DesignLights Consortium Plans Controls Summit

Utility executives, energy-efficiency specialists, lighting controls manufacturers and installers, decarbonization advocates, and other industry professionals will convene in Detroit this fall to collaborate on ways to break down market barriers and speed wider adoption of networked lighting controls (NLC).

“Unlocking the Potential of Networked Lighting Controls” is a two-day summit organized by the DesignLights Consortium (DLC), a Massachusetts-based non-profit that drives energy efficiency through solid-state commercial and industrial lighting across the U.S. and Canada. Although research shows that NLCs can increase energy savings of commercial lighting projects by an average of 49% beyond LED savings alone, various challenges have kept market penetration of NLCs at less than one percent. The DLC Controls Summit will gather professionals who design, promote, install, and incentivize lighting controls for networking, education, and collaboration on ways to get NLCs into more commercial buildings of all sizes.

The Summit will take place in Detroit from Tuesday, September 26, through Wednesday, September 27. The DLC will announce the meeting venue and registration details in the next several weeks.

“There’s an urgent need to lower energy consumption and carbon emissions, while making our workplaces more comfortable and efficient. Networked lighting controls can deliver all those benefits,” said DLC Executive Director and CEO Christina Halfpenny. “Challenges to greater adoption of this transformative technology range from lack of education and sales training to inadequate incentives and low device interoperability. Summit participants will tackle all this and more as we work together to unlock NLCs’ potential for enabling greater savings, demand controls, and a grid-enabled future.”

 The DLC encourages a wide range of lighting controls stakeholders to attend the Summit, including:

•      DLC members;

•      Utility energy-efficiency program staff and efficiency program implementers;

•      Lighting controls manufacturers and representatives;

 •     Lighting controls installers and other trade allies; and

•      Decarbonization advocates

For updates and more information over the coming weeks, check back here.