The United States suffered its worst recession in 70 years following the collapse of the housing market. The good news is some economists believe the economy began to recover in Q309 after hitting bottom in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted GDP declined in 2.5% in 2009 but is in the process of rebounding to 2.4% growth in 2010 and a robust 3.5% in 2011. AIA Consensus Construction Forecast for the 2010 Nonresidential Market:

http://www.aboutlightingcontrols.org/education/papers/2010/2010_forecast.shtml

Posted on 2/10 by Craig DiLouie http://www.lightnowblog.com/category/led-world/ A Reuters article published today focused on Philips’ investments in LED lighting, estimating the company has invested 4 billion euros–about $5.5 billion–in green technologies:

• Philips’ sales in 2009 reached 6.5 billion euros
• In Q409, LED-based products comprised 10+% of Philips’ lighting sales
• Philips executive Niels Haverkorn: “In terms of value around 2015, LED will be bigger than conventional light sources.”
• Philips estimates LEDs made up 6-8% of the 45-50 billion euro global lighting market in ‘09
• Expects global lighting market to grow to more than 80 billion euros by 2015
• The current cost of warm white LED is estimated at $46/1,000 lm
• The current cost of cool white LED is estimated at $25/1,000 lm
• By 2015, the cost of warm LED is expected to fall to $4/1,000 lm and the cost of cool LED to $2/1,000 lm

The government relations folks at NEMA, Rosslyn, Va., said the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) issued waivers for several lighting products from the Buy American requirements that apply to manufactured goods to be used in projects funded by EERE under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The waiver applies to screw-base and pin-base compact fluorescent lamps, with the exception of pin-based CFLs longer than 10 inches, which are made in the U.S. NEMA had sought the waiver because the CFLs are not made in the U.S. in sufficient quantities to meet demand.  http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20100216a.cfm  2/22 G-Biz

Minnesota’s plan to give out rebates for energy-efficient appliances got off to rocky start with a jammed phone line and crashed Web site. The state began its rebate program on Monday. It’s funded with more than $5 million in federal stimulus funds, enough for about 25,000 state households to get a rebate.  Rebates of up to $200 can go toward refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers or clothes washers that meet federal Energy Start guidelines.  It’s hard to tell how long the rebate money will last, so Minnesotans should keep trying to get through. The Web is taking reservations 24/7.
3/01 AP

Nine addenda are proposed to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The addenda are currently open for public review.  Proposed addenda would establish revised lighting power densities for both whole-building and space-by-space compliance methods. The addenda would reduce lighting power allowances in many building and space types while maintaining industry recommended lighting levels as their basis.  Additional proposed daylighting control requirements will also encourage the incorporation of effective daylighting and corresponding electric lighting control into designs, says Eric Richman, chair of the 90.1 lighting subcommittee. To read the addenda or to comment: www.ashrae.org/publicreviews