Get A Grip On Lighting Podcast

Here’s a little peek into the state of the industry in Australia. Rob touches on Chinese products, bringing along the next generation of lighting professionals, and the misconceptions around human-centric lighting. Oh, and you’re going to want to take up paragliding by the end of the podcast. Originally from the UK, Rob moved to Australia in 2005. He set up HI Lighting with his business partner in...

John Bullock, guest co-host on this episode, asks the question, “How do we shift the argument so that we can start to talk about the reality of what we experience rather than the propaganda of what people tell us is a problem.” And from there, Michael, John and Nona discuss the history of street lighting, the unproven link between light and safety and the spiritual notion of light equaling safety....

Is Power over Ethernet the future for network controls? Wendell Strong tells Michael and Greg about the challenge of integrating PoE into the world of AC powered lighting. But PoE networking is perfect for lighting for health and wellbeing. Wendell is a 40 year veteran of the Commercial Lighting Industry and serves as the GENISYS PoE Lighting Manager for Innovative Lighting, a LED lighting manufac...

Are the good old days of rebates over? Is the move to LED efficiency reaching its conclusion? Peter Brown is back to discuss this and more with Michael and Greg. With over thirty years in the lighting industry, Mr. Brown has sales and marketing experience in distribution, manufacturing, auditing, design and installation; both in the C&I and public sector markets. 

Derek and Devin give us a unique inside look at the life of a small lighting manufacturer.  They give us their perspectives on the DLC and accreditation agencies in general, and what a pain in the *ss it is to get products certified. Louvers International was founded in 1986 with reliability and good design in mind. What started out as a small business has evolved into a team that works together t...

Michael and Michael - or “Marlin” as he likes to be referred to - delve into the practical and spiritual aspects of restoring darkness. Practical, as in not running someone over because you can’t see them from the glare of car and street lights, and spiritual, as in seeing the stars and the Milky Way allowing us to connect with the universe and our ancestors. Michael Marlin (aka Marlin) has been a...

Not your typical Get A Grip On Lighting podcast, but you’re going to want to hear this one anyway. You can sell light bulbs over the counter, but if you want those big retrofit contracts, sometimes your customer needs financing. That’s where Ross comes in. With an LED upgrade, he can arrange it so that your customer saves money and you make money. Everybody wins. Ross is excited and enthusiastic t...

Jennifer Amann is a senior fellow at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.  How does the work of the ACEEE impact lighting distributors?  It means a big push on LED.  That leads to energy efficiency and, a big part of the ACEEE’s mandate, getting mercury out of lighting products and keeping it out of the environment.  And removing mercury containing products from the environment me...

In this special episode of Get A Grip On Lighting Conversation Series, Webster and Ron discuss this article https://inside.lighting/news/22-04/lighting-controls-become-bricks-smart-home-company-disappears which describes an incident in which customers were left high and dry when the smart home company disconnected the cloud servers and left millions of smart home setups broken.  Can something be d...

Here on Restoring Darkness, we’ve talked about the impact of light pollution, how to restore darkness, and now, in this episode, Michael discusses, with Dr. Stone, the ethical aspects of restoring darkness and maintaining lights at night. Dr. Taylor Stone is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Science and Ethics, University of Bonn. He studied architecture and worked in the environmenta...

Webster and Ron talk to Norman Russell about finding the balance, in lighting design and integration, between the designer, the engineer and the owner. It’s a challenge getting everyone into the same room. And of course, education, education, education! Mr. Russell has contributed lighting design expertise to a wide variety of public and private projects. He completed graduate studies in lighting...

How do you gain credentials as a lighting designer?  You go and learn under Henrik or Glenn. Our host and his guest talk about the evolution of education in lighting design - from the days of being self-taught to a proposed law in Texas that would require lighting designers to be licensed.    Glenn Shrum transitioned from architecture to lighting to pursue the creative opportunity of light’s profo...

Michael, Greg and Dan discuss the ins and outs of keeping a trade show and conference like LightFair on track. If you’re not sure whether or not to go, maybe this will help you decide. Oh - and the early bird rate has been extended, so get on it! A 34-year tradeshow veteran, Darby is the show director for LightFair, the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show.

In part 2 of this podcast (find part 1 here:  https://restoringdarkness.com/episodes/41-from-prison-yards-to-national-parks ), Michael and Tim continue their conversation. Tim gives his perspective on outdoor lighting and energy savings in Massachusetts while Michael does the same from his Ontario Canada perspective. Tim is the Vice President of the Massachusetts chapter of the International Dark-...

Dan talks about the early days of controls when all it took was simply changing the voltage on incandescent bulbs.  With Webster Marsh and Ron Kuszmar, Dan talks about the present where LED’s, aesthetics, energy codes and human health have come into play. Dan Blitzer is Principal of The Practical Lighting Workshop, founded in 1993. The firm provides consulting services in marketing, strategy, comm...

This one was so interesting, Michael let it go for an hour and 15 minutes. So we’ve broken it into 2 parts. In this, part 1, the conversation ranges from clean, affordable energy to controls to a popcorn analogy and the “windows effect.” Tim is the Observatory Manager and Technical Instructor at MIT's Wallace Astrophysical Observatory. Watch for Part 2, available soon. Connect with Tim: https://id...

The Schneiders tell us about how Scott started Lighting Unlimited and how Cory took over the reins and grew the business. Scott still goes into the office, but his title has transitioned into the “Chief Golf Officer.” As in any family business, there’s friction, but Mrs. Schneider came up with a creative way to deal with that. In 1989 Scott started Lighting Unlimited as a Lighting only distributor...

Live shows are back and people are loving it! As Burt says, it’s the “touchy-feely” aspect of the live and in-person aspect of the LEDucation Trade Show and Conference that people want. What’s the Secret Sauce in LEDucation? Two of the main ingredients are Burt Grant and Caroline Rinker. Book your trip now to New York for the next LEDucation in March 2023. Caroline Rinker has over 40 years experie...

On Steve’s second visit to Get A Grip On Lighting (see him in episode 129), he discusses everything from controls to UV to EV. With the scalability of LED, Steve believes we are on the cusp of a renaissance in lighting.  He’s been around a while, so listen up. After serving in the Air Force and attending the University of Texas in Austin, Steve helped start FSG in 1982 in San Antonio Texas. Today...

Ron installs and commissions lighting controls. He is an integrator who knows his stuff. In this Restoring Darkness episode, he and Michael make the case for controls in exterior lighting systems and wonder why the lighting industry largely ignores this application. Ron Kuszmar oversees Port’s Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design & Installation departments, as well as their Lighting Co...

Hey lighting folks who put together luminaire schedules and specification packages listen up:  Zach and Forest tell us about their startup, Parpec, which is designed to “automate part number entry, datasheet lookup and annotation tasks to eliminate hours of tedious and error-prone work.”  Through machine learning and AI, Parspec will save you hours of tedious data entry for each item on your spec...

Lighting controls need a standard protocol.  That’s what Webster & Ron, along with guest Steve Mesh argue is needed.  Steve is doing his best, serving on several associations and committees, and also being a leading educator and lighting designer, to bring that about.  As Steve says, he’s brought a lot of people to the trough, but he hasn’t been able to get them to drink.   Steve attended Pars...

Terry brings his vast amount of knowledge and experience to the question of industry alignment in the quest to reduce light pollution. Michael talks with Terry about the importance of educating everyone, from manufacturers and distributors right down to municipalities, which are some of the worst offenders. Let’s get on board with the 6 strategies for darkness restoration and preservation! Terry i...

This one is truly for the lighting dorks!  When it comes to value engineering, do we go with 0 - 10 volt analogue OR digital lighting controls? With Michael moderating, Webster and George have a spirited debate on the issue. C. Webster Marsh is the owner of Penumbra Controls, where he brings 14 years of applied experience with lighting and controls, and he enjoys using his wealth of knowledge in t...

Terry is a member of just about every lighting association, foundation or society you can think of.  And so he should be, having the vast amount of knowledge that he does.  And Terry shares some of it with you!  Terry, along with Michael and Greg, touch on LED glare,  the proper way to light an office, socket vs integrated lighting and the problems that arose from HPS street lighting in the 70’s....