In the U.S., lighting accounts for approximately 23 percent of a hotel’s energy cost. To expedite and encourage savings, Hubbell Lighting announced today a new energy efficient lighting program to cut hospitality electricity costs by 60 percent, translating to a 5.58 percent increase in profitability.

In this latest lighting project entry by Adam Burton, Social Media Manager, Zumtobel Lighting introduces a new lighting display that “dances” to music beats. Famed Korean artist Sung Wan Kim uses his installation "I will dress you, howl bowel owl" to play with the mediums of light and sound. In collaboration with the musician David Michael DiGregorio (aka dogr), Sung Wan Kim has composed an audio piece using the works of poets such as Rainer Maria Rilke as a source of inspiration. A key component of the project - the lighting - was realized in cooperation with Zumtobel.

Acuity Controls introduces xCella™ Wireless lighting controls for quick-configure control of lighting HVAC and plug load. Installed in a variety of retrofit and new construction applications, xCella Wireless energy management solutions deploy quickly for simple room control, and can also be networked for floor or building wide control. Featuring innovative Pair & Play™ technology, xCella Wireless switches, sensors, and load controls are operational in minutes. xCella Wireless can be delivered pre-paired and packaged by room for even faster installation and reduced commissioning costs.

Power management company Eaton today announced that the McGraw-Edison TopTier™ light-emitting diode (LED) parking garage/canopy luminaire and the Metalux SkyBar™ high bay luminaire from its Cooper Lighting Division have been named winners in the 2014 LFI Innovation Awards® at LIGHTFAIR International (LFI® ). Presented at the LFI conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 3, the competition features the industry’s most innovative products and designs introduced during the last 12 months.

Stouch Lighting, a lighting distributor specializing in LED and energy efficient lighting, announces the completion of an exterior LED lighting retrofit project for Kaiserman Company at their Kevon Office Center located in Pennsauken, New Jersey, projected to save the company over $3,600 per year in lighting energy costs.

Each year, the Progress Committee of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) solicits the lighting industry for product submissions. Accepted products are featured in the committee’s Progress Report at the IESNA annual conference and published in the IESNA’s publication, LD+A. The Progress Committee selects products that represent advancements to the art and science of lighting.

Soccer fans long anticipated 2014 Brazil World Cup games has taken the globe by storm. Many fans might have noted the LED ad displays decorating the 12 stadiums at Rio de Janeiro. The displays are actually the works of Chinese manufacturer Aoto Electronics.

A bureau under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced Tuesday, LED bulbs in the country will be required to undergo mandatory tests starting next month, according to a CNA report.

People in Chicago will soon see metal fixtures wrapped around light poles in several areas throughout the city this summer. They are not decoration however, but data-collection sensors. 

Chinese LED manufacturer Leyard Optoelectronic (Leyard) is showing ambition to expand in the European market with its latest funding round, according to a Shanghai Stock Information Service report.

Philips Lumileds continues to develop new products to satisfy the ever changing needs of the LED industry. LEDinside had the opportunity to speak with Philips Lumileds Sr. VP of Sales & Marketing Emmanuel Dieppedalle, Sr. Director of Marketing and Business Development Ray Chock, and VP of APAC Sales Alvin Tse during the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition 2014 last week to discuss the company current situation and future outlook.

Chinese LED manufacturer Tanlong Photoelectronics (Tanlong) announced the resignation of two executives during a board meeting on June 23, 2014.

As lighting consumption continues to increase, solid state lighting will become a major driving force for LED lighting growth that is expected to grow for several years, said Micheal Schmitt, Regional Marketing Director at Osram during LEDinside’s LEDforum at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) on June 11, 2014.

Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm Sequoia teams up with Austrialian based smart lighting start-up LIFX with a US $12 million investment. The investment bumps up LIFX’s total funding to US $16.6 million. 

The most common kind of light bulb in the United States—the incandescent—is only about 5 percent efficient. The phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode, on the other hand, makes light out of 100 percent of the electricity that goes into it.

In cooperation with Dr. Peter Schmidt of Philips Technologie GmbH in Aachen, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schnick, who holds the Chair of Inorganic Solid-State Chemistry at LMU Munich, has developed a new material for application in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). “With its highly unusual properties, the new material has the potential to revolutionize the LED market,” says Schnick. The two teams report their results in the latest edition of Nature Materials.

The new lighting system will be in place for the coming campaign with the club moving in line with Premier League requirements for a higher level of light output. 

HiLumz USA LLC (formerly Lumax Systems LLC), a U.S. manufacturer of LED Lighting and Retrofit Solutions announced today that production of its 2nd Generation Diamonz® Retrofit Kits has begun in the United States. Designed to retrofit commercial and industrial 100 Watt to 1,000 Watt light fixtures, HiLumz customers keep their existing fixtures and simply replace the bulb and ballast with an LED solution. Primary applications for the 40 Watt to 360 Watt LED retrofit kits include lighting of parking lots, street lights, warehouse high bay fixtures, wall packs, garage and gas station canopy lights and commercial flood lights. Virtually 95% of the high intensity light fixtures in use today are candidates for the Diamonz LED retrofit.

VOLT® Lighting announced today the addition of a new line of energy-efficient integrated LED Recessed Lighting . These LED fixtures are designed to replace existing incandescent or halogen bulbs and the recessed reflectors and rings that house them.

Leading Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar acquired bankrupt Taiwanese blue-ray CD and LaserDisc manufacturer Optodisc factory for NT $836 million, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. Epistar plans to expand AlInGaP and InGaN LED production at the new factory site.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) is reportedly using the US $578 million received in prepayment from Apple to expand sapphire production through establishing an additional facility. This new facility will produce roughly 20 million sapphire displays per year on top of the 200 million estimated from earlier reports, said Analyst Matt Margolis via BGR. 

The Brazil World Cup 2014, which officially kicked off on June 13, 2014 at São Paulo is entering climax. This year’s game has taken an interesting turn, since the last World Cup champion Spain was knocked out of the game. Sixty four years have elapsed since soccer nation Brazil hosted the global sports event. Although, the Chinese soccer team was disqualified from the World Cup this year, Chinese-made LED displays have successfully earned “front row seats” to the world’s top sports event.

Low price has been the key to success in the LED industry as market penetration rates rise. However, manufacturers will need to look into different avenues to keep ahead of the pack as price competition intensifies. Ray Chock, Philips Lumileds Sr. Director of Marketing and Business Development shared his insight on where the industry is heading in regards to the lumen per dollar trend during LEDforum at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition 2014 on June 11 in China. LED bulb prices drop dramatically LED bulb prices have dropped over the past few year...

The roads throughout the city of Phoenix are being lit more efficiently through a more than 95,000-fixture conversion to LED street lighting---a move expected to save the Valley of the Sun upward of US $100,000 each year.

Samsung Display recently revealed plans of selling outdated LCD equipment from a production line in Cheonan, South Korea to Chinese manufacturer Truly, according to a recent Yonhap News report.

LakePoint Sporting Community, the world’s largest sports vacation destination, has partnered with the leading innovator of sports lighting solutions, Musco Lighting, to provide a LED lighting system for enhanced playability and energy efficiency. LakePoint is the first multi-field sports complex to use Musco’s cutting-edge lighting solution harnessing LED technology to direct more light onto the playing surface.

When residents of the Park Centre Casitas residential community in Mesa, Arizona, got together and hired a security company to survey the property and suggest ways to keep it safe, the security company suggested adding perimeter lighting.

The Philips Lightolier COREPRO LED MINI CYLINDER is a completely integrated LED luminaire. By combining the optics, light source, thermal management system and driver into a single housing, this luminaire provides a sleek look suitable for lower mounting heights and smaller spaces. This small, sleek luminaire design offers efficacy up to 80lm/w.

The WAL-SL-10-PAR38-LED work area string lights from Larson Electronics consists of ten industrial grade LED lamps with 10 feet of 14/2 SJTW cable between each lamp. This temporary LED string light system is connected to power via an integrated 3’ cable terminated with a standard 5-15 weather proof straight blade plug. Each globe light is equipped with a high output LED bub which delivers more light output than a 150 watt PAR38 lamp. Each individual socket is equipped with a hook eyelet making them versatile for a number of industrial applications requiring reliable and bright illumination. This LED light set is a far more energy efficient bulb and provides 250,000 lumens of illumination over 50,000 hours, compared to the 2,500 hours offered by standard 150 watt PAR38 halogen lamps. The LED PAR38 lamps have a lower energy consumption, produce more light output, are more durable to abuse and harsh environments, which translates into less maintenance and huge savings long term.

Our favorite picks of the week might be a bit of a surprise, smart LED light yoga mat TERA makes headlines this week. The new application is a good demonstration of integrating smart lighting technology with health and fitness products. More rumors about Apple have emerged too, as the company is actively seeking out potential smart lighting partners for its smart home projects. The much anticipated iPad Air 2 is also rumored to be using sapphire material, although, liquid metal will be temporarily ruled out.