Get A Grip On Lighting Podcast

The final episode in our Technical Update Series, previously streamed.  The smarter our buildings become, the more data they generate. Lighting controls data could prove valuable for facilities managers, manufacturers, and lighting designers. For example, button press data can reveal insights into occupancy levels, when and where lights were turned on or off, and adjustments to light settings. The...

There’s air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution. Why hasn’t light pollution been recognised the same way? This is the question Michael Colligan and John Bullock tackle with Yana. Of course it takes awareness, but also commitment. And it just might be that the best way to get commitment is to get it in the books legally. It’s a complex problem that Yana is dedicated to studying, and mayb...

Specifications! Integrations! Complications! Sean Wynne brings his unique perspective as a sales rep and discusses, with Webster and Ron, the challenges of navigating among the various entities on a project. Sean understands the benefits of having an integrator on a project. He is a specifications sales agent, but as Webster says, he is almost an integrator's agent! Sean has had 15+ years of light...

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) lighting is a promising new technology with the potential to contribute to healthier buildings and cleaner air for occupants. New PNNL research finds that GUV is potentially more effective and energy efficient than turning up ventilation systems. However, since the technology is so new, commercially available products have not been properly studied or vetted. 

As you’ve heard on this podcast before, existing satellites are incapable of detecting the blue light of LED’s and thus produce incomplete imagery of light pollution. Ken explains to Michael how he and his colleagues are sending balloons almost 30 kilometers into the sky and beginning to map light pollution in a very unique way.  Ken Walczak is the Senior Manager of Far Horizons at the Adler Plane...

DOE will be launching the next phase of L-Prize, the Prototype Phase, this summer which will include some new enhancements and participation opportunities for industry with a $2 million Prize pool. This is an opportunity for lighting designers, manufacturers, and innovators to advance the U.S. clean energy economy for next-generation LED lighting. L-Prize will reward innovations that move rapidly...

Craig gives Webster and Ron his 9000 foot view of the lighting industry. From education to evolution - Craig gives his take on network controls, sensors, bite-size training video clips, and writing, among other things. By the way, check out his fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/682045.Craig_DiLouie Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP is a journalist and educator in the lighting industry and serve...

Episode 2 of our Technical Update Series previously streamed. Michael Myer and Axel Pearson discuss “Lighting System Integration.” DOE's Better Buildings' Integrated Lighting Campaign is a national effort to accelerate the adoption of advanced lighting controls and sensors and of the integration of lighting with other building systems. The campaign shares resources, provides technical guidance, an...

Michael discusses with Catherine Pérez Vega the question: Is light a pollutant? Catherine is researching the effects of artificial light on organisms and there is little doubt that it is. And there’s little doubt that it affects the organisms called humans, as well. Obviously modern society needs some artificial light at night, but all the other organisms don’t. As Catherine says, “how do we apply...

Episode 1 of our Technical Update Series previously streamed. Kate Hickcox and Aaron Smith discuss “Sustainability in Lighting.” Historically, the lighting industry has focused on the impacts of carbon emissions produced from the use of lighting technologies but understanding embodied carbon impact is critical because once embodied carbon is released in early stages, there’s no opportunity to decr...

Michael and Greg discuss wireless and wired lighting controls with Greg Galluccio from Energy Focus. Wireless is hackable which is a problem in critical infrastructure. Wired controls require pulling wire through a building. The solution? Powerline controls. No Cloud. No hub. As Michael says, it’s a bit like edge computing where the technology and the smarts is at the point of use. It’s not simple...

Lighting showroom manager Michelle Cruz, ArchLIGHT Summit manager Laura van Zeyl, and designer Andrea Hartranft join us in this episode. They are working on Women in Lighting events and programs at this year’s ArchLIGHT Summit in Dallas. Beyond telling us what to look forward to at the show they help us understand that the lighting world is welcoming to women and having spaces for women to be alon...

Lighting is getting more complicated all the time. Our guests Tony Esposito, Founder of Lighting Research Solutions , and Jason Livingston, Principal at Studio T + L , are here to help us understand the IES’ bigger book of color rendering — TM-30. Lamps and luminaires tested under these procedures can result in 140 different measurements; but none of those will probably end up printed on boxes on...

This special release of our series features Diane Knutson, a regional dark sky advocate / business owner turned Dark Sky International Board President. In this episode Greg Ehrich and Michael attempt to disentangle the need for jargon as a sales gimmick and the hurdle of hurdles jargon puts in the way of advocates and educators. Whether we end up calling what we do Night Sky Protection, Night Time...

Christopher Cuttle has had a lifetime in lighting and he has a shelf full of awards and recognitions to reflect it.  Listen to this episode and you’ll understand why. Henrik Clausen talks with Kit about his unique way of looking at light and how it’s applied to a space.  Christopher “Kit” Cuttle, MA, PhD, FCIBSE, FIESANZ, FIESNA, FSLL, is a lighting educator, designer and author. During a long car...

Michael and John are thrilled to have Professor Foster on the podcast. He brings his deep scientific knowledge and understanding of circadian photobiology. Russell tells us about his discovery of the third photoreceptor in the eye for which he got a lot of pushback from the scientific community in the 90’s. They don’t push back anymore. Professor Foster is the Head of Oxford’s Nuffield Laboratory...

OPR. What are the Owner's Project Requirements? That's what Julia Gordon posits on every project. Julia, along with Webster and Ron, discuss where a lighting designer goes from there. What’s the best way to design and implement the controls? Who should design and implement the controls? How do you work with the electrical engineer? This stuff will make your head spin. Fortunately, you’ve got this...

Efficiency. Isn’t that what everyone strives for? Well, the lighting industry is going digital with productivity improving applications. Ben and Paul discuss how they have come up with a way to curate lighting product content - kind of a mix of Spotify/Wayfair/Pinterest for lighting specifiers. Fueled by manufacturers and agents this might be the ticket. Might be time for you to check gosourcery.c...

This is David’s second time around on Get A Grip On Lighting. David talks, with Michael and Greg, about his dislike of recess cans (“why do you want to light the carpet?”). David's experience has led him to put down his light meter and use his eyes to measure what is bouncing off the walls. Michael doesn’t quite agree with discarding the light meter, but they do agree that the important lighting i...

Our old friend is back! John Arthur Wilson joins Michael and Greg to complain about the state of the controls manufacturing industry. Why isn’t there a standard yet on this critical infrastructure? Let's think about the end-user, the CUSTOMER! John Arthur Wilson is a lighting-industry influencer with a curiosity for lighting and its myriad connections with society. Motivated by community and a des...

In this episode you get three unique perspectives on urban lighting. Co-host Michael Colligan in Canada, co-host John Bullock in the U.K and guest Kate Hickcox from The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They discuss the challenges of lighting populated areas. Will more light decrease crime? Will less light? Perhaps it has to do with the kind of lighting. Listen to this, then join the conversa...

Amardeep Dugar talks with host Henrik Clausen, about the poetry of lighting. As he explains it, language is compositional just as lighting is. And so Amardeep has been examining the connection between poetry and lighting. He is also looking at architecture itself as a light source. He believes this may be achieved with bioluminescence. Could that mean the end of light fixtures? Amardeep also instr...

Javid discusses, with Webster and Ron, the technological evolution of controls, from the ancient Greeks using mirrors to control light for the stage, to “old telephone” style patching, to digital controls. If you haven’t guessed, Javid, like many of you, comes from a theatrical background. Wait till you hear how he lit a production of “The Crucible.” You’ll wish you’d seen it. Javid Butler is a li...

Trinity Warranty started out offering extended warranties for HVAC, refrigeration and generators. About 10 years ago, with municipalities pushing for LED, they saw an opportunity to offer parts and labor warranties. With a little number crunching, they figured out how to sell 10 year labor coverage and 5 year extended parts coverage. If you’re installing for a municipality or a stadium, get your c...

As Bastian Groiss says, people see light as an enabler for vision. But light - sunlight in particular - is so much more. It triggers hormonal reactions, allows your immune system to recharge and gives the mitochondria the energy to repair your eyes. Of course healthy light during the day allows healthy darkness at night to do its thing. And stop wearing sunglasses! Bastian is of German origins wit...