Standardization & Regulation

Resources | Standardization | Zhaga | MD-SIG | Dec 11, 2019

MD-SIG Integrates Into the Zhaga Consortium

Zhaga and MD-SIG are pleased to announce that they have agreed to align their efforts and to proceed as a single organisation under the Zhaga Consortium. Zhaga members have access to the former MD-SIG specifications as part of their Zhaga membership. The Module-Driver Interface Special Interest Group (MD-SIG) is a global lighting industry consortium, with the aim to introduce standardized multi-vendor electrical interfaces between LED control gear and modules as the missing link essential to the maturity of SSL components business. The Zhaga Consortium is a global association of lighting companies that is standardizing interfaces of components of LED luminaires. Read more »

Resources | Regulation | LightingEurope | Energy Efficiency Label | Dec 05, 2019

New Regulations on Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Impact Lighting Products – LightingEurope Guidelines Available

The European Commission has published today Regulation (EU) 2019/2020 on ecodesign requirements for lighting and Regulation (EU) 2019/2015 on energy labelling for lighting which will apply in all EU Member States from September 2021. LightingEurope has prepared guidelines to help companies comply. Read more »

Zhaga | Standardization | Dec 02, 2019

Zhaga Book 18 Ed. 2.0 Has Been Published

Zhaga member companies can now access the specification and certify luminaires according to the Zhaga-D4i certification program. Dekra and Intertek are the accredited test centres. Read more »

DALI | DiiA | LED Drivers | Standardization | Dec 02, 2019

DiiA Starts D4i Certification of LED Drivers

D4i certification brings standardization to intra-luminaire DALI, and enables intelligent, data-rich LED luminaires that can interact with external lighting-control networks. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | CIE | Measurement | Oct 23, 2019

New CIE Technical Report: Optical Measurement of LED Modules and Light Engines

LED modules and light engines represent a wide range of very different products with unique physical properties. Thus, they can neither be treated as single LED packages (where measurements refer to a specific junction temperature of a single LED or the average of a single die, multiple-junction LED) nor as complete lamps or luminaires (where measurements refer to the ambient temperature). Read more »

Resources | Standardization | CIE | Non-Visual Lighting Effects | HCL | Oct 10, 2019

CIE Position Statement on Non-Visual Effects of Light - 2nd Edition

On October 3rd, CIE released their new position statement on non-visual effects of light, entitled "Recommending Proper Light at the Proper Time" 2nd edition. As non-visual effects are becoming more attention nowadays, confusion and uncertainties on this topic are still high in the lighting community. Much research has been done but even more research is necessary. CIE has recognized this relevant topic and already initiated an independent workshop of leading scientists in the field of quantifying light for non-visual effects in Manchester in 2013 (CIE TN 003:2015 (CIE 2015)). The CIE issued an international standard, CIE S 026:2018 (2018), that defines a system for metrology of optical radiation for light-induced responses that can be elicited by ipRGCs (ipRGC-influenced light (IIL) responses). Read more »

Zhaga-D4i Certification Signals Plug-and-Play Interoperability

The new Zhaga-D4i certification program and logo indicates plug-and-play interoperability of luminaires, sensors and communication nodes, and represents an important collaboration between two major, innovative lighting-industry organizations, Zhaga and DiiA. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | CIE | Horticulture | Sep 17, 2019

Horticultural Lighting - The Root to International Standards

Plants have evolved to make the most of the conditions in which they naturally grow. For some plants, this environment will be fully supportive; it may be less so for others. In general, the plant with the fully supportive conditions will predominate in the absence of external intervention. Humans have changed plants over the centuries, selectively growing the plants that provide maximum perceived benefits in terms of color, smell, yield and, perhaps more recently, nutritional value. For most of our evolution, we have had to make use of the environmental conditions available. The desire for cheap food, all year around, and attempts to minimize "food miles" has increased the move towards providing totally constructed growing environments. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | SASO | Sep 11, 2019

Market Entry in Saudi Arabia – with Obstacles

The international market for lighting products is getting more complicated for manufacturers. After the use of product tests by China and Russia as a hurdle, Saudi Arabia is now demanding CB Certificates and an energy label with a two-year validity period for lighting products. Hans Laschefski, Industrie Marketing Manager Lighting EMEA at UL, shows why and how external testing laboratories can help overcome these hurdles through forward planning. Read more »

"Glare" Is to Light as "Noise" Is to Sound - CIE Research Roadmap on Glare

Glare has always been a relevant topic, especially since electric light levels began to increase. With high intensity light sources like LEDs, the problem culminated in the last few years. CIE addresses this topic in its recent publication CIE 205:2013: "Review of Lighting Quality Measures for Interior Lighting with LED Lighting Systems". Furthermore the Joint Technical Committee JTC 7 is still working on this topic. A short overview on the topic and CIE's activities is presented. Read more »

Zhaga and DiiA Unveil Joint Zhaga-D4i Certification Program

The Zhaga Consortium (Zhaga) and the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) have unveiled their joint Zhaga-D4i certification program, indicating plug-and-play interoperability of luminaires, sensors and communication nodes. Read more »

DiiA Introduces D4i Bringing Standardization to Intra-Luminaire DALI

The Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) has unveiled its new D4i logo and certification program for intra-luminaire DALI. D4i extends the existing DALI-2 certification program with additional features and functions, creating new possibilities for DALI in the IoT world. Read more »

Visual Appearance: Perception, Measurement and Metrics

Visual appearance is one of the most critical parameters affecting customer choice and needs in products. We use the response from our visual sense to process the complex patterns of light around us into objects, space, location and movement, and from that information, we make judgments leading to a particular course of action. For example, how we perceive the visual appearance of a product may cause us to buy it, reject it or even write to complain about it. We may choose to buy a particular food because its appearance suggests freshness. Our choice of car may have been influenced because its glossy appearance made us think of quality and prestige. Alternatively, we may reject a particular surface finish because its appearance suggested poor quality and the presence of defects. All of these examples represent judgments made on appearance. Read more »

Smart Lighting + IoT | Resources | Standardization | CIE | Mar 28, 2019

Adaptive, Dynamic and Intelligent Lighting

Previously, most lighting applications were designed to ensure suitable visual conditions, to support the most demanding visual task anticipated, whilst also taking into account requirements to provide adequate levels of visual comfort and aesthetics. In most cases this was a static lighting solution because the options to change light levels, luminance distribution, or light source spectrum were limited. Tasks, occupants, and needs change from time to time, making control over the lighting desirable, if unattainable. Advanced LED and controls technology make the unattainable possible; now, the key questions are also for CIE how to define the user needs for various applications and how best to set up lighting systems to be adaptive and intelligent in response. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | CIE | Health | Mar 28, 2019

CIE Considers the "Good and Bad" of Light

Light, and the wider optical radiation spectrum (ultraviolet and infrared radiation), provides us with many benefits. However, too much may be harmful and too little may mean we cannot carry out our daily activities, or may indeed compromise our well-being. Division 6 of CIE, Photobiology and Photochemistry, is responsible for developing action spectra for the effects of optical radiation on people, as well as flora and fauna. John O'Hagan, Luke Price and Luc Schlangen, respectively, Division 6 director, Division 6 secretary and chair of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) 9, explain the work done to determine the balance between risk and benefit from exposure to optical radiation. Read more »

Zhaga Confirms Plan to Transfer Book 18 to IEC

The Zhaga Consortium has confirmed its plan to transfer Book 18 Ed. 2.0 to IEC, after the completion of the specification expected by mid-2019 and approval by the General Assembly. This Book describes a smart interface for outdoor luminaires and specifies power, communication and mechanical aspects. The decision is following the already ongoing transfers of Books 1,7,10,12 and 14. Read more »

Zhaga and DiiA Agree Joint Certification Program for a Smart Luminaire Interface

The Zhaga Consortium (Zhaga) and the Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) are developing a joint certification program for interoperable luminaires and components, which enables intelligent, future-proof LED luminaires with IoT connectivity. Read more »

Amazon to Join Zigbee Alliance Board of Directors

The Zigbee Alliance, an organization of hundreds of companies creating, maintaining, and delivering open, global standards for the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced that Amazon will join its Board of Directors. As IoT growth continues to accelerate, prominent companies in the tech industry are collaborating within the Zigbee Alliance to shape the direction of standards, ecosystems, and devices to offer users easy and enjoyable experiences they’ll want to build upon within their homes and personal spaces. The decision by Amazon to join the Zigbee Alliance at the Board level is a strong message that the industry is focused on simplifying and adding convenience to the growing range of IoT devices available to customers. Read more »

DALI Specifications from DiiA Enable Intelligent, Connected LED Luminaires

New specifications from DiiA enable smart DALI drivers that can report data, supporting DALI in the IoT era, and can also simplify the addition of sensors and communication nodes to luminaires via an intra-luminaire DALI bus. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | CIE | Measurement | Jul 20, 2018

CIE Research Strategy in Metrology for Advanced Photometric and Radiometric Devices

Photometric devices are devices that measure optical radiation and which are designed with a very specific spectral response. Most commonly, illuminance meters and luminance meters are used to measure the illuminance and luminance distributions in the field. These are relatively simple devices, characterized by a specific input optics according to the required task and a filter to make the spectral response of the instrument match the spectral luminous efficiency function of the human eye (typically V(λ) for photopic vision). In testing laboratories, integrating spheres are used to measure the total luminous flux of a light source and goniophotometers are used to measure luminous intensity distributions, total luminous flux and partial luminous flux. These devices are all well understood, and several CIE technical reports are available that give guidance on their characterization and calibration [1][2][3][4]. Read more »

Zhaga Publishes Specification Allowing Mechanical IoT Upgradability

The Zhaga Consortium, a global association of lighting companies that is standardizing interfaces of components of LED luminaires, has published Edition 1 of a new specification that helps to bring the Internet of Things (IoT) to outdoor LED lighting fixtures. The specification, known as Zhaga Book 18, makes it easy to upgrade LED fixtures by adding or changing modules that provide sensing and communication capabilities. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | IoT Ready | Sensors | May 24, 2018

New IOT-READY™ Alliance to Establish Industry Standard for IoT Sensor Installation in LED Lighting Fixtures

Industry-leading organizations like Enlighted, Tridonic and DesignLights Consortium™ are working to establish a standard for “IoT-Ready™” light fixtures that can easily be upgraded with sensors and connectivity modules after installation. Read more »

NFC Programming of LED Driver Parameters Is Standardized by MD-SIG

Manufacturers of LED luminaires currently use a variety of programming methods to set the operating characteristics of LED drivers inside luminaires. Simplified and harmonized methods are desired to enable LED driver programming on automated or manual production lines. Read more »

Smart Lighting + IoT | Resources | Standardization | Zhaga | Feb 06, 2018

Zhaga Enables IoT-Upgradeable Outdoor LED Lighting Fixtures

The latest Zhaga specification defines a standardized interface between outdoor LED luminaires and modules for sensing and communication, bringing the Internet of Things to the outdoor lighting market via smart, upgradeable, future-proof fixtures. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | Regulation | CEA | Feb 06, 2018

California Energy Alliance Code Change for Lighting Control Requirements Adopted by California Energy Commission

The California Energy Alliance (CEA), a member-based organization committed to smart, sustainable energy use within the built environment, is pleased to announce that its code change proposal dedicated to improving the lighting control requirements for lighting alterations was accepted by the California Energy Commission (CEC) in its recently published Draft Express Terms. This publication, released on January 19, 2018, commences the formal rulemaking process for the 2019 updates to California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24; Standards; Energy Code). Read more »

Resources | Standardization | DiiA | Controls | Sep 18, 2017

DALI-2 Certification Launch Brings Improved Interoperability to DALI Lighting-Control Systems

The Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA), an open, global consortium of lighting companies that promotes the adoption of lighting-control systems using DALI technology, has launched its program for the certification of DALI-2 devices. DALI-2 certification brings the promise of significantly improved interoperability compared with current DALI devices in the market, thanks to comprehensive and detailed testing procedures. For each product, the DALI-2 test results are independently verified by DiiA before certification is granted. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | Zhaga | Drivers | Jul 10, 2017

Zhaga Transforms LED Driver Specification with New Book 13 Interface Specification

The Zhaga Consortium, a global association of lighting companies that is standardizing interfaces of components of LED luminaires, has published a significantly updated version of its interface specification for LED drivers. The new specification, designated Book 13 Edition 2.0, reduces complexity in the market by having significantly fewer mechanical form-factors than the earlier version. Overall, Edition 2.0 features only 27 categories, compared with 78 in Edition 1.0. Read more »

Resources | Standardization | ZigBee | Thread | Apr 29, 2017

ZigBee Alliance and Thread Group Join Force

The ZigBee Alliance, an association of companies creating, maintaining and delivering open, global standards for the low-power wireless Internet of Things (IoT), and the Thread Group, an organization focused on making Thread the foundation for the Internet of Things in the home and beyond, today announced that multiple members of both organizations have demonstrated prototypes that run the ZigBee Alliance’s universal language for smart devices on Thread networks. The demonstrations, shown privately at the Thread Group’s Members Meeting in November and set for public display in both organizations’ booths at CES, are a key milestone in their liaison agreement, and highlight accelerating momentum behind an emerging ecosystem of connected products that will interoperate over Thread IP networks using the widely deployed ZigBee language. Read more »

Zhaga Starts Work on New Books

The Zhaga Consortium, a global lighting-industry organization that is enabling interchangeable LED light engines, has started the development of three new interface specifications, known as Books. The new Books are designated numbers 9, 10 and 11. Read more »

Zhaga Publishes Book 11 Specification for Small LED Spotlight Modules

The Zhaga Consortium has published Book 11, a new specification that describes circular LED modules with a maximum diameter of 35 mm that are suitable for spotlighting and related applications. A Book 11 module requires a separate LED driver. Read more »