For Immediate Release: March 17, 2010
Media Contact: Michele Demetras - 916-654-4989

MEDIA ADVISORY

Energy Efficient Lighting Takes Top Prize
California Energy Commission Funds Award-Winning Lighting

SACRAMENTO - Energy efficient lighting took the top prize in the 2010 "best-in-class" awards at the Strategies in Light conference and expo at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The Finelite CURVE task luminaire, a market-ready product resulting from a research project funded by the Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program, received one of the expo's top awards.

"Finelite's success shows why California public-private sponsored research and demonstration programs are so important," said Energy Commission Vice Chairman Jim Boyd. "This win exemplifies what the PIER program is all about. It provides opportunities to research, develop, and demonstrate ideas that can be turned into energy efficient products for consumers. These technological breakthroughs will positively impact a host of concerns for Californians - energy consumption, cost of electricity, and greenhouse gas emissions," he added.

Other best-in-class winners included Spilighting, Inc., for its Stile Styk wall washing luminaire, GE Lighting Solutions for its Evolve™ LED R150 Roadway luminaire for streets and roadways, and Wide-Lite (a Philips group brand) for its VizorLED for parking garages.

This year, 47 commercial LED (light emitting diode) lighting products were recognized for excellence, out of 126 entries, and 43 were considered market-ready. A panel of 12 judges from the architectural lighting design community evaluated the entries based on performance, appearance, construction, and illuminating power.

The conference was supported by nearly 90 sponsors and exhibitors, ranging from equipment and materials suppliers to LED and lighting fixture manufacturers.