With all of the technological changes in lighting over the past few years, getting the latest available information on products and trends is critical. The associations, government resources, publications, websites and universities listed below are EW’s picks for the best lighting education, information on trends and new products, and networking/educational opportunities at lighting industry events.
LIGHTING ASSOCIATIONS
When you take a step back and look at the lighting world, you quickly realize it’s made up of several dozen individual communities, each with their own distinct areas of interest. While lamps, lighting controls and lighting fixtures account for 25% to 30% of the typical full-line electrical distributor’s sales, there are hundreds of retail lighting showrooms, lighting reps, lighting designers and consultants, landscape lighting installers, lighting maintenance companies and other companies that focus on lighting 100%. The trade associations below capture the diversity of business interests in the lighting industry.
American Association of Independent Lighting Agents (AAILA)
This new group brings together independent lighting reps and lighting manufacturers to discuss issues of common interest. AAILA plans to offer online training and commissioned research for members. At press-time, the association had 26 reps and 28 manufacturers as members. The group plans to hold a member event on June 20 at LightFair in Las Vegas.
American Lighting Association (ALA)
One of the larger trade associations in the lighting industry, ALA provides educational and advocacy services for operators of retail lighting showrooms, residential lighting reps, manufacturers of residential lighting equipment and other companies in the residential lighting market. ALA also publishes Lighting magazine and will be holding its annual conference Sept. 11-13 in Austin TX.
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES)
The 8,000-member IES focuses on helping members design quality lighting systems, and it’s respected throughout the lighting world for its training, advocacy, standards, awards and communications programs. It publishes LD&A (Lighting Design & Accessories) magazine.
International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD)
IALD has 1,500 independent lighting design professionals as members. The association provides widely respected training programs and product innovation awards.
InterNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO)
NALMCO members focus on the installation and maintenance of energy-efficient lighting systems for the retail commercial and industrial markets. The association’s annual meeting will be held Oct. 20-23 at the Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate in Championsgate, FL.
Lighting Controls Association
www.lightingcontrolsassociation.org
The Lighting Controls Association is part of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and focuses on educating the professional building design, construction, and management communities about lighting controls.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
While not focused specifically on lighting, NEMA develops electrical products standards and is an advocate on Capitol Hill for legislation favoring its members’ interests. It has historically been quite active in the development of federal energy-efficiency standards. NEMA recently published two new standards for lighting controls and other devices that report energy data.
National Lighting Bureau (NLB)
The National Lighting Bureau’s main mission is lighting education. It also offers a Trusted Lighting Warranty program and two awards programs for its members. Its Annual Lighting Forums, available on YouTube, are always interesting panel discussions on current lighting topics of interest.
National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO)
NAESCO members provide performance contracting services in lighting and other building energy services for customers in the government, institutional, educational and Fortune 500 sectors. In these performance contracts, the ESCOs typically install the equipment specified and guarantee the customer certain specific energy savings. The ESCOs in the association are independent companies and the performance contracting arms of manufacturers and utilities.
NAESCO’s Annual R3 Conference & Innovation Expo will be held Nov. 4 to Nov 6 at the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort in Anaheim, CA.
National Association of Independent Lighting Distributors (NAILD)
This group of specialty distributors focus on the sales and supply of energy-efficient lighting products and systems. The group’s 2022 annual meeting will be held on Aug. 19-21 at the St. Paul Hotel in St. Paul, MN.
LIGHTING TRADE SHOWS & CONFERENCES
Along with the various events hosted by the trade associations mentioned in this article, these are some of the key lighting events being held over the next 12 months.
LightFair, May 4-8, 2025, Las Vegas (www.lightfair.com)
LightSpec West, April 17-18, Los Anaheim (www.lightspecwest.com)
Lightovation, Dallas International Lighting Show, June 19-22 (www.dallasmarketcenter.com)
LEDucation 2024, March 19-20, New York (www.leducation.com)
LIGHTING REBATES
These are the best sources of information on utility lighting rebates and other financial incentives offered by state or local government entities.
BriteSwitch
BriteSwitch’s specialty is finding and capturing local, utility, state and federal rebates and incentives for commercial buildings across the US & Canada. Company founder Leendert Jan Enthoven is a regular contributor to Electrical Wholesaling and talked with EW on a recent EW Executive Insights podcast.
DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency)
DSIRE is another resource for information on rebates and other financial incentives for lighting products and renewables. The organization was founded in 1995 and is operated by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University.
LIGHTING PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITES
Dozens of lighting publications and websites are out there, and most of them covering specific tight verticals or communities withi the lighting industry. The information sources below do a nice job of providing a broad perspective on the overall lighting market.
Edison Lighting Report
Edison Lighting Report is recognized for Randy Reid’s coverage of breaking lighting news. Reid also publishes the “Today in Lighting” YouTube video, a regular update on industry news.
DesigningLighting
Designing Lighting’s website and magazine profile innovative lighting designs and provide business information to the lighting design community. Randy Reid is the editor.
InsideLighting
InsideLighting’s website says its goal is to help lighting professionals do their jobs easier and quicker. The website is loaded with informed takes on industry news, video Q&As and other interesting lighting content. Lighting industry veteran Al Uszynski launched the website in 2016.
Lighting Design & Accessories (LD&A)
You can always count on LD&A for solid profiles of beautiful lighting projects and coverage of technical issues in the lighting world.
LEDs magazine
A more technical read, the publication’s readers are engineers, researchers, scientists and technical professionals involved in the development of solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies.
US Lighting Trends
A relatively new content source for the lighting world, US Lighting Trends is a bi-monthly digest of the latest lighting news and trends.
LIGHTING AWARDS PROGRAMS
If you want to get a sense of which lighting products are attracting the praise of the industry’s designers and consultants, check out these annual lighting awards programs.
IES Illumination Awards
LightFair Innovation Awards
NLB Art & Science of Lighting Awards
NLB Tesla Awards
UNIVERSITIES OF LIGHTING
IALD offers a listing of the colleges and universities in the United States and abroad that have a focus on architectural lighting design. The U.S.-based universities in the listing are:
New York School of Interior Design / New York
www.nysid.edu/master-of-professional-studies-in-lighting-design
Otis College of Art & Design / Los Angeles
Parsons-The New School for Design / New York
Penn State University / University Park, PA
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute / Troy, NY
Texas Christian University / Fort Worth, TX
OTHER GREAT SOURCES FOR LIGHTING INFORMATION
You will also find plenty of solid lighting info on the websites for the Designs Light Consortium, DOE, IES and Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center.
Design Lights Consortium
The DLC is a non-profit organization focused on rigorous testing for lighting performance. It’s best-known for its DLC Qualified Products Lists. DLC says these lists are the “largest verified lists of high-performing and energy-saving LED lighting solutions in the world,” and that the LED lighting products on them undergo thorough vetting and review by DLC experts to ensure they meet rigorous energy and quality requirements. Lighting manufacturers whose products pass this testing often proudly display the DLC listing logo on product packaging.
Department of Energy’s Solid State Lighting Program
www.energy.gov/eere/ssl/about-solid-state-lighting-program
Within the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy is a federal program that over the past 20 years has helped save big bucks in annual energy costs. DOE says on its website, “According to DOE projections, if DOE targets for efficiency, controls, and connected lighting are met, advanced lighting systems are expected to save 6.9 trillion kWh of electricity by 2035. The total cumulative energy savings would be equivalent to $710 billion in avoided energy costs and 2.1 billion metric tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions.”
IES Progress Reports
2022 IES Progress Report (most recent)
The Progress Reports published by the Illuminating Engineering Society are intended to serve as an impartial annual gauge on development of new lighting technology, and the public reports are a good read if you want to cut through the promotional gobbly-gook that often obscures which new lighting products are offering something truly different. IES says its Progress Committee’s mission is to “keep in touch with developments in the art and science of lighting throughout the world and prepare a yearly report of achievements for the Society.”
The organization says all submissions are judged by an impartial panel of lighting experts on their “uniqueness, innovation and significance to the lighting industry.” A surprisingly small number of submittals make it into the report. In 2022 there were 125 submittals, but only 81 were accepted into the report.
Lighting Research Center
The Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute now focuses its research and advocacy efforts on LED lighting, 3D printing for lighting, aviation lighting, photometry and lab testing consultation and industry education.