Recent 2009 IES Conference Explored the Future of LightingMore than 400 lighting professionals met November 15-17 in Seattle, WA for the 2009 Annual Conference of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES). The theme of the three day event was “Realizing the Future—Research to Applications.” Presenters focused on both recent developments and some of the big ideas that will affect the future of lighting. The keynote speaker of the conference was Ken Alston, CEO of MBDC, a firm dedicated to transforming the design of products, processes and services. Rather than the traditional cradle-to-grave product lifecycle, Alton advocated a cradle-to-cradle cycle where materials are perpetually used in future products. Among the big ideas presented at the conference, Alston challenged the corporate mindset of incrementalism: “Doing less bad is not doing good,” he explained. In other words, simply reducing toxins produced through the usual manufacturing processes is nothing to take pride in. There were four General Sessions at the conference. The first was about Round 9 of the U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER testing program, which independently tested LED products. Full results of the program are available here. The second General Session involved a case study in lighting usage, reviewing the impressive energy savings over the past year at the New York Times building. Restorative Design was the topic of the third General Session, which emphasizes “contact with nature” as an alternative to the “experientially and aesthetically impoverished” designs found in some of the new sustainable buildings touting low environmental impact (e.g., low energy use). The last Session focused on the importance of building design relative to its affects on human health and performance: building architecture must go beyond lighting intensity (the standard design tool) and add timing and spectrum of light. There in that last section.... architecture must go beyond lighting intensity (the standard design tool) and add timing and spectrum of light.
IES Position Statement
Use of Spectral Weighting Functions for Compliance with IES Recommendations (PS-02-09)
The lighting industry has historically held that electro?magnetic radiation becomes "light" when it stimulates human retinas. Numerical conversion from radiation to light has been made using the photopic luminous efficiency function, V(λ), which produces the unit known as the lumen, and subsequently all other photometric units such as the candela.
Recent developments have indicated that the radiation that produces human visual sensation may be usefully evaluated using other spectral weighting functions, such as the scotopic luminous efficiency function. This has led to current research into possible alternatives to the historical definition of light in terms of photopic lumens, which in turn has led to some confusion about the weighting of optical radiation which is appropriate for compliance with IES published criteria.
This document is intended to clarify this confusion.
Research into the suitability of using weighting functions other than the photopic luminous efficiency function is ongoing. At present the research is not considered sufficient to support the application of any alternative to photopic luminous efficiency function. Accordingly, it is the policy of the IES that for compliance with all IES recommendations, photometric quantities shall be calculated using the photopic luminous efficiency function as defined in the IES Lighting Handbook, unless specifically stated in the IES document that contains the recommendations.
This policy applies to all photometric units, such as lux or candela per square meter, and all standards, existing and future.
Whenever recommendations are to be based on an alternative visual sensitivity function, that
alternative shall be included with the specific recommendations as they are generated, reviewed and approved by IES. For compliance with IES recommendations, no revision or substitution of the specified visual sensitivity function shall be made after IES publication.
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About the Illuminating Engineering Society The IES is a collegial community dedicated to improving the lighted environment. The IES is composed of a diverse membership, all with an interest in and a dedication to good lighting. 25% of the membership is involved in manufacturing (lamps, sources, luminaires, accessories); another 25% is composed of lighting designers and architects. The remaining 50% is composed of consultants, electrical and building contractors, distributors, and wholesalers, individuals working in affiliated lighting fields, those working for utilities and energy services, and people in government and education. Over one thousand of these members serve on committees, most serving on the Society’s document development committees; these committees develop standards, design guides, technical memoranda, lighting energy management materials, guidelines and lighting measurement, testing and calculation guides. Lets see. 75% work directly for the industry and are paid to promote products and techniques for lighitng. They are not paid to kill the cash cows however.. That was only possible with an act of Congress. I found the latest round of Caliper SSL Test results to be quite illuminating. 1. SSL lighting is improving and is now competitive with Low quality CFL's. and is competitive for some applications. 2. SSL technology is not even close to linear T8 Technology in Efficacy. 3. 66% of manufacturer reported information was missing misleading or erroneous. Humm, two thirds of manufacture reported information was found to be false. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/caliper_round-9_summary.pdf
Conclusions from Round 9 of Product Testing Key Conclusions
Round 9 of CALiPER testing clearly illustrates that SSL technology is more effectively implemented for some applications than others. While there are numerous commercially available SSL products which can compete admirably with incumbent technologies for recessed downlights and 2’x2’ troffer luminaires, other applications, such as replacement lamps show more nuanced results. In particular, 4’ linear replacement lamps that have been tested do not meet the light output and efficacies seen in 4’ T8 fluorescent lamps, even when those products are tested in troffers to obtain overall luminaire performance.
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Overall, about one-third of the products tested actually have accurate manufacturer ratings or specifications. About one-third of the products have manufacturer claims which only overstate the performance by about 10-20%. The remaining products either do not provide any manufacturer-published performance information or provide values which are vastly overstated by as much as 100%. The risk of consumer dissatisfaction due to products which do not perform as expected is great. Also, products such as the three SSL replacement lamps which use 5mm LEDs and depreciate down to negligible light output levels after only 1000 hours of operation, represent a serious threat for generating disappointment in early adopters of SSL technology, ultimately hindering SSL market potential.
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