Industry News

The second major advance in lighting technology is the light-emitting diode (LED), which uses up to 85 percent less electricity than an incandescent bulb. Although LEDs are the ultimate in lighting efficiency, they are still too costly for most uses. They are rapidly taking over several niche markets, however, such as traffic lights, where they now have 52 percent of Read the Rest…

As a reluctant freeway commuter, I frequently find myself yearning for more clearly-delineated lanes, particularly during rainy nights in Minneapolis (I’m not sure why, but for whatever reasons the lane markings in Minnesota seem to perform horribly during wet conditions). Overhead roadway lighting helps, but is less than desirable for a variety of reasons (ambient light pollution, non-trivial energy costs, Read the Rest…

There are a variety of reasons to practice group relamping, in which a set of lamps is replaced at a scheduled time, rather than spot relamping, in which lamps are only replaced when they burn out. Most of these reasons apply to fluorescent and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps rather than incandescents, which have much shorter lifetimes. Group relamping requires much Read the Rest…

First U.S. Retailer to Phase Out the Bulb Starting August 1st, 2010, IKEA will start phasing out incandescent bulbs (which are a lot more effective at producing heat than light) from its U.S. stores, with the goal of having completely eliminated the bulb by January 1st, 2011. But IKEA isn’t only doing this out of concern for the environment: “The Read the Rest…

CleanTX Forum- Using Geothermal Energy to Power Texas Geothermal energy is a baseload renewable resource located where the majority of Texans live. According to Texas’ State Energy Conservation Office, geothermal energy or “earth heat” is the third largest potential source of renewable energy in the United States, behind only hydropower and biomass. Texas’ stock of existing and abandoned oil and Read the Rest…

 The Palmer Events Center in Austin is switching $105,961 worth in lighting for high-efficiency versions meant to save about 70,417 kilowatt-hours of electricity and $21,501 in energy costs a year. The city is paying for the project through a $7.5 million federal stimulus-funded grant awarded to increase energy efficiency in public buildings. Palmer is one of seven municipal buildings Read the Rest…

City of Austin picks first-ever chief sustainability officer Austin Business Journal Austin named Seattle environmental strategist Lucia Athens the winner of six finalists vying for the city’s newly-created chief sustainability officer post. Athens was chosen from more than 185 applicants and is now charged with overseeing the city’s environmental initiatives and programs. The 25-year green sector veteran spent much of Read the Rest…

American Airlines Lightens Energy Bill With Lighting Retrofit Pete Musser – Contributing Writer American Airlines and Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC are close to completing a project that will replace more that 1,600 incandescent lighting fixtures with new LED bulbs. The venture is set to completely retrofit two multi-story parking garages near the airline’s corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Read the Rest…

The historic Heierman Building located at 115 E 5th Street in downtown Austin hired local lighting experts, GreenLight Energy Services, to retrofit their existing incandescent lighting technology to more efficient fluorescent fixtures to reduce heat, drastically lower energy consumption and provide superior lumen output and light distribution.  The lighting retrofit was performed in less then 2 days while a substantial Read the Rest…

By conducting a lighting retrofit, the New York Times skyscraper has been able to reduce electricity used for lighting from 1.28 watts per square foot to just 0.38 watts per square foot. The 70 percent reduction translates into yearly savings of $30,000 per floor. In all, it adds up to nearly $600,000 in savings for the New York Times, according Read the Rest…