Lighting for Tomorrow 2012 Awards Announced!

The tenth annual Lighting for Tomorrow competition recognizes the best designed, energy efficient lighting products entering the residential market. The 2012 competition featured energy efficient light emitting diode (LED) lighting fixtures, replacement lamps, fixture retrofit kits, and lighting controls. Lighting for Tomorrow continues to challenge manufacturers to improve their design of solid-state lighting (SSL) products that will meet consumers’ expectations. Over the last three years, Lighting for Tomorrow, has encouraged lighting control manufacturers to enter lighting control devices with the requirement that they be compatible with energy efficient technologies, such as fluorescent or LEDs. The 2012 judging panel held in June at Underwriters Laboratories (UL) University in Research Triangle Park, NC reviewed a total of 124 products including, 67 LED fixtures, 34 LED lamps, 13 LED retrofit kits, and 10 lighting control devices. This was the largest number of entries Lighting for Tomorrow has over its 10-year history.

The judges were particularly impressed with the quality of LED fixtures entered this year. Of the thirty companies that submitted LED fixtures, approximately half received some type of recognition. While only four products were selected as winners, nine honorable mentions were selected and one product was given special recognition. Past winner AFX Lighting, was awarded for its adjustable Centre Contemporary LED Pendant. Cooper Lighting was selected as a winner for its IRiS P3LED downlight. Hinkley Lighting won for its outdoor porch fixture ATLANTIS. Tech Lighting received an award for its Unilume LED Undercabinet fixture. The remaining manufacturers received honorable mentions for their entries. Past winners Good Earth Lighting and Lithonia Lighting® received honorable mentions for their undercabinet fixtures. Competition veterans Juno Lighting Group and MaxLite received awards for their recessed downlight and pendant, respectively. There were also several newcomers. Evolution Lighting, LLC received two honorable mentions for its track fixtures, and Cielux (a division of DiCon Lighting), LittleFootprint Lighting, and Prism Co., Ltd all received honorable mentions for their desk lamps. Lastly, Hart Lighting received special recognition for the advanced design of its LED WaveForm Chandelier.

Nine companies submitted LED replacement lamps, of which only one was recognized. Manufacturer Lighting Science Group was selected as winner for both its Definity PAR30 Short Neck Bulb and Definity BR30 Bulb. No honorable mentions were awarded in this category.

Seven companies submitted LED retrofit kits, and two received awards. OSRAM SYLAVNIA was selected as a winner with its ULTRA RT6 Gimbal, and Lighting Science Group received an honorable mention for its Glimpse.

The judges did not select any lighting controls for award this year, but acknowledged Legrand for its adorne Event Controller which they considered an important development as well as representing new thinking about controls technology.

Awards were presented at the American Lighting Association Annual Conference in Scottsdale, AZ on Sept. 11. The competition is designed to stimulate the market for attractive, energy-efficient residential lighting fixtures that use a fraction of the electricity of standard incandescent fixtures. By encouraging new designs and technologies, Lighting for Tomorrow aims to increase market acceptance and awareness of the growing opportunities in energy efficient lighting.

Winners will be showcased in an awards brochure that highlights both the LED-based winners and lighting control product. In addition, the winning products and companies will be featured in articles and trade show exhibits throughout the coming year.

To download these publications, for information about where to purchase these products, and for complete details on the competition, see www.lightingfortomorrow.com.

ABOUT LIGHTING FOR TOMORROW
Lighting for Tomorrow, launched in 2002, is organized by the American Lighting Association (ALA), the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) and UL. Approximately two dozen energy efficiency organizations in the US and Canada participated in supporting this latest competition.