David Shiller

  Illinois Governor JB Pritzker officially signed the Dark Sky Act legislation (Senate Bill 3037) on August 7, 2026, with the law scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. Key Provisions of the Law Sponsored by State Senator Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), the Dark Sky Act expands upon previous environmental legislation to mitigate statewide light pollution: Statewide Expansion: The [...]

  A new study of 7,704 employees at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center adds a significant data point to the ongoing return-to-office (RTO) debate—one with implications for lighting manufacturers, lighting design firms, agencies, rep firms, distributors and other organizations competing for specialized lighting talent. Researchers compared employee outcomes across fully remote, hybrid [...]

  There are different scales of battery energy storage systems (BESS): Utility Scale Commercial & Industrial Building Scale Residential Scale Utility Scale BESS U.S. utility-scale battery storage is expanding at an enormous pace, averaging 70% annual growth over the past three years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s preliminary generator inventory data. The country [...]

  I recently learned about a new type of software for lighting manufacturers that strattles many of the typically siloed configurators, CRMs, PIMs, spec sheet generators, AI analytics, branded portals for reps and specifiers, and product spec search. Electrify Connect is positioning itself as a unified software platform for lighting manufacturers seeking to modernize the [...]

  The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) $5.3 billion investment package incorporates lighting upgrades across its select passenger rail projects through on-board fleet modernizations, passenger station overhauls, and enhanced grade-crossing safety infrastructure. Administered under the National Railroad Partnership Program (NRPP), this funding covers 41 projects in 23 states. The critical allocations involving lighting enhancements include: Modernizing On-Board Fleet Systems ($2.05 [...]

  Modern energy-saving lighting and glazing may have unintentionally altered the biological quality of indoor light, according to a New Scientist feature article examining emerging research on red and infrared (IR) wavelengths. The article argues that the widespread move to LEDs and IR-filtering window glass has substantially reduced people’s exposure to long-wavelength light—a change that [...]

  The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has re-affirmed 10 existing lighting standards: BSR/IES LM-88-18(R27) Approved Method: Optical and Electrical Measurements of AC-LED Packages and Arrays or Modules BSR/IES LM-35-20(R27) Approved Method: Photometric Testing of Floodlighting for HID or Incandescent Lamps BSR/IES LM-46-20(R27) Approved Method: Photometric Testing of Indoor Luminaires Using HID or Incandescent Filament Lamps BSR/IES LM-73-04(R27) Approved Method: [...]

Here are quick updates on four lighting industry trade shows & conferences. ArchLIGHT Summit: September 15-16, 2026 at Dallas Market Center, Dallas, TX. Announced key schedule highlights for the 2026 event. Urban lighting authority Leni Schwendinger and IALD president Andrea Hartranft will deliver keynote addresses. The show returns co-located with Dallas Design Week, DALI Summit, [...]

  Last week, I published a story on Matter expanding from residential smart homes to commercial and industrial applications. The following is a large-scale demonstration of applying Matter-over-Thread to a commercial environment. Silicon Labs has demonstrated a 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network, providing a significant proof point for the use of Matter in commercial lighting, building [...]