Between Osram Sylvania and its subsidiary Traxon, 24 products were selected for inclusion in the 2013 Illuminating Engineering Society 2013 Progress Report.
All of the products selected have shown significant advancement in the science and art of lighting.
“We are extremely proud to be consistently recognized by such a distinguished group of peers for our lighting innovations which span the gamut of light sources, ballasts, power supplies and luminaires from OSRAM SYLVANIA and Traxon Technologies,” stated Paula Ziegenbein, application business development manager at Osram Sylvania. “We strive to deliver to the best lighting technologies to our customers who count on us to provide the tools to light their projects each and every day, and today’s announcement affirms our accomplishments toward these goals.”
The selected products included low voltage LED lighting as well as other fixtures, bulbs and lamps. The list includes the Ultra PAR38 LED free form lamps, the Ultra 25 LED lamp family and the ReliaSys LED retrofit kit.
Each year, the IES Progress Committee selects numerous lighting products for inclusion in the progress report. It features the latest innovations to lighting research, devices, publications and design tools.
Illuminating the globe
LED technology is becoming the preferred choice for lighting all over the world.
According to Electropages, the market share for LED lighting systems in the U.S. and Canada is around 7 percent. However, the market share is forecast to be 45 percent by 2016. Most of the growth for LEDs comes from the commercial sector, where large properties see significant reductions in energy usage when they make the switch to LED.
In the future, prices will continue to fall, making LEDs an even more affordable solution for both residential and commercial lighting. As government standards on energy efficiency continuously raise the bar, the technology grows and becomes less expensive for contractors and consumers alike.
Many commercial settings have benefited from the lengthy service times of LED lighting. Their lifetime is about 50,000 hours, which is advantageous for high bay fixtures and reducing maintenance costs. High-mount lighting takes a significant amount of time, effort and money to replace. Depending on a property’s resources, a lot can be spent between a lift rental and new bulbs. LEDs put a larger span of time between replacements so facility managers can save on expenses.
A more affordable choice
Commercial LED lighting is more affordable in regards to return on investment and initial installation costs.
Although compact fluorescent lighting still has a foothold in the market due to its lower price, the bulbs contain mercury and fall behind LEDs in energy efficiency and service time. While using LED lighting, energy savings are significant enough to cover the cost of the installation in a short time.
There are also energy-contracting options available for retrofitting with LED commercial lighting fixtures. Through an energy savings performance contract, an energy service company performs an audit of a property, figures out the specific needs of the space and designs financing around the proposed upgrades so that the energy savings will then repay the installation loan.
The Herald Sun reports that Cree Inc., an industry leader in efficient commercial lighting, will begin a campaign to create more consumer-centered products. Now that prices are feasible for the consumer market, CEO Chuck Swoboda believes that expansion into more residential devices is warranted.
For commercial property owners, affordability in the consumer market means much lower prices for large-scale retrofit projects.
