Congratulations to the LFI 2013 Award Winners and Finalists

Trade show season is well underway for the lighting and design industries! There seem to be industry events and home show exhibitions almost every week. With exhibits to construct, new products to “display” and awards to be won, this is a very busy time for lighting designers and manufacturers. Here at Lightology, we have the delightful job of taking it all in and finding the very best of what’s on offer.

We’d like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2013 LFI Innovation Awards, held April 21 – 25 at the Lightfair International Trade Show & Conference in Philadelphia, PN. A special congratulations to Philips, Pure Edge Lighting, Tech Lighting, Juno Lighting, Osram Sylvania, Lighting Science Group and WAC Lighting.

Philips Boldplay | LFI 2013 Most Innovative Product of the Year

Philips took home the “Most Innovative Product of the Year” title for its new Boldplay linear architectural LED, which also won the ‘Commercial Indoor Product’ category. The Philips Hue personal lighting system won the Judge’s Citation Award and also won the ‘Dynamic Color, Theatrical, Cove, Strips and Tape’ category. Philips was also a finalist in the ‘Controls, Building Integration, Site Automation and Distribution Systems’ category for the Color Kinetics IntelliPower. Congratulations, Philips, for such a fantastic year at Lightfair!

Philips Hue | LFI 2013 Judge’s Citation Award Winner

 

Category Winners: Highlights  

Indoor Decorative (Chandeliers, Pendants, Sconces, Task Lights)

Finalist: Pure Edge Lighting – Truline 1.6, Plaster-In LED System

Pure Lighting | Tru Line 1.6 Plaster-In LED System | LFI 2013 Finalist: Indoor Decorative

Combining minimalist design with state-of-the-art technology, Pure Lighting produces unparalleled, innovative lighting that blends seamlessly into drywall or plaster to become part of the architecture. Pure Lighting’s Truly Trimless recessed fixtures feature advanced LED and LED RGB technology within concealed lighting components to provide a clean, glare-free look ideal for commercial or residential applications.

Recessed Downlights (Wall Washers, Directionals, Modulars, Multiples)

Finalist: Juno Lighting – Indy Architectural LED Advanced Technology, Color Tuning and Black Body Dimming

Juno Lighting | Indy Architectural LED Advanced Technology, Color Tuning and Black Body Dimming | LFI 2013 Finalist: Recessed Downlight Category

Founded in 1976, Juno Lighting Inc. is one of the largest designers and manufacturers of recessed lighting and track lighting. Their high quality, well-engineered and attractive fixtures are easy to install and suited for a wide range of residential, commercial and retail applications.

Conventional, Retrofit and Replacement LED Lamps

Winner: Osram Sylvania – OCTRON® 800 XP® XL SUPERSAVER® T8 Fluorescent Lamps

Finalist: Osram Sylvania – LUMALUX PLUS® XL ECOLOGIC® HPS Lamps

Osram Sylvania | Octron 800 | LFI 2013 Category Winner: Conventional, Retrofit and Replacement LED Lamps

Osram Sylvania offers light bulbs, transformers, power supplies and other lighting products in its commitment to make our world more comfortable, more productive and more imaginative. Osram Sylvania’s lifestyle solutions are suited to homes, businesses and institutions, automobiles and a broad range of specialty applications.

Controls, Building Integration, Site Automation and Distribution Systems

Finalist: Lutron Electronics – Lutron’s Embedded Ecosystem Technology

Finalist: Philips – Philips Color Kinetics IntelliPower

Dynamic Color, Theatrical, Cove, Strips and Tape

Winner: Philips – Hue personal wireless lighting system

Finalist:  Tech Lighting (Generation Brands) – Unilume LED Micro Channel

Tech Lighting | Unilume LED Micro Channel | LFI 2013 Category Finalist: Dynamic Color, Theatrical, Cove, Strips and Tape

Originally established as a leading designer of architectural lighting, the Tech Lighting brand has since evolved to offer an expansive selection of lighting solutions for both residential and commercial applications, including low- and line-voltage decorative pendants, chandeliers, wall sconces, bath bars and bath lighting, directional track heads, ceiling fixtures and picture lights.

Track, Display, Undercabinet and Shelf

Finalist: WAC Lighting – LINE Edge-Lit LED Barlight

Industrial, Vandal, Emergency and Exit

Finalist: Lighting Science Group – VividGro™ LED Grow Light

Commercial Indoor (Linear Fluorescent, Troffers, Suspended, Surface, LED, OLED)

Winner: Philips – BoldPlay

About Lightfair International

Lightfair is co-owned by the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD). AMC, Inc. produces and manages the annual event.

Lightfair 2014: June 1-5, 2014 – Las Vegas, NV

For more information and a forcomplete list of this year’s LFI Award winners and finalists, visit Lightfair International online.

LED Lighting Basics and The Lighting Facts Label

In the last two months, Lightology has partnered with top LED manufacturers, Edge Lighting, Pure Lighting and Philips Lightolier to teach Chicago’s architects and designers all about LEDs through educational seminars at our downtown Chicago showroom. Through these presentations, we’ve collected 5 helpful tips on LEDs that anyone can use to make sure they purchase the right LED for any project!

1)    Look for the Lighting Facts Label

Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the Lighting Facts Label is the ‘nutrition facts label’ for LEDs, providing a quick summary of product performance data.

By introducing transparency to the lighting supply chain, the label guards against exaggerated claims and helps ensure a satisfactory experience for lighting buyers.

Luminaire manufacturers who take the pledge agree to use the label to disclose performance results in five areas—lumens, efficacy, watts, correlated color temperature (CCT), and color rendering index (CRI)—as measured by the industry standard for testing photometric performance, IES LM-79-2008.

2)    Color (Correlated Color Temperature)

Students Visit the Color Temperature Wall, which shows all the different colors of light, at the Lightology Showroom

Color Temperature measures light color.

• “Cool” colors have higher Kelvin temperatures (3600–5500 K).
• “Warm” colors have lower color temperatures (2700–3500 K).

These colors are charted on the Kelvin scale for you to use when choosing a light source. Many LEDs are developed with a color temperature of 2700K, which is the same as a standard incandescent, or 3000K, which matches the color of Halogen light.

It is important to match the color temperature in all light sources when designing a space, otherwise the differences might be quite noticeable.

3)   Quality (Color Rendering Index)

This picture shows that the colors on the tissue box look better under LEDs with a higher CRI. All three tissue boxes are lit under the same Color Temperature, only the CRI is different.

CRI measures color accuracy, or more specifically, it is the effect of the lamp’s light spectrum on the color appearance of objects.

Based on a scale from 1-100 (100 being the best), a low CRI LED will make colors in fabrics, paint and people look duller, less vibrant. It’s a great idea to place color samples from your project underneath LEDs with differing CRIs to help determine which LED looks best.

Typically, a CRI in the mid-70s and up is acceptable for commercial applications. For residential applications, A CRI of 80 or above is preferable.

4)    Lumens, Watts and Lumens per Watt

This chart shows the comparison in efficacy between an incandescent, fluorescent and LED light source.

Lumens measures light output. The higher the number, the more light is emitted.

Watts are ONLY a measurement of the energy required to light the product. The lower the wattage, the less energy used.

Lumens per Watt is a way to measure efficiency, similar to the Miles Per Gallon you get in your car. The higher this number is, the more efficient your product is.

5)    Thermal Management

The Scope LED Head uses aluminum as a heatsink to pull heat away from the LED, making sure it maintains the 50,000 hour lifespan.

Heat plays a major factor in the lifespan of an LED. LEDs are a condensed point source that gets very hot, so an aluminum heatsink is necessary to dissipate the heat over a larger surface and keep the junction (where the LED meets the circuit board) temperature below 80°C.

Running an LED just a few degrees too warm can shorten the lifespan of an LED up to 50%! A good rule of thumb is in an open air environment, the LED needs 2.5 square inches of heatsink for every 1 watt.

Use Edge Lighting’s Scope LED as an example. At 9 watts, the scope needs 22 sq. inches of heatsink. The cylindrical fixture is 2.24”W x 4”H. You use the formula below to determine the square inches of the aluminum fixture (the heatsink).

Width x π x Height

2.24 x 3.14 x 4 = 28 square inches

The Scope LED fixture exceeds the required amount of heatsink to guarantee LED lifespan. Keep in mind that enclosed fixtures, like recessed LEDs can require around 15 square inches per 1 watt, so the heatsinks on these fixtures will be much larger, but still hidden from view.

Download a PDF of our Lamp Comparison Chart to see some of the basic differences between lighting options available to you.