Lightfair 2009 Overview

May 13, 2009

There was much speculation about the value of this years light fair show amidst a tough construction economy.  The editorial staff at LightRightBlog was happy to find  an outstanding show turn out and more than 170,000 sq ft of exhibitors.  This is physically largest show ever.    Numbers on the actual visitors to the show are still being calculated but again, record breaking numbers are expected.

Additionally, in recent years and months we have heard increasing commentary amongst manufacturer representatives that  would have the architectural and lighting community doubting the  the reason to make a trip to the show.   They claim consensus by their manufacturers that show is dying due to fears of manufacturers ideas being stolen  by off shore imitators.   They say that manufacturers are turning to local rep agencies to create private showings regionally.   While this blog does not doubt the value of reaching out to the design community in smaller formats,  we are happy to report that we found Light Fair to be well worth the trip,  even in a down economy, and perhaps especially in a down economy.  Better get your walking shoes on next year guys, you’re missing out!  

As we pounded our way around the trade show floor we found the quality of the booths to be high and new product investments and introductions to be well thought out.   Almost as if economic conditions weeded out the distractions.   Investments in the booths themselves varied.   Belfer lighting literally took the down and dirty approach.  Lucifer lighting reports they took a very practical approach to their booth this year displaying their best products in a very hands on fashion.  This won them a best booth award.  We applaud Lucifer for our two favorite LED steplighting products; the Stealth and the Impact .   The Impact just received some new packaging in a bollard format which was displayed at the show and looks really sharp.    

Philips, in this blog’s opinion had the most prominent display at the show.   Located on the center aisle the Philips booth seemed to go on and on with several key lighting manufacturers recently aquired by Philips.  It was dubbed Philipsville by some show attendees.   We’d like to say thanks Phillips for the 3″ thick padding under your booth!  And for your new pitch .. blue is the new green.  Anybody not on an overload of gre… I can’t even say it.    If this blog was giving awards for the show, we’d give our best booth tour award to Colleen Pastore of Lightolier.    Thanks Colleen!   More about  what we saw at the Lightolier booth will be coming in future posts…

The direction of the seminars at this Lightfair seemed to be selected to balance the very strong industry over focus on energy with messages on Epidemiologic design,  and lighting quality.     Seminars included presenters beyond the lighting industry who have extensively studied and continue to study the effects of lighting on people.   One such seminar discussed not only how  the elderly see,  but what impact having difficulty seeing affects their mental, emotional and physical well being.   In 2000 the direct cost of falls for adults over age 65 was 19 Billion dollars for non-fatal falls according to the Center for Disease Control.  With the aging population, that number is expected to reach 54 Billion by 2020.  How do we  weigh the energy savings restricting wattage and lighting levels against those numbers?   Of the 5 recommendations the CDC makes to reduce these costs, one is to improve the lighting in homes.   Many other seminars discussed the impact of light on the human body had questions and specifically the impact of light sources inherently rich in the blue spectrum.

The most spoken word around the show was about the incandescent lamp.  You either heard..  try this to replace it or expressed concern about the how combined qualities of the incandescent lamp and the simplicity of it’s design could not yet be replicated by any other source.  

Howard Brandston, participated on a panel on Outlawing the incandescent lamp.   Despite his successful career and accomplishments he summarized how he was unable, after even certified letters to several government officials, to get an audience to discuss his concerns.     His feeling was that the Obama admisitration did not have an open door policy on this issue.  (The incandescent lamp ban was signed George W. Bush in Dec 07).    Howard  further stated there was no evidence to back up the fact that CFL’s were a more efficient lamp.   Brandston said that “CFL’s should actually be called the energy wasting bulb.”     (The incandescent lamp ban was signed George W. Bush in Dec 07).   See  The Anti-American Non-Energy Bill   for other LightRightBlog coverage on this topic.   Brandston’s recently published book  can be found at the IES bookstore.   We haven’t read this book yet but we’re looking forward to.    Howard was far from alone in his views at the show on the niche served by the incandescent lamp.  Many experienced and notable  lighting designers echoed the belief that the incandescent lamp still had a place in lighting.  

Despite fears that the economy would mean a show devoid of exciting product developments we found  much development in products by passionate manufacturers eager to show their well thought out response to market demands by adding quality product to the mix.   When we arrived at the Visa booth, at near 6 pm on the 2nd day of the show, Richard Diehl a Sr. Applications Engineer of Visa Lighting  was literally beaming with delight and nearly jumping up and down in excitement that Visa had won a Best in Show under the Interior Fixture/Decorative Category with the introduction of their Air Foil fixture.  

Strong themes in development were:     power management and control products,  integrating control and service technologies,    LED street and garage lighting product,  (show Car Image)  warm color temperature, red rich LED product, LED linear product and display type lighting, continued development in the small aperture Halogen MR16 and HID MR16 downlight category.

New recognition in how to measure LED lighting is entering the discussion as a result of LM 79  and LM 80 the IESNA.     This lead the discussion of manufacturers to include how many lumens per watt each fixture delivered instead of just discussing the light source on it’s own.

We found many take-aways from the show that we’re eager to test more thoroughly and hopefully integrate in our work. 
          
Congratulations to the IALD, the IESNA and Americasmart for an outstanding 20th anniversary show !

Written by editor · Filed Under Insider Info for the Lighting Consumer 

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