On May 5, the seventh-annual Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Solid-State Lighting Design Competition announced the top commercial indoor and outdoor LED luminaires during Lightfair in New York City. A departure from previous years, the 2015 version of the competition recognized the indoor and outdoor categories simultaneously and did not designate best-in-class fixtures. Instead, of the 28 winning fixtures, nine indoor and three outdoor products (listed below) were identified as “Outstanding” based on one or more evaluation criteria—including color, dimming, glare control, illuminance, and serviceability.
The competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Illuminating Engineering Society, and the International Association of Lighting Designers, and this year was judged by a panel of 18 lighting professionals. For a product to be considered, its makers were required to supply market-ready samples and complete documentation, with lumen maintenance and efficacy ratings based on LM79, LM80, and TM21 data submitted via the DOE’s LED Lighting Facts platform. The indoor products were tested at Intelligent Lighting Creations’ facilities near Chicago, and the outdoor products were evaluated at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg, Va.
Indoor
Among the nine indoor products that were named “Outstanding,” Louis Poulsen’s LP Circle Pendant, Selux’s M36 LED My White tunable luminaire, and Finelite’s HPR-LED 2x2 troffer were each recognized for their serviceability. The jury also cited three products for their dimming capabilities: Selux’s Kju suspended fixture (shown above), Juno Lighting Group’s Indy L-Series LED Cylinder pendant, and USAI Lighting’s Max Output Warm Glow Dimming technology. Intense Lighting’s Gravity Cylinder pendant and Amerlux’s Murro LED Wallwash were called out for efficacy, and Finelite’s FineTune luminaire family was recognized for the user interface on its companion control system.
An additional 11 indoor products, including pendants, wallwash fixtures, downlights, and troffers were also recognized.
Outdoor
In the outdoor category, three products were given “Outstanding” designations. They are: Cree’s IG Series parking garage luminaire with wave-guide technology for its general innovation; Landscape Forms’ MultipliCity LED bollard (shown above) for its form factor; and Selux’s Olivio Sistema 2 LED pedestrian luminaire for its versatility.
An additional six outdoor products, including roadway and area fixtures, were also recognized.
For more information on the NGL program, visit: www.ngldc.org
