DLC Summit gathers LED lighting stakeholders to discuss the next frontier in efficient lighting: leveraging controls and connectivity to maximize energy savings and building intelligence

BOSTON– May 24, 2022 – Utility executives, energy efficiency professionals, lighting manufacturers and suppliers, researchers and other industry stakeholders convened today for a one-day summit focused on collaboration and innovation to drive greater energy savings, reduce carbon emissions and increase commercial building intelligence through solid-state lighting.  

Hosted by the DesignLights Consortium (DLC), “Lighting the Path to a Decarbonized Future” takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Aloft Boston Seaport District. Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Energy Efficiency Director Maggie McCarey is on tap to officially welcome approximately 100 attendees to the DLC’s 2022 Summit Meeting. Other speakers include DLC Executive Director and CEO Christina Halfpenny, DLC staff and representatives of companies such as Consolidated Edison, Boston University, HMFH Architects, Sonepar USA, Lytel, and Arup.  

“Summer is still officially a month away, but here in Boston we already have experienced days above 90 degrees. Climate change is here and there is an urgent need to rein it in,” Halfpenny said. “Lighting represents the single largest use of electricity in commercial buildings in the US and is responsible for about six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Today’s meeting is about the vital role smart, efficient, connected lighting can and must play in our decarbonized future.”  

The summit is happening as the first generation of LED fixtures, installed a decade or more ago, are reaching the end of their usefulness and are being replaced by next generation LEDs that can significantly increase energy savings and enable smart building functions. A 2020 study by the DLC and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) illustrated that those benefits are greatly enhanced if LEDs are paired with controls. The study found that adding networked lighting controls (NLC) to LED lighting projects yields additional energy savings of nearly 70 percent for some building types, averaging 49 percent across various building categories.  

Since LED fixtures installed today may last another decade, it is critical that new LED installations are combined with controls from the outset. Otherwise, building owners and managers risk sacrificing both the increased energy savings and the occupant comfort, security and wellbeing enabled by advanced controls.  

Topics related how controls and connectivity can contribute to a decarbonized and “smart” future are front and center at today’s Summit. Attendees will discuss a range of issues tied to surmounting various hurdles to wider NLC adoption, including:  

• Device-to-device (D2Di) interoperability as method of identifying and selecting luminaires and networked controls capable of communicating and fully functioning with each other; 
• Bundling lighting control components to accommodate the simplicity and scalability needed to ensure the cost-effectiveness of NLCs in small to medium sized buildings; 
• Balancing increased efficacy of LED luminaires with enhanced quality of light and controllability metrics and meeting the challenge of identifying new methodologies to help energy efficiency incentive programs attain their goals.  

For more information on today’s DLC Summit, visit https://www.designlights.org/news-events/events/2022-dlc-summit-meeting/