Commercial lighting rebates remain a popular, enduring incentive for nonresidential upgrades. The majority of rebates are prescriptive, offering a cash rebate per installed product from a utility or energy-efficiency...
In new construction, creating a smart building can be straightforward if planned correctly and collaboratively. But the path to make an older building smart isn’t always straight. Electrical contractors can succeed by reading...
Electrical contractors (ECs) know their clients have an increasing desire for buildings that are more energy efficient. For ECs looking to get into energy efficiency, there are several good places to begin. 1. Install copper...
Emergency lighting is lighting that stays on or automatically turns on to facilitate a building’s safe evacuation when it suffers a power outage. There is a trend of using luminaires as both general and emergency lighting...
In May 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released “Advanced Lighting Control System Performance: A Field Evaluation of Five Systems.” This report evaluated field installations of five advanced lighting control systems...
Join Tom Cunningham of Legrand for a quick examination of the IoT and how its increasing demand is affecting the electrical industry. Dive into trends and buzzwords, while exploring the impact of popular voice assistants like...
A 2017 DesignLights Consortium report analyzing performance data from more than 100 installations found that networked lighting controls produced an average 47 percent lighting energy savings. The biggest value in connected...
Most electrical contractors are no strangers to LED installations, and the industry-wide transition to efficient LEDs is a revenue source for many installers. Becoming experts in such deployments and their controls, however...
In 2017, the International Code Council (ICC) published the 2018 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Updated every three years, many states use the IECC as the basis for their commercial building...
The proliferation of dimmable LED lighting and wireless connectivity has positioned connected lighting for strong growth. The biggest markets are expected to be linear, outdoor, and low- and high-bay applications, where high...
A virtual digital assistant is software that can perform tasks for consumers such as looking up information on the internet, playing media and buying products online. It uses speech recognition technology to respond to voice...
Networked lighting controls are intelligent (computing-based) and programmable systems in which devices communicate to enact control strategies. Each control point in the network has a unique address, which can be assigned...
A combination of rapidly advancing technology and a change in U.S. accounting standards is encouraging a new business model for financing lighting and other energy-system upgrades. It’s not often that electrical contractors...
Lighting controls in large public spaces have evolved differently than those for offices and homes. The 24/7 operation of healthcare facilities, airports and train stations means lights are always on and at maximum output. As...
Enabled by rapid adoption of LED technology, the lighting industry continues to undergo historic change. Connectivity and networked control, the internet of things (IoT), lighting and health, restrictive energy codes, and...
In September 2017, the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) published “Energy Savings from Networked Lighting Control Systems.” The report analyzes the energy-savings potential of networked lighting control systems. Based on...
A marriage is happening. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and controls may soon be inseparable. While popular in offices, the combined benefits of efficiency, lower cost and building-operation analysis are extending to...
Lighting controls are devices and systems that regulate the output of lamps and luminaires. They either turn the lights on and off using a switch or adjust light output using a dimmer. Growing demands for energy savings and...
After Jeff McCullough's talk at Intertech’s LEDs October 2007 conference, an audience member declared that McCullough’s employer, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is “taming the Wild West” and suggested that he wear a...
The recent national energy bill banning incandescent bulbs by 2014 has mandated energy-efficient residential lighting. Before introducing the latest lighting devices, electrical contractors (ECs) need to survey homeowners’...
