Ecmweb 7395 Leducation 2015 Pr
Ecmweb 7395 Leducation 2015 Pr
Ecmweb 7395 Leducation 2015 Pr
Ecmweb 7395 Leducation 2015 Pr
Ecmweb 7395 Leducation 2015 Pr

LEDucation 9 Field Report

May 18, 2015
LEDs continue to drive their way into many markets.

Held on March 5th and 6th at the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel, the 9th Annual LEDucation conference, hosted by the Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY), with the support of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), attracted thousands of designers, engineers, educators, contractors, and manufacturers in a 2-day format. The exhibit area featured more than 230 manufacturers and distributors displaying their products and services. Additionally, 17 accredited educational seminars (highlighted below) covering LED technology, energy efficiency, and industry codes rounded out the event.

On the first day, a panel discussion with lighting designers, manufacturers and research/policy specialists focused on a variety of subjects including: obsolescence, product performance variations in color, life cycle challenges, the manufacturer’s end-of-lifecycle policy, and product perceptions. The panelists revealed that they’ve found great improvements in products, with regards to delivered lumens, lumens per watt, optical control, color, and power factor issues. They found decent improvements in CRI and form factor. As for areas needing more effort, dimming, flicker, replicability and inrush current topped the list.

This year’s exhibit space sold out within one month of opening registration.

The following is a quick recap of what was covered in some of the seminars at the event.

In the “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Designing with LEDs (But Were Afraid to Ask)” session, Shoshanna Segal, Luminous Flux, LLC, reviewed some basic design principles, along with the application of LEDs to various types of spaces, and the importance of properly evaluating an LED luminaire sample, selected for a project. She noted that solid-state light sources and their drivers operate radically different from traditional light sources. Thus, the types of depreciation data to use (such as the IES L70 and LM80 test documents for LED sources), the types of photometric testing to request and the effects of color temperature and CRI on light output, must be considered.

In the “The Role and Disruptive Impact of Wireless Lighting Controls” session, Beatrice Witzgall, LumiFi, foresees a new era of widely accessible and more economical lighting control systems, in contrast to existing hardware and wiring — intensive control systems, which are impractical to retrofit, besides being inflexible and generally proprietary. Many tech companies want to have solid-state (digital) lighting, music, entertainment, and other appliances within a home, office, or hotel room, communicate both with you and with one another over a wireless network, to create any number of sensory moods. For this reason, they are working to make wireless lighting controls versatile, convenient and affordable for the home, office, and hotel markets.

In the “Healthcare Design: Can Modern Lighting Cure the Ills of Ailing Institutions” session, Caryn Gayle, Acuity Brands, explained the concept of “designing for health” using solid-state (LED) light sources and control systems that can respond to the functional, physiological, and psychological needs of patients and hospital staff. While rods and cones within the human eye are photoreceptors for our visual system, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) that influence the human circadian systems, are only recently being studied.

Although technology allows us to engage in many different activities under electric lighting throughout the day and night, our circadian system always seeks 24-hour light-dark patterns for optimum health. We want intense light (similar to sunlight) in the morning and early afternoon, but later in the day, we want dimmer (and warmer-colored) light and ultimately, darkness.

As digital lighting systems become more widely used, LED systems that can control intensity and color (a simulation of daylight) may allow patients to be more relaxed while undergoing minimally invasive procedures and treatment, such as radiology procedures.

At present, there are two main types, or uses, for a “tunable” white LED source. The first is to have the lighting system create a cool white light in the morning, with a transition to warmer light in the evening. The second type of dimmable LED product has a dim-to-warm capability that closely mimics the way incandescent and halogen lamps dim — with the color temperature getting lower/warmer as the light level drops during a dimming operation.

Many of the seminar sessions were near seating capacity.

In the “Back to Basics: Understanding Lighting in the Age of LEDs” session, JP Bedell, Stan Deutsch Associates, reviewed fundamental technical aspects of lighting, such as the terms used to describe light sources, a comparison of LEDs to tradition light sources, how to read a cut sheet, the evaluation of a sample lighting luminaire, and writing a specification. One of the greatest obstacles to the acceptance of solid-state light sources continues to be the learning curve associated with the change from traditional light sources to LEDs. In addition, measuring and evaluating an LED luminaire is a challenge because the unit consists of numerous assemblies.

In the “California Title 24 in the LED Era” session, Jim Benya, Benya Burnett Consultancy, noted that lighting and energy codes provide a minimum standard for new construction of commercial buildings, with the ASHRAE 90.1 standard and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) being the most important. The new California’s Title 24 Part 6 is more stringent than the ASHRAE 90.1 standard and it has a goal of shutting off lighting when not needed in: offices, corridors, stairwells, library stacks, parking garages, and other intermittently used structures. Retrofitted buildings have to have specific control devices. In new construction projects, sensors, timers, and dimmers are mandatory, and they have to follow commissioning and acceptance-testing requirements.

In the “LED Systems: A Lighting Controls Armageddon” session, Andy McMillan, BACnet International, talked about the new era of LED lighting/control systems that, in addition to offering energy savings, add real value in new and existing buildings. Today’s networks are capable of monitoring controls behavior and communication, and an auto-commissioning feature eliminates the need for manual address setting and configuration. Traditionally, energy optimization is the force behind most building automation projects, with the primary goal being a return on investment, measured by cost reductions and/or improved sustainability. Now, however, the emergence of economical LED lighting, digital controls, and the emergence of the Web and cloud computing/storage, may shift the focus from cost reduction to value creation, making lighting a major force in the building automation industry. In other words, what happens when lighting control is so simple that anyone can do it and so compelling that everyone wants to? If an appreciable number of suppliers offer automation projects that are not HVAC-centric and are not driven by energy ROI going forward, that would be a radical change with far-reaching implications.

In the “Designing Anew with OLED Lighting” session, Peter Ngai, Acuity Brands noted the commercial availability of organic LED (OLED) fixtures at big box retailers. He identified the main components of OLED and the principles of light emission, which are not dependent on traditional luminaire shapes and sizes. He noted that this light source uses carbon-based materials, making it organic, while also explaining OLED performance and photometric characteristics. Finally, he showed current applications and some future directions of these products.

About the Author

Joseph R. Knisley | Lighting Consultant

Joe earned a BA degree from Queens College and trained as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy. He is a member of the IEEE Communications Society, Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI), and IESNA. Joe worked on the editorial staff of Electrical Wholesaling magazine before joining EC&M in 1969. He received the Jesse H. Neal Award for Editorial Excellence in 1966 and 1968. He currently serves as the group's resident expert on the topics of voice/video/data communications technology and lighting.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of EC&M, create an account today!

Sponsored Recommendations

Electrical Conduit Comparison Chart

CHAMPION FIBERGLASS electrical conduit is a lightweight, durable option that provides lasting savings when compared to other materials. Compare electrical conduit types including...

Fiberglass Electrical Conduit Chemical Resistance Chart

This information is provided solely as a guide since it is impossible to anticipate all individual site conditions. For specific applications which are not covered in this guide...

Considerations for Direct Burial Conduit

Installation type plays a key role in the type of conduit selected for electrical systems in industrial construction projects. Above ground, below ground, direct buried, encased...

How to Calculate Labor Costs

Most important to accurately estimating labor costs is knowing the approximate hours required for project completion. Learn how to calculate electrical labor cost.