by Brianna Crandall — September 19, 2014—As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to reduce energy waste in U.S. buildings and help save Americans money by saving energy, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and its partner associations announced on September 17 the winners of the sixth annual Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) design competition for indoor lighting at the LED Show in Los Angeles.
The competition, sponsored by the Energy Department, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the International Association of Lighting Designers, was launched in 2008 to promote excellence in the design of energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) commercial lighting fixtures or “luminaires.” Solid-state lighting technologies, which include both LED and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technologies, have the potential to save Americans $30 billion a year in energy costs by 2030.
A panel of 10 judges from the architectural lighting design community evaluated more than 150 indoor lighting entries based on color, illuminance, glare control, light distribution, serviceability, value, appearance, lumen maintenance and luminous efficacy.
Fifty-seven products were recognized as meeting the rigorous requirements of the competition. These winning products represented a wide range of manufacturers and lighting applications, including accent lighting, decorative lighting, cove lighting, industrial lighting, wall washing and personal task lighting.
Four manufacturers, covering four different indoor lighting types, were designated as Best in Class:
- Koncept (Monrovia, CA) for its Mosso Pro LED desk lamp
- Finelite, Inc. (Union City, CA) for its Series 11LED Micro Profile family of cove-mounted luminaires
- Cree, Inc. (Durham, NC) for its LS Series utility luminaire
- Acuity Brands — Mark Architectural Lighting (Conyers, GA) for its Slot 2 & 4 LED — Direct and Bi-Direct family of surface-mounted and pendant linear luminaires
For more on the winning entries, visit the Next Generation Luminaires Web site. To learn more about the wide-range of market introduction activities, including technology demonstrations, commercial product testing, buy/user guidance and standards development, visit EERE’s Solid-State Lighting Web site.
