Craig DiLouie

Yesterday, President Barack Obama and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced aggressive actions to promote energy efficiency and save American consumers billions of dollars per year. Included were major changes to energy conservation standards for numerous household and commercial lamps and lighting equipment. These are the same rules proposed by the Department of Energy and [...]

Check out this video from GE, which showcases a number of potential applications for OLEDs, including illuminated clothing (e.g., emergency services gear), decorative “wall peel” lighting, portable lighting, concealed lighting, signage and luminous stairs. Wow!

I moved to Canada, the homeland of my lovely wife, in 2003 and became a citizen last year. It’s a great place to live and raise a family. Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian readers!

The California Energy Commission has announced that the effective date for the 2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Parts 1 and 6) has been changed to January 1, 2010. The reason: delays in completing the public domain compliance software. The California Energy Commission adopted the 2008 Standards on April 23, 2008, and the Building [...]

“Incandescents are better than CFLs because CFLs contain mercury.” There are many arguments against favoring CFLs over incandescents, and I agree with many of them, but this one doesn’t wash. Click here to read this article I wrote for Electrical Contractor that makes a clear case that incandescents are actually the true net emitters of [...]

There has been a recent moderation in the downturn in design services billings, but the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reveals that an economic recovery has stalled. 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. [...]

Venetian lighting company Studio Italia Design commissioned self-taught artist, Denis Santachiara to create Magnetita, a contemporary, fully adjustable LED table light. The product features an advanced balancing system in which magnets maintain the luminaire’s equilibrium for precise movement. I checked on Studio Italia Design USA and the product wasn’t listed there as of June 17. [...]

The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) has announced that the 28th Annual Street and Area Lighting Conference–the only conference of its kind–will be held September 13-16, 2009 at Loews Philadelphia Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. The day prior to the conference sessions (Sunday) is devoted to outdoor lighting courses: introductory, intermediate, computer-aided exterior lighting [...]

Good news and bad news in June from NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI). The EBCI rating for current North American conditions retreated slightly in June, but the EBCI for future conditions (six months ahead) climbed to its highest level in nearly four years. The current conditions EBCI slid 6.6 points to 41.3, remaining below [...]