Want to know more about sustainable lighting?

I've blogged before about the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society), urging locals to attend the meetings of the Austin section.  The hope in this is that more owners, engineers, architects, and others will be willing to utilize the latest and most efficient lighting technologies in their buildings, designs, and projects.  In a green city such as Austin tries to be, this should be of paramount importance.  (And even if it isn't a high priority for some, energy codes make more efficient lighting pretty much mandatory in today's construction world.)

This week, the speaker will be Jim Benya, who is internationally known in the lighting industry for his knowledge in energy-efficient design.  He will be speaking on "Sustainable Lighting: New Technology and Designs for Super Efficient Buildings".  Per the meeting synopsis:

Dramatic political and economic changes foretell a future in which lighting will be expected to use far less energy than using current practices. Facing strict new lighting regulations in ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2010, IECC 2009 and ASHRAE/IES/USGBC 189.1, we will have to design super efficient buildings to meet the challenge. This program will explain the key methods of using natural light, high performance electric lighting, controls and other skills now needed in our competitive marketplace. The presentation will include practical, state of the art observations of everything from LED’s to skylights.

(ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2010 and IECC 2009 are energy codes which, for the purposes of this seminar, relate to the maximum wattage of lighting that can be used for a building given its use and square footage.  ASHRAE/IES/USGBC 189.1 is a relatively new standard for green buildings.)


The meeting will be on Thursday, March 18, 11:30am, at the Boyd Vance Theatre (1165 Angelina St.).


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You will get a discount ($20 versus $30) if you pay in advance, so go the Austin section page to sign up to attend now.  You'll see a "pay now" link on the left side of the page.

This meeting should appeal to people in the building and construction industry, regardless of specific experiences (or not) in lighting.  If you are interested in green building at all, I would urge you to attend.