Lighting Controls Make Splash at LightFair

June 8, 2006
As the largest showcase in North America for commercial lighting products, LightFair always features dozens of innovative new lamps, lighting fixtures, ballasts and related products

As the largest showcase in North America for commercial lighting products, LightFair always features dozens of innovative new lamps, lighting fixtures, ballasts and related products that produce better light, longer lamp life and energy savings.

An estimated 15,000-plus lighting professionals saw new products with these features at LightFair 2006, held May 28-June 1 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. But the architects, lighting designers, reps and electrical distributors walking the aisles of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s cavernous South Hall were also treated to a growing selection of digital lighting controls, including several systems from mainstream electrical manufacturers that hadn’t had a major presence at LightFair in the past.

Digital lighting controls that monitor the light levels and energy usage of a building’s entire lighting system aren’t new. Lighting manufacturers such as Lutron Electronics Co. Inc., Coopersburg, Pa., and Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., Little Neck, N.Y., have been leaders in the field for many years. But advancements in digital control technology have opened the market to other manufacturers that can develop keypads to control local lighting loads, sensors to monitor light levels and PC-based centralized monitors to view system status, and then figure out how to teach these products to talk to each other.

With its acquisition of Juno Lighting, Des Plaines, Ill., and years of expertise in control technology for building management systems in the industrial market, Square D/Schneider Electric, Palatine, Ill., has taken dead aim on the lighting market, and had a large booth at LightFair to exhibit its Powerlink lighting control system. Another familiar name in the electrical market with a large presence at LightFair was Hubbell Inc. The company’s Austin-based Hubbell Building Automation, marketed its Simplicity LX lighting control system at the show.

An interesting debate is brewing in the lighting control arena over the communications standards enabling these lighting products to talk with each other. While some manufacturers rely on proprietary systems, others rely on open standards. Exhibiting at LightFair this year was the Zigbee Alliance, Attleboro, Mass., a consortium of manufacturers that believe in open wireless networks. Zigbee technology is being embedded in a wide range of products and applications across consumer, industrial and government markets worldwide, and Bob Heile, Zigbee’s chairman, believes the lighting market will benefit from Zigbee technology’s ability to provide lighting manufacturers with dependable remote monitoring and control.

Another interesting development at the show was the increased presence of 20W ceramic metal-halide lamps. Joseph Knisley, senior editorial consultant for Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) magazine has been covering the lighting market for more than 40 years, and said these tiny bulbs are replacing standard halogen PAR lamps in many commercial applications because of their long lamp life, space savings and high color quality.

In addition to the trade show, LightFair featured 76 courses and more than 240 hours of programming in its conference curriculum. Many of the courses were accredited by the various lighting associations, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating and Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA).

There was also a lot of the buzz on the show floor about the low profile of Sylvania Inc., Danvers, Mass.; Philips Lighting Co., Somerset, N.J.; and Advance Transformer Co., Rosemont, Ill. Instead of the mega-booths these companies normally have at LightFair, they were buried in the aisles with the other smaller booths. Next year’s LightFair will be at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, May 6-10, 2007.