Craig DiLouie

One in four baby boom generation households (26%) expects to move from their current home in the future, with the majority looking for a single-level home that is more comfortable or convenient, according to a new survey prepared for AARP. Echoing past surveys, most boomers (79%) say they would like to stay in their current [...]

The stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, focuses on economic stimulus through both tax credits and public-sector spending, with a heavy focus on infrastructure and energy. Here’s an interesting development I had missed at first glance through it: The Department of Energy is offering $16.8 billion to the states for a variety of [...]

The Lighting Controls Association has published an article I wrote on the topic of the major lighting changes in the 2009 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) related to commercial buildings. One of the most controversial changes isn’t directly related to lighting, but it could have a significant impact on lighting design. Previous [...]

Core77 has partnered with Greener Gadgets again to produce a design competition aimed at generating outstanding design innovations for greener electronics. They published the top 50 for online voting, and then the Top 10 will be judged live Friday, February 27, at the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City. Click here to see the [...]

Two interesting sites to check out related to the stimulus bill signed into law by President Obama yesterday. First is Reed Construction Data. Click on the banner at the top promising access to more than 18,000 Federal stimulus projects. After a quick registration you can download by region of the country (Northeast, etc.). The list [...]

Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data, writes about the January 2009 value of construction starts, excluding residential, at the Reed website here. Overall, the value of construction starts in January 2009 was up 5.3% over January 2008, but starts fell 23% from December, which, after accounting for the usual seasonal decline in January, [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published the workshop presentations and materials from its sixth annual DOE Solid-State Lighting R&D Workshop in San Francisco, held February 3-5, 2009. A complete workshop report will be posted later in March. Click here for conference highlights. Click here to download the presentations.

Using Apple’s iPod as an example, new research released by a team from UC Irvine’s Merage School of Business sheds light on the debate about globalization and its impact on U.S. workers. Results from the study, which was funded by the Sloan Foundation, indicate that innovation by U.S. companies can create high-wage jobs for U.S. [...]

Kevin Willmorth sums up the tradeoffs of globalization in his lighting and energy conservation blog. He makes the point that the U.S. economy is currently overly focused on taking profit from a devaluation process instead of one that builds value. The long term result is a loss of competitiveness and erosion of wages and qualify [...]