David Shiller

Venture capital funding of indoor farming companies dropped 91% in Q1 of 2023 compared with Q1 of 2022 (deal value). The deal count in the same time period dropped 70%, from 46 deals in Q1 2022 down to 14 deals in Q1 2023. Rising energy costs and rising interest rates are both hurting indoor farming [...]

Zhaga Book 7 defines linear and square LED modules for indoor lighting applications and has been published as IEC standard 63356-2. This is the first Zhaga industry specification to be transferred to the IEC. Zhaga books 10, 12, 14, 18 and 20 are in various stages of also being transferred to IEC. The IEC standard can be [...]

  An Italian manufacturer named Lorelux, has developed durable street and area lights with housings that are both recycled and recyclable. The housings are made of a polyethylene-based polymer that can be created: As virgin material from sugar cane, From recycled industrial waste, or From recycled bottle caps. The housings are again recyclable at the [...]

Two more states are joining Vermont and California in banning fluorescent lamps. Hawaii’s legislature passed HB 192 / SB 690, and sent it to the Governor’s desk for signing, which is expected. The bill, once signed, will phase out mercury-containing lamps, such as fluorescent lamps. Colorado’s House Bill 23-1161, called Environmental Standards For Appliances, passed [...]

  A new “Lights-Out” bill has been proposed in NYC’s City Council to reduce migratory bird deaths. The bill would require many privately-owned commercial buildings to reduce light at night. NYC Audubon estimates that 230,000 birds die annually in collisions with windows and brightly lit facades. The bill wouldn’t apply when people are in buildings, [...]

In December 2022, NEMA published NEMA LS 20009-2022 Controlled Emergency Lighting, a Technical Clarification Bulletin, which is a revised version of the bulletin previously titled NEMA LSD 81-2019, in order to reflect changes in the 2023 National Electrical Code® (NEC). There have been updates to the 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC), [...]

In October 2022, the Mexican government passed a law ending seasonal clock changes that the Mexicans call “Summer Time” and the U.S. calls “Daylight Savings Time.” This March, most of Mexico did not ‘Spring forward,’ and are now in a permanent Standard Time. Similar legislation has been passed by the U.S. Senate, but has not [...]

In late April, Acuity Brands announced the discontinuation of all fluorescent and HID luminaires by December 31st, 2023. This isn’t terribly surprising given the recent laws to ban fluorescent and in some cases, HID lamps by Vermont, California, Canada, the EU, and the UK. More U.S. states are proposing to pass mercury lamp bans. This [...]

  Researchers at Linköping University and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, have created the first functioning transistor made of wood. This represents an early step in the development of biodegradable electronics. The researchers started with balsa wood and removed the lignin that makes wood strong and rigid. This created cellulose fibers with [...]