Did you work on or come across a sustainable lighting design project or a green innovation recently? Tell us about it in the comments.
Every year, April 22 is recognized as Earth Day. According to earthday.org, the date marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. You can learn more about its history and origins by visiting the site.
The environmental movement has special significance for LightFair as the lighting community increasingly embraces scalable green innovations, technologies that deliver energy savings and sustainable, responsible and human-centric lighting design. This direction of development represents the convergence of what is right for the planet and for all those who call it home. Done well, smart choices deliver a true win-win.
We take this opportunity to highlight some of the members of the LightFair community of exhibitors, lighting designers, vendors and facility partners and the role they play in shaping the future of lighting, events, LightFair and the planet.
Our exhibitors: providers of green innovation solutions
We are proud to welcome and applaud exhibitors who lead the way in achieving the seemingly impossible feat of carbon neutrality, demonstrate the viability of alternate energy, off-grid technologies, energy savings via sensors and controls and more while delivering on interoperability, safety, security and aesthetics. From greenway trails to large housing development projects, their solutions touch all of us and their impact is far-reaching.
(Above and Below) If you live in the Los Angeles area, you may have come across the Whittier Greenway Trail Extension lighting project. Grid-connected lighting was not an option, so LightFair exhibitor SOL by Sunna Design delivered 56 EverGen M Series solar lighting systems for the 2.8-mile trail extension. Each system is equipped with one 170W solar panel, one battery, and a Dark-Sky compliant LED fixture all mounted on a 20-foot steel pole. The next time you’re out for a run, do stop and take note.
(Below) LightFair exhibitor Solera‘s solar off-grid display light and post-top fixture (below) deliver on the promise of less is more.
Zero power consumed. ✅
Comparable light output: 150W HID. ✅
Solar Post-Top Fixtures from Solera 
Off-Grid Display Light from Solera
(Below) When conventional solutions were not viable for a large housing development project in Dubai, LightFair exhibitor HEI Technology delivered a green innovation solution: over 330 off-grid solar light poles with unique, vertically integrated cylindrical photovoltaics.
HEI took on the challenge of providing a public lighting solution that would avoid CO2 emissions and electricity costs, reduce construction costs, and minimize operation and maintenance expenses. How did they do it? Read the solar lighting project case study here.
“The future of energy savings lies in controls and sensors.”
– Eric Miller, CEO & CTO, Avi-on Labs
In this conversation with LightFair, Eric Miller discusses how sensors and controls could revolutionize fixture manufacturing and lighting design while offering simplicity, ease of commissioning, cost savings, and 50-80% energy savings. Watch the video interview.
The Javits Center: a facility committed to sustainability
Architect: Richard Rogers and James Ingo Freed
We are proud to be hosting LightFair 2021 at the LEED-certified Javits Center, a facility committed to sustainability. Their initiatives include…
• installing 100+ energy-efficient HVAC units
• investing in new energy-efficient lighting, controls and maximizing natural light
• adding new recycling containers throughout the facility
• introducing a cutting-edge dashboard for monitoring electric, water & gas consumption levels
• a 6.75-acre green roof that is home to 35 bird species, five bat species and thousands of honeybees and is a sanctuary for area wildlife while helping to reduce energy consumption
• constructing a one-acre farm that is expected to yield up to 40,000 pounds of produce a year for event catering
• two new underground cisterns to capture and treat rainwater for irrigation on the rooftop terrace
To solidify Javits’s position as the premier event facility and convention center, the focus on state-of-the-art meeting space including the unique roof pavilion is key. The entire project is flooded with natural light and features spectacular views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. The glass façade allows natural light in throughout the day. The building is designed to be a jewel box at night along 11th Avenue. This is a project about grand spaces on a large scale. The East/West concourses run a full city block.
David Ghatan, CLD | FIALD | LC | MIES
President, CM Kling + Associates
On Design Build for the Javits Center expansion
Check out David Ghatan’s profile spotlight. David was past president of the IALD and LightFair Management Committee member instrumental to designing the LightFair experience in past years.
We celebrate the Javits Center’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility these past several months and look forward to seeing you at the Javits Center this October. Plan your trip to New York.
Freeman: environmentally conscious event design partners
Reducing consumption and wastage in the events industry is no easy task. Our event and booth design partner, Freeman, makes conscious efforts to minimize the environmental impact of events which include
• smart practices, using and reusing eco-friendly material from carpets and structures to signage
• offering 100% recyclable substrate options
• a three-year program to reduce the use of foam-based substrates
• testing of soy-based padding made from renewable sources
• donation of older equipment to support local and community charities and much more
Experience Freeman’s sustainable practices in action at LightFair 2021.
Sustainable lighting design & a passionate lighting community that embraces positive change
Glenn Heinmiller profile spotlight
Glenn Heinmiller, Principal / Cambridge Director at Lam Partners, award-winning LEED accredited professional, Chairman of the IALD Energy and Sustainability Committee, Fellow of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), member of the International Dark-Sky Association, and LightFair presenter shares his thoughts on the role and responsibility of sustainable design and more.
Dark Sky & light pollution
Explore content discussing best practices for designing for darkness and the approaches to reducing light pollution.
Caring for the planet begins with caring for the self.
Lighting designer and certified yoga practitioner/teacher Angelica Santana discusses the role of yoga in imparting wellbeing for busy lighting professionals. Learn more about her work and new side venture, Union Yoga, that blends her two passions: lighting + yoga.