LEX News

Leaving Light + Building this year, two things were clear to me. First, smart is a prefix the lighting industry has embraced. Second, marketing teams have embraced the liberal use of the acronym “IoT” in everything from light fixtures to plastic polymers and even paint. 

Solid-state lighting (SSL) is bringing new capabilities to lighting, in part because light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be easily packaged together on a printed circuit board to form sources that are multicomponent and multifunctional. But the long-term performance of such systems hasn’t yet been fully investigated, despite the fact that next to energy efficiency, long life is the most publicized advantage of SSL. That’s why the U.S. Department of Energy is funding an ongoing series of studies on the reliability of LED lighting products conducted by RTI International, an independent research firm.

A parking garage is one of the most utilitarian architectural structures, yet as the “front door” of many buildings and complexes, it’s also a golden opportunity for owners to make a statement. How can parking garage lighting design add visual appeal, meet energy standards and improve user safety? The team at the Lighting reSOURCE talked with Ardra Zinkon, CLD, IALD, president and director of lighting design at Tec Studio Inc., about this oft-overlooked area.

Nearly 3 million American workers are hurt on the job each year, and poor lighting is to blame for the most common accidents, including slips, trips, falls, and contact with objects and equipment. Research has shown that simply improving workplace lighting can reduce accidents by as much as 60% percent in industrial facilities.