GLOVIS America Inc., a global transportation services and logistics company, provides finishing services, automobile equipment and parts to the Kia Motors manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia on a per-order basis. The assembly plant could not maintain required light levels over assembly areas for workers to do their jobs. GLOVIS America’s wiring components are all installed beneath the dashboard of vehicles. Prior to the renovation, service employees relied on headlamps and flashlights to see wiring components that were not sufficiently illuminated by 45 narrow-beam metal halides over the assembly line. GLOVIS America contacted Lighting Technologies, Inc. to obtain the right solution to their problem.  > More

FAST PAYBACK may be possible thanks to gains in lighting technologies. Just how big is the lighting retrofit opportunity for commercial and institutional buildings? Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) paints a startling picture. Of the 2.7 million commercial buildings constructed before 1980, only 455,000 made lighting upgrades between 1980 and 2003.  > More

Does it save electricity to turn off the lights every time you leave a room? Mythbusters uncovers the truth about whether or not you can save energy and reduce your lighting bill just by turning off the lights.  > More

How many of you want to reduce your energy bills but lack the money to spend on energy efficiency projects these days?

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides a federal tax deduction for investments in energy efficiency in commercial buildings. To qualify, a project must yield a 50% or greater reduction in energy consumption when compared to a similar space designed to meet Standard 90.1-2001. This standard is published jointly by the American Association of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES).

Qualifying projects are separated into three categories:  > More

WASHINGTON — A broad-based coalition of construction, trade, design, manufacturing, environmental, and energy efficiency groups and organizations are calling on Congress to support increasing the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction from $1.80 per square foot to $3 per square foot in order to help stimulate job creation. More than 80 organizations have now co-signed a letter to Congressional members asking for an increase in this tax deduction. This represents an increase of more than 40 percent in the number of signatures since December 2009.  > More

(ROSSLYN, Va.)—The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved legislation supported by NEMA that for the first time would set national energy efficiency standards for pole-mounted outdoor lighting. On March 10, 2010, NEMA testified before the committee in support of S 3059 National Energy Efficiency Enhancement Act of 2010, particularly Section 6 on outdoor lighting.  > More

It's official: incandescent lamps are on their way out, and energy efficiency is now the law of the land, thanks to a new bill signed by President Bush in December.

Beginning in 2012, and phased in over three years, all new bulbs will have to use 25% to 30% less energy for the same light output as today's incandescents.  > More

Using LEDs for general lighting may finally be a bright idea.

In the past few years, light-emitting diodes have made huge advances in energy efficiency. Industry sources and outside experts say LEDs are now the most energy-efficient lighting source available. They use far less energy than other bulbs, last a lot longer, and cost less to use over their lifetime.  > More

Surging fuel costs are about to inflict more pain on consumers, this time in the form of rapidly rising electricity bills.

Power prices are being pushed up across the U.S., with increases sometimes soaring into double digits, due to costlier coal and natural gas, the fuels used to make 70% of the nation's electricity  > More

Low energy light bulbs are one of the success stories of modern times. The popular compact fluorescent lamps, as they are known, have come along way since their early incarnations. These were bulky and not as aesthetically pleasing as their modern, compact counterparts. Saving money whilst doing your bit for the environment has become so popular these days that everybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. By using these low energy alternatives to standard incandescent light bulbs, you will not only save money but you are being kind to the environment too. By covering their history, energy facts and comparing low energy light bulbs to their energy hungry incandescent neighbours, we outline some of the important reasons why this is so.  > More

Apparently, it's time to ban Edison's venerable, now vilified, light bulb. European leaders, green pundits and the widely reported light bulb provisions of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 all urgently push the abandonment of incandescent bulbs.

The plan appears to be to convince everyone to switch to compact fluorescent lights (CFL), a technology that was introduced in the 1930s and perfected when rock was young and computers used vacuum tubes.  > More

The new energy bill signed this week makes it official. When 2012 hits, stores can no longer sell the cheap but inefficient incandescent light bulbs that are fixtures in most homes.

Even so, light bulb manufacturers say that worries about greenhouse gases and the high cost of energy had them moving away from conventional incandescents way before Congress weighed in. For quite some time, they note, they have been trying to soften the light emitted by compact fluorescent lights, bring down the cost of light-emitting diodes — and yes, find ways to increase the efficiency of incandescents.  > More

A global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's electricity bill by nearly one-tenth.

That is the conclusion of a study from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which it says is the first global survey of lighting uses and costs.  > More