Opinion

A Qualitative Policy of Urban Lighting in the Master Plan: Defining Visual Comfort in Street Lighting

Visual comfort is a fairly subjective concept that depends on a variety of characteristics — physical, environmental or contextual, physiological, and even cultural and sociological. With exterior settings, the study of visual comfort focuses on accommodation (entering and exiting a tunnel, for example) and threshold increments applied to street lighting, which inform us about discomfort (glare) produced by the contrast between the source and its background. The type of visual comfort that interests me is concerned with the ability of an observer to appreciate and understand nocturnal space. It refers to what we feel in an illuminated nighttime environment... Read More

Controls

8 Popular Misconceptions about LEDs and Controls

In the last five years, LEDs and controls have been widely used in a broad range of general lighting applications, from residential to commercial. However, there are a number of persistent misconceptions about LEDs that do not apply. Because LEDs are relatively new compared to legacy lighting types, it's time to dispel the myths and set the record straight about their performance, value, and applicability... Read More

Lighting Strategies

CRI Modulation: Future Lighting Control Strategy?

LED lighting has made a new dimension of lighting control, colour tuning, widely available. By mixing separately dimmable arrays of warm- and cool-white, saturated colours (RGB+A), or a mix of the two, correlated colour temperature (CCT) can be tuned manually or automatically based on various application needs. Besides CCT, the source's colour rendering index (CRI) can be raised or lowered within a given range. As CRI declines, luminous efficacy increases. This creates a potential energy savings opportunity in spaces that must remain illuminated at full output and constant CCT while unoccupied... Read More

Peers & Profiles

Welland Bridge Lighting Designer Marcel Dion

Welland's Main Street Bridge is just one of many projects in Canada and elsewhere bearing the imprint of Marcel Dion and his firm, Marcel Dion Lighting Design. Based in Toronto, Dion is an active professional member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, and a board member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America's Toronto section. He is Lighting Certified and a LEED Accredited Professional. Dion recently put time aside to answer an LDS Q&A. Here's what he told us… Read More

Design

Shining a Light on Welland, Ontario's Main Street Bridge

Built in 1930, Welland's iconic Main Street Bridge is both a symbol of the town's history and a source of pride. It functions as a vertical lift bridge over the Welland Canal and links East Main Street, which leads to Niagara Falls, to West Main Street and the rest of the town. The bridge stretches 70.6 m (232 ft) long and stands 9.1 m (30 ft) high. With a commission from LEDgendary Lighting, Welland-born Marcel Dion, of Marcel Dion Lighting Design (MDLD) worked with Integrated Engineering on the project system design and programming... Read More

Lighting Technology

EFC Working to Ensure HID Ballast Efficiency Requirements Consistent with Product Availability

Electro-Federation Canada (EFC) is working with provincial jurisdictions to ensure HID ballast efficiency requirements are consistent with product availability. This will minimize market disruption and allow for an orderly winding down of the use of HID lamps in lighting applications... Read More

Design

LAMP Celebrates 3rd Annual International Design Competition Winners

From November 12 to 15, Vancouver-based LAMP (Lighting Architecture Movement Project) is recognizing the winners of this year's International Design Competition with an exhibit showcasing 20 original jury-selected lighting entries. LAMP received 90 submissions worldwide, from 48 cities and 21 countries. This year's judges made their decisions based on a set evaluation ranging from aesthetics, marketability, innovation, and unique interpretation of this year's theme: Crystallize... Read More

Design

Sleepless in Toronto: a Look at 4 Lighting Installations at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2015

For one sleepless night last month, Toronto buzzed with excitement for the 10th edition of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. This popular all-nighter celebrating contemporary art featured more than 110 projects created by 400 artists. Since lighting installations are often a big part of these nighttime festivities, let's take a peek at four light art projects that were featured during Toronto's Nuit Blanche 2015... Read More

Science

Futuristic Brain Probe Allows for Wireless Control of Neurons

Scientists have developed an ultra-thin, minimally invasive device for controlling brain cells with drugs and light. Researchers created a remote controlled, next-generation tissue implant that allows neuroscientists to inject drugs and shine lights on neurons deep inside the brains of mice. A study has shown that scientists can wirelessly determine the path a mouse walks with a press of a button... Read More

New Products & Solutions

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LDS's TRAINING & EVENTS CALENDAR

Training, networking and professional development opportunities for members of Canada's lighting industry.

LED Specifier Summit
November 17, 2015
Chicago, IL

Strategies in Light Europe
November 18-19
London, UK

IIDEXCanada
December 2-4
Toronto, ON

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