Tag Archives: Lighting

Understanding Lighting Controls

By Craig G. Malesic, PE, LC, PMP In our recent blog post about Lighting Trends, Thomas Schubert and I shared that lighting control systems are becoming very complex, the “why” is too often being ignored, end-users don’t understand the controls, and the lighting is often not properly commissioned. However, since ever-changing building and energy codes are […]

Understanding Selectable Color Temperature

  by Thomas G. Schubert, PE The lighting industry today is becoming saturated with talk of numerous new technologies, how they will enhance our lives in passive ways, and why we should buy into the hype. One such technology being pushed is selectable color temperature – the ability to program interior lighting fixtures to mimic […]

Illuminance and Perceived Brightness

By Craig G. Malesic, LC, EIT, PMP Have you ever walked into a room and thought “Man, it’s dark in here!” As a lighting designer, when this happens I typically ask, “Is it really dark in the room, or does it just seem dark? And, if it just seems dark, why?” To understand this, we […]

What is the Ideal Color Temperature for Your Lighting?

By Craig Malesic, LC, PMP, EIT In a prior post, Understanding Correlated Color Temperature (CCT), I shared insight about the quality of light color, from yellow to blue to “white hot.” In this post, we’ll continue exploring color temperature for lighting, and how lighting design professionals determine what makes the most sense for a given […]

Holiday Lighting: How to be Safe & Creative this Season

By Craig G. Malesic, LC, PMP, EIT Christmas is my favorite time of year. And it’s not just for the obvious reasons of religion, family, presents, and the occasional hot toddy, either. When I gaze upon the holiday spirit with my lighting-designer hat firmly affixed upon my head, the only emotion that can describe my […]

Understanding Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)

by Craig G. Malesic, PMP, LC, EIT Color temperature, which is also referred to as CCT (Correlated Color Temperature), is the chromaticity observed when a black body radiator is heated to a pre-determined temperature. The units are stated in degrees Kelvin, which indicates the temperature of the black body radiator. Well, as much as that […]

Green Lighting Controls: Changing the Heart of the Culture

by Thomas Schubert, PE, Electrical Engineer Most people would agree that saving energy is a good thing. Unfortunately, a problem often occurs when we shift from principle into practice. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly those individuals who turn off the lights when they leave a room, wear a sweater instead of turning up […]

On the Way to Further Reducing Energy Consumption for Incandescent Lamps

by Douglas K. Shively, PE, ICC Lighting currently accounts for approximately 14 percent of electricity used in buildings in the United States.  In 2007, then-President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence Act of 2007, with the purpose of reducing energy consumption and our dependence on foreign energy sources. In response, the United […]