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BriteSwitch, a utility rebate management company, just published this interesting infographic on the value of the average outdoor lighting rebate by fixture type and light source. The infographic, embedded below, lists the average dollar value for rebates on pole lighting, wall packs, canopy lighting and bollard lighting fixtures based on BriteSwitch's North American Rebate and Incentive Database.  It's interesting to see that LED lighting is the clear winner in terms of rebate dollars offered. …

There are certain lighting professionals within the lighting industry with a level of knowledge, experience and drive that put them in rarefied air. Even longtime lighting industry veterans would do well to take a page out of the books of these illumination experts who have their finger on the pulse of what’s relevant in today’s marketplace. The people listed here are bloggers and publishers with a passion for lighting. They write about a variety of topics such as lighting design, energy-effi …

While replacing existing lighting fixtures with energy efficient fixtures such as T5s and T8s will certainly help reduce your electricity bill, several of Florida’s electric companies offer Florida Lighting Rebates/Incentives.  The Florida Lighting Rebates will help reduce the cost of purchasing new lighting fixtures. Florida Power & Light  (FPL) Lighting Rebates As of May 2012, FPL through its Interior Building program provides between 65 cents to $3 for each linear fluorescent lamp as a …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced support for energy-saving commercial building projects as part of an ongoing effort by DOE to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in the United States. With money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DOE's national laboratories will select and fund technical experts to provide technical guidance to commercial building owners and operators. The goal of this Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) initiative is to incr …

If you are in or around Washington DC on March 10th, 2010, you may want to register to attend the Great Energy Efficiency Day event being held at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  The event is organized by the Alliance to Save Energy and promises an in-depth discussion on funding, technology and policy measures required to realize energy efficiency's full potential. Thie Great Energy Efficiency Day, which has been going on since 2004, has a very impressive roster of confirmed speakers that …

There has been a flurry of media attention being given to Bloom Energy as they get ready to come out of stealth mode with their Bloom Box fuel cell technology.  Bloom Energy has been developing their fuel cell for almost a decade and has received approximately $400M in capital investment from some of Silicon Valley's biggest names. K.R. Sridhar, the company's rocket scientist founder, believes that his fuel cells will be able to power your home in five years at a price tag of around $3 …

At this years TED talks, Bill Gates unveiled his vision for the world's energy future, describing the need for "miracles" to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he's backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? Zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. You can watch his whole talk below or visit the TED site to view other interesting talks. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing tog …

On February 12th, the Obama Administration announced a multi-agency initiative to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient.  Seven federal agencies, including the Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Labor and the Small Business Administration, issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement of nearly $130 million over five years to create a regional research center that will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the te …

For many that keep track of the global climate debate, the next 12 days is about as exciting as it gets.  That’s because from December 7th through the 18th,  193 of the world’s nations will have their top climate and environmental ministers in Copenhagen for the 15th annual Conference of the Parties (or COP15) of the United Nations Climate Change Convention.  The goal for this year’s conference is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement that can take the place of the expiring Kyoto Pr …