Corning’s “A Day Made of Glass” was launched in 2011, depicting a very futuristic view of a world were nearly every surface is a portal to the digital world. I posted about it about in 2013, but I didn’t realize the … Continue reading corning’s “a day made of glass” has had tremendous impact
The DOE continues their long term accelerated testing of the Philips L-Prize winning bulbs from 2010. The lamps continue to give shockingly good performance, with the average lumen maintenance for the 31 lamps at 93.0%. At that rate, the average operating hours … Continue reading go, baby go: the philips L-prize lamps rock on
It is so nice to see Philips Lighting finally package together a series of internal sustainability programs and initiatives into one comprehensive presentation to the public. Called “Bright Lives, Better World“, the program addresses a range of issues, such as … Continue reading philips lighting: bright lives, better world program
Winds of change are blowing through the lighting industry… The growth and scale achieved by Chinese lighting manufacturer Opple is quite impressive. Check out their recent corporate video. One thing that is especially striking is the focus on the customization services … Continue reading opple – corporate video
A great article just appeared in the New Yorker comparing the history of light bulbs and the challenge of switching from an industry structure around planned obsolescence to an industry built around durable products — effectively circular economy strategies. Some notable sections … Continue reading planned obsolescence vs. LED lighting
Another update of my spreadsheet tracking VC-backed lighting startups, with scattered data points on funding and revenue, collected from web and anecdotal sources. This time including Cooledge Lighting into the mix. You can download the Excel file here. BK_InvestmentRevIPO List Continue reading update: lighting venture funding and revenue spreadsheet
I just noticed that Bill Sims is now serving as interim CEO for Cooledge Lighting, replacing former CEO Wade Sheen. And also Phil O’Donnell joined recently as Sr. VP of Global Sales. So now two of the guys who helped … Continue reading cooledge lighting: ceo transition
A great article at The Verge about ewaste recycling. Stunning is the complexity and thin margins associated with recycling electronic waste. How is the lighting industry going to respond? What is the end of life scenarios for our products? I … Continue reading ewaste empire
I find this humorous on so many levels… The City of Holland (that’s in Michigan…not the Netherlands) has a fantastic marketing campaign going for energy efficiency. Recalling classic tropes of American television advertising throughout the decades, the ads are really … Continue reading holland energy prize
Ouch! Some tough love from analysts covering the Philips Lighting IPO. Continue reading welcome to the stock market…
An interesting software cross-platform partnership announced by Digital Lumens: In a nutshell, Schneider’s system can talk to Digital Lumens’ system. As part of the partnership, Schneider Electric will add support for Digital Lumens’ sensors and software to its SmartStruxure offering, … Continue reading digital lumens connects its software with schneider electric
I updated my spreadsheet tracking investment, revenues and exits for venture-capital backed startups in the lighting industry. You can download the Excel file here: BK_InvestmentRevIPO List Since most of these companies are privately held, the data is scattershot. Nevertheless, it paints an … Continue reading vc-backed lighting startups, update
Another superb presentation on green building strategies from Owen Zachariasse. I encourage all of my friends in design, architecture and construction to find an hour and listen to Delta Development’s philosophy and amazing success. You can find my older posts … Continue reading owen zachariasse at light + building
According The Verge, Apple recovered $40m in gold and $6m in copper from its recycling program. How much value is out there from dead light fixtures??? The circular economy can generate incredible value if implemented correctly. Continue reading apple recovered $40m in gold
Not strictly lighting related — but interesting nonetheless: Understanding How Dilution Affects You At A Startup Continue reading venture capital dilution
LED Linear announced today that is has been acquired by Fagerhult for €40m initial payment and €21m conditional payout through 2018. The Business Wire announcement also discloses that LED Linear was founded 10 years ago, currently has 110 employees and revenue of €21m … Continue reading led linear acquired by fagerhult
To all my friends in the lighting specification world, I strongly urge you to include language in your boilerplate specs for your project clients that reserves ownership of any data generated by the lighting system, privacy of that data, and … Continue reading data ownership
According to the NY Times, apparently the US government killed the Lumileds deal over potential military applications of gallium nitride (GaN), one of the key ingredients in LED technology. At the center of the committee’s concerns on the Philips deal, according to Mr. Lewis, was a little known but increasingly important advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride. Though not a household name like silicon, gallium nitride, often referred to by its abbreviation GaN, could be used to construct a new generation of powerful and versatile microchips. It has been used for decades in the low-energy light sources known as … Continue reading GaN killed the Philips Lumileds deal
I’ve been searching for data on funding and revenue for high-growth, VC-backed lighting startups. Here’s a spreadsheet of data I found via web and anecdote. Update 1: Added Ketra to the list. Continue reading lighting startups funding and revenue (updated)
Maury Wright from LEDs Magazine gave Luminous Patterns some nice coverage in a recent post. Thanks Maury! Continue reading philips luminous patterns: LEDs Magazine
