David Shiller

Do you wish you knew a little bit more about the circular economy and how it applies to sustainable lighting? The Sustainable Furnishings Council has recently published Circular Design Glossary: Furniture & Furnishings.

One of the most interesting products that we found at ArchLIGHT Summit was the new Crystal line of linear recessed luminaires from iGuzzini. Their Opti Diamond optic dazzles. It combines the roles of a low-glare reflector for the LED sources while also behaving as a light guide trim that subtly illuminates the ceiling.

On September 18, 2022, California banned fluorescent lamps, both CFLs and linear fluorescent lamps, joining Vermont’s ban in May, and the EU’s ban in December. California went beyond Vermont’s ban on 4’ lamps, by banning linear fluorescent tubes up to 8’ long.I chased down the legislative details for you.

New materials have changed the lighting industry before. The change from RGB to phosphor-converted white LEDs was enabled by InGaN blue-pump LED development. Similarly, many TIR lenses have shifted from polymers such as polycarbonate to optical silicone..Another potential materials leap for the LED industry is that Chinese factories are beginning to offer high output luminaires with graphene composite heat sinks & housings.

The pandemic has changed office work in many ways. Companies that are creating new offices are doing so predominantly in suburbs now, rather than downtowns. Many companies and industries have accepted hybrid and remote work arrangements, dramatically reducing the need for office space altogether.

A German spotlight manufacturer, ERCO, has issued a public call for the lighting design industry to shift from luminaire efficacy (measured in lumens/Watt) to the “effectiveness of the light in the space” (aka “delivered efficacy,” measured in lux/Watt or foot-candles/Watt).

In the Summer of 2021, StressCrete provided a turn-key solution to help revitalize Main Street in Fredericksburg, Texas, a small town in Texas Hill Country.

University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers conducted a thorough examination of peer-reviewed literature on the most prevalent mental health disorders and found that circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) is present in nearly all of them. However, correlation is not causation, so it is not clear if the mental disorders cause circadian disruption, if circadian disruption causes mental disorders or both in a positive feedback loop.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 was signed into law on August 16, 2022. Among the provisions included in this bill is the expansion of the Section 179D tax deduction for building energy efficiency. Thousands of commercial building owners have utilized the 179D tax deduction since its inception in 2005, and this expansion potentially allows for many more to not only utilize the deduction but also claim larger amounts than previously available.