For years, commercial lighting rebates followed a simple formula: upgrade to LED, reduce energy use, and collect an incentive. That approach still works, but it’s no longer the full story, says rebate fulfillment firm BriteSwitch. As more markets reach LED saturation, utilities are shifting their focus toward deeper energy savings with lighting controls.

ASHRAE and the IES recently published ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2025, Energy Efficiency Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. What’s new in this key energy standard?

“As commercial buildings transition into smart, connected environments, clients are increasingly demanding lighting control systems that are data-rich, reliable, and easily scalable. While digital protocols are the clear future, the North American market has often hesitated to move away from familiar 0-10V analog systems due to fears of proprietary vendor lock-in or overly complex programming. By adding the globally standardized DALI-2 protocol to the WaveLinx ecosystem, Cooper Lighting Solutions has eliminated these barriers.”

The commercial lighting rebate outlook is strong for 2026, with widely available rebates covering all popular categories of LED lighting and lighting controls, including networked lighting controls.

The Lighting Controls Academy is proud to announce the latest offerings in lighting controls from industry-leading manufacturers in this year’s annual product guide. Check them out!

Controlling automatic power receptacles is a natural extension of lighting control systems, as the same strategies and devices used for automatic switching of general lighting can be deployed for plug load control at the receptacle or circuit level. This article by the Lighting Controls Academy’s Craig DiLouie explains the why and how, based on NEMA guidance.

This article by the Lighting Controls Academy’s Craig DiLouie reviews 2025 construction spending and key industry economic indicators, with a detailed 2026 forecast by the AIA Consensus Forecast Panel.

This guest post by Cooper Lighting Solutions’ Martin Mercier applauds a new era in “hybrid” lighting control solutions that blend the best strengths of wired and wireless control.

In a recent article contributed to LightNOW, Brent Protzman, Director of Product Management at Lutron Electronics, describes lighting’s evolution from utility to infrastructure, with insight in how to design for what’s next in lighting.

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) recently released Version 6.0 of its Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Technical Requirements, the first major update in over five years, as well as Version 2.0 of Light Usage for Night Applications (LUNA), the DLC program designed to promote responsible outdoor lighting. The updates recognize advances in LED technology while promoting controllability as a strong path to energy savings.

In this extraordinary guest post, Cooper Lighting Solutions’ Martin Mercier describes the codes and options that make up emergency lighting and the role for lighting control systems, including wireless.

Based on an updated version of EE201: Daylight-responsive Lighting Control, a course in NEMA Academy, this article describes a process for designing and applying lighting control solutions that utilize daylight-responsive lighting controls.

LightNOW recently published a guest post by Tom Shearer, Commercial Business Development Manager, Lutron Electronics, that makes the case for including lighting controls in upgrade projects, powered by wireless communication.

As lighting control systems become more sophisticated to satisfy increasingly stringent energy codes and evolving project demands, clear documentation has become even more essential. To address this need, the Lighting Controls Academy developed Design Express.

The primary legacy source for general lighting in most school spaces is fluorescent. These can be replaced by LED products for 20 to 60 percent energy savings, greater longevity, controllability, and improved quality of light. A lighting upgrade is the ideal time to install advanced lighting controls to enhance energy savings and flexibility in light levels and color.

In the world of building projects, the Control Intent Narrative (CIN) and Sequence of Operations (SOO) have long been essential and elusive. They define how a lighting control system will function, but too often they arrive late in the process (or not at all), are inconsistent from one project to the next, and are misaligned with energy codes or industry standards. The Lighting Controls Academy set out to change this dynamic with a new resource: Design Express.

In this guest post by Current’s Scott Ziegenfus, he talks about the lighting trends that faded and the ones still going strong.

Commercial building energy codes regulate the design of nonresidential buildings to minimize energy consumption. While the majority of U.S. states adopt model codes and standards, the State of California developed its own code: Title 24, Part 6 of the state’s Building Standards Code. The latest version was released in 2025 and will take effect January 1, 2026.

“The future of commercial lighting is wireless,” writes Lutron’s Chris Udall. “As control systems evolve, smart wireless solutions are redefining what’s possible.”

As the market for replacing traditional light sources with LED becomes more challenging, a new market is developing around upgrade of early-generation LED installations. This presents an opportunity to achieve greater energy savings, enhance lighting quality, and integrate advanced lighting controls. Supported by a small number of new commercial lighting rebates that are likely to expand in availability, this trend appears certain to grow.

If you are new to the world of networked lighting controls (NLCs), how do you figure out which solution may be the best for your project among the vast number of control solutions available? There are certain things you can think about to help narrow your search for a system that will meet your needs.

In February 2025, the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) released a new resource to facilitate integration between networked lighting controls (NLC) and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit includes tools and guidance applicable to new and existing construction projects. The toolkit’s goal is to support maximized energy savings with integration by ensuring clear project team communication.

Networked lighting control systems play a crucial role in optimizing lighting energy use, enhancing occupant comfort, and interacting with building automation systems (BAS). However, simply installing a lighting control system does not guarantee it will function as intended. This is where a startup comes into play.

For 25 years, the Lighting Controls Association, a council of NEMA, has educated the building industry about lighting control technology and application, notably through its Education Express courses. We are proud to announce that starting May 1, 2025, the Education Express curriculum will be incorporated into a new learning management system, NEMA Academy.

Dominic Pritham, R&D Manager, Cooper Lighting Solutions evaluates the evolution of sensors and the potential of camera-based sensing for IoT systems.

Synapse Wireless has announced the launch of the Combo Sensor Controller (CSEN1), an all-in-one device designed for both outdoor and indoor lighting applications. Compact and durable, the CSEN1 integrates wireless communication, motion and light sensors, and advanced fixture control into a single streamlined package.

The Lighting Controls Association is proud to announce the latest offerings in lighting controls from industry-leading manufacturers in this year’s annual product guide. Check them out!

The commercial lighting rebate outlook is strong for 2025, with rebates widely available and covering all popular categories of LED lighting and lighting controls. As LED adoption enters what may be the late majority phase, rebate programs are under pressure to deliver energy savings in a more challenging market, resulting in bonus programs and the first signs of stronger promotion of lighting controls.

With the growing strain on the electric utilities driven by electric vehicle charging, electrification of heating, and energy-intensive technologies like AI and cryptocurrency mining, managing energy efficiently has never been more critical. Automated Demand Response (ADR) paired with advanced lighting controls offers a proactive solution to this challenge. By leveraging lighting control devices to reduce lighting at certain times, organizations can facilitate dynamic adjustments to energy consumption, helping to ensure utility grid stability while optimizing building performance.

Whether you use traditional lighting control devices or newer systems such as networked lighting controls (NLCs), you have to communicate and document how you want those devices or systems to behave. This documentation should include a Control Intent Narrative and Sequence of Operations.

While major construction indicators ended the year as a mixed bag of caution and optimism, the AIA Construction Consensus Forecast Panel forecasted that nonresidential construction spending will slow to 2.2% growth in 2025 and 2.6% in 2026.

Saving energy while reducing skyglow, light trespass, and glare, lighting controls have emerged as a critical component of responsible outdoor lighting. In this article, we’ll make the case.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently announced the publication of a ANSI/NEMA c137.10, a standard that NEMA says will support more resilient and connected infrastructure and cities.

Craig DiLouie recently talked to Stephen Zhou, Executive Vice President, mwConnect about the company, its history and products, and its vision for the lighting controls industry.

In August 2024, the International Code Council published the 2024 version of the IECC, which has been updated every three years since 2000. As with previous iterations of the IECC, this new version reduces lighting power allowances, expands mandatory controls requirements, and issues clarifications.

In a recent article by Michael Jouaneh, Manager of Sustainability and Energy Standards for Lutron Electronics, he lays out the current state of adoption of commercial building energy codes and how they relate to lighting controls, with some interesting projections for the future.

As lighting control becomes more robust and easier to apply, today’s electrical distributor has extraordinary choice in servicing new construction projects and enhancing lighting upgrades. Manufacturers point to top trends including greater networked controls interoperability, systems integration, powerful digital LED drivers, wireless control, and growing application of control as a tool to enhance the occupant experience.

Based on EE105: Lighting Control System Design, a new course in the Lighting Controls Association’s Education Express program, this article provides detailed information about designing an effective lighting control solution.

In Part 3 of this series on how to design a lighting control system, we will discuss installation and post-occupancy. You will learn about bidding, responding to questions from installers, reviewing submittals and defending your design, following-through with the installation of the equipment, functional testing, training essential staff, and ultimately ensuring the owner is satisfied.