Energy Efficiency

While the White House works to roll back national energy savings efforts, many state legislatures and governors are establishing the transition to clean energy and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as their top priority. According to the 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), U.S. states are taking the lead in clean energy initiatives and adopting ambitious goals and energy-saving rules for buildings, appliances, and vehicles.

We are seeing rising sea levels, increases in heat waves, dramatic glacier melt, and a longer more extreme wildfire season all due to climate change.  In Boston, July 2019 was not only the hottest July recorded, but the hottest month on record.  That same month the U.K. experienced their highest temperature ever recorded and this was after setting records during the previous month in June 2019.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) acts as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors. The organization believes that the United States could reduce its energy use—by as much as 40-60% by 2050—if we are willing to embrace a more focused and aggressive approach. The organization achieves its mission by:

If you think lighting design is simple, think again. Lighting design has become a creative extension of architectural design. According to the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), knowledge of physics, optics, electricity, ergonomics, business, codes, environmental issues, construction, vision and the art of design are all essential to creating great lighting solutions.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designates October as National Energy Awareness Month also known as Energy Action Month. This observance promotes smart energy choices and showcases how critical energy is to our national prosperity, security, and environmental well-being.  The effort also helps increase recognition of the importance of sustainability in managing the nation’s energy resources.

Energy efficiency is top-of-mind for all businesses today.  Facility managers are constantly seeking ways to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs.  In order to support these efforts, government agencies have implemented programs to help finance technologies that save energy, cut pollution and help enable sustainability.    

With all the new entrants in the market, the rapid pace of change, and almost every product claiming energy-efficiency in the lighting industry, it is hard to know which products are high performing and which qualify for industry rebates and incentives. Where can you go to get the trusted information that you need? The answer is – The DesignLights Consortium® (DLC).

Green office buildings in the U.S. are defined as those that hold either an EPA ENERGY STAR® label, U.S. Green Building Council LEED® certification or both. ENERGY STAR is a US government-backed organization that helps businesses determine cost-effective approaches to primarily managing energy use in their buildings. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a third-party green building certification program and the globally recognized standard for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings and neighborhoods. It is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

Selecting a smart lighting system can be daunting partly because you need to have a basic understanding of networking. How will the luminaires, sensors and controls connect and reliably communicate with each other on your smart lighting network? 

Building owners and facility executives are always looking for new ways to control energy costs. Plug loads significantly impact an energy budget—sometimes accounting for as much as 50% of the total energy consumption in commercial spaces, and there are no-cost and low-cost solutions that can tackle the problem.