David Shiller

The lighting controls industry continues to take small steps toward lighting-HVAC controls integration. This post will dig into the new Light Solutions Application Guide from Autani-LiteTrace and give a quick overview of their system’s approach and capabilities. As context, Autani (BMS) and LiteTrace (Keilton Bluetooth lighting controls) merged last year. The merger’s original motivation had [...]

  MIT researchers have just demonstrated that temperature is not the only energy driving water evaporation. The team discovered that visible light can create water evaporation. This fact was not previously known. The discovery could solve unanswered atmospheric questions and lead to new technology advances. Although water is almost transparent to visible light, the team [...]

  A viral debate has erupted on TikTok between interior designers and whether there should be an end to the “big light,” a phrase for any overhead or ceiling light. With the rise of more indirect, portable, accent, and task lighting, softer ambient lighting options are available without the central ceiling light. An article by [...]

  ALA’s next member forum will be hosted Wednesday, May 15, at 12 p.m., CDT. This forum, designed for manufacturer members, will cover the extended producer responsibility laws related to plastic and packaging, which are becoming commonplace. Rachel Michelin, president, of the California Retailers Association, will lead the forum with a brief presentation, followed by an [...]

Graphene has long been hailed as the greatest material discovery with limitless potential. The reality is that graphene has seen some limited applications in electronics, solar panels, displays, clothing, helmets, bullet-proof armor, aircrafts, and shoes. I’ve written about graphene’s emergence in luminaire heat sinks and housings here. There are two new nanomaterial sheets making headlines: [...]

  The LED lighting revolution has been remarkable, but one of the areas where LED technology has struggled to match legacy sources is ultra-narrow beam angles. Halogen, plasma, and lasers were more ideal point sources for ultra-narrow spotlights. For a time, LED could only get down to about 20o beam angles, and more recently 10o [...]

  Here is a quick summary of 11 acquisitions and one manufacturer closure, in the first quarter of 2024: Kuzco Group acquired Auroralight. Details here. AMS Technologies acquired newLASE. Details here. Meyers EPS acquired Storage Power Solutions (energy storage manufacturer). Details here. Legrand acquired ZPE Systems, Inc. Details here. Environ Energy acquired Prism Energy Services [...]

The following 10 trends in landscape lighting have been compiled from multiple sources. All of these lighting trends can be applied to commercial as well as residential landscapes. Linear Lighting Linear strip lights can be applied to the bottom edge of an overhanging step tread or integrated into hardscape materials. They enhance safe mobility and [...]

Much has been written about the numerous lighting manufacturers that have expanded into EV chargers. A few examples include: Espen Technology, Light Efficient Design, Leviton, and LEDVANCE. So what are the tradeshows for the EV charger industry? One is EV & Charging Expo 2024, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, today and tomorrow. This show is [...]