A cozier LED bulb may be available in the near future, thanks to German researchers. Scientists from Dresden University of Technology in Germany are striving to create energy efficient organic LED (OLED) lights that could rival incandescent bulbs in white-light color quality. One of the major complaints consumers report when dealing with LED light bulbs is that they still do not emit that same pleasant, warm color of light that makes incandescent bulbs so popular, despite their energy-guzzling qualities. According to TruthDive, “OLEDs consist of many layers of organic materials with different electrical properties. Excited electrons move through the materials and when the electrons are reunited with positive “holes,” they emit electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light.” Combining these emitter layers in four separate colors (blue, green, yellow and red) and adjusting the height of the layers makes it possible for the researchers to create light color and quality that was previously unachievable in LED lighting.  The results of this endeavor were published in AIP’s Journal of Applied Physics, which found that the final LED light fixtures cast a color of light that was very near the standard measure of white light reached by some incandescent bulbs. “The OLED also has high colour stability, meaning the light can be dimmed without noticeably altering its quality,” according to TruthDive.

Quotes via TruthDive, image via Housing Construction of India

It’s a well-known truth that we humans love glowing, sparkling things. For proof of that fact, one needs only to note the growing number and popularity of international lights festivals. A few weeks ago I blogged about the Harbin Ice Festival in China, which displays amazing frozen artworks and sculptures illuminated by flexible LED lights. Their beauty was enough to make me want to drop everything and head on over to the other side of the globe to see it for myself.

And now I’m having that same feeling about the 2012 Light Festival in Ghent, Belgium. Not only am I certain that I would enjoy a cornucopia of Belgium’s delicious chocolate and beer, I’m quite convinced I would also be blown away by the LED light installations at this festival—30 of them, to be exact. One in particular seems exceptionally intriguing: a 91-foot tall cathedral made with 55,000 color changing LED lights and constructed by Luminarie De Cagna, an Italian lighting company. The installation pays homage to Luminarie De Cagna’s almost 100 year tradition of illuminating buildings and squares on festive occasions. It began in the 1930s with candles and oil lamps, and continues to this day with waterproof LED lights.

And thanks to efficient LED light technology, the cathedral only uses 20 kilowatts of energy per hour, but can display a whole range of patterns and colors, by employing an RGB controller.

Have any of you ever visited a light festival like this one? We’d love to hear your stories!

Via DVice

Forbes. I’ve always thought of it as a magazine for the rich, by the rich. But in these tough economic times, even the high-flying publication has to come down to earth, reporting on the difficult task American cities are facing when it comes to balancing the budget. Luckily, many of those cities are finding refuge from skyrocketing costs in LED lighting. Forbes writes that when fighting the battle of the budget, “cities have several options, none appealing: raise taxes or fees, cut staff or services, or slash expenses. On this last measure, however, cities across California are realizing that one expense is entirely within their control – their electricity bill.”

Specifically, Forbes lists 10 smart cities in California that have begun saving significant amounts of electricity and money by switching inefficient high-pressure sodium (HPS) or high-intensity discharge streetlights with LED light bars. That’s because streetlights equipped with waterproof LED lights consume 50 to 80 percent less electricity than conventional lighting mechanisms, and can eliminate maintenance costs for up to 20 years, according to The Sustainable City Network.

One problem many cities face when considering this model, however, is the upfront expense of installing the LED lights. But it turns out that every city on the Forbes list was able to undertake its LED retrofit project with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). “The program has provided more than $35 million in direct payments to small California cities and counties to fund energy upgrades. The CEC estimates that every $1 of ARRA dollars invested in public sector building retrofits has returned $3 in additional economic output,” according to Forbes.

To find out if you’re living in one of these 10 smart cities, click here to read the whole Forbes article. And if you find out you’re not, consider writing to your mayor about the possibility of an LED lighting retrofit in your own town. You could end up saving your city—and the jobs that still exist within it.

Image via Wired

There is a great workshop series happening in February at the Ecology Center.  The title of the series is “From Light Bulbs To Legislation” and it focuses on how to initiate energy conservation best practices and how to take the next steps to change energy legislation.

Of course, changing out your old incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient LEDs is a great way to save energy, but there is way more that our community can learn regarding our impact on the environment.  This series really focuses on the ways an individual can make a difference and ways one can get involved with and start a movement.

Taken from the Ecology Center Website, below is the agenda:

Session 1: Nuts and Bolts

Sunday, February 5, 11 – 1pm
“Gather with a small group of community members for a quick primer on climate science, policy, and to swap information, resources and solutions for taking action on climate change.”

Session 2: EcoHouse Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Tour

Sunday, February 12, 11-1pm
“Draw inspiration from do-it-yourself projects such as our living roof; our ground-breaking constructed wetlands and simple laundry greywater systems; a 1100 gallon rainwater cistern; a native rain garden; natural building; solar panels; a food forest; 3 kinds of compost, and a lot more. “

Session 3: Field Day

Saturday, February 18, tour begins at 10am
“Get out in the streets, run your hands through the dirt, see and create infrastructure, and let your voice be heard. At this third session, we’ll take a field trip, contribute to a service project, or participate in a political action. February’s Session #3: Tour San Francisco’s recycling center, Recology SF, and its innovative Artist in Residence Program. Hear from Bay Area artists working with discarded materials to conserve natural resources, create stunning art, and promote new ways of thinking about art and the environment. Read more at http://sunsetscavenger.com/AIR/”

“This is a fantastic way to meet like minded people who genuinely want to change people’s behavior when it comes to climate change.  What I really like about this workshop is it gets you out of the classroom and into the field where the theoretical becomes practical.  From past experience, I know the power of actually seeing where our garbage goes and how our recycling is processed. “

Plus you get to see DIY projects that you can implement in your own home.  Really great actionable info you can take with you.

Thanks to politico.com and ecologycenter.org for the photo.

Elemental LED, A San Francisco Bay Area based LED lighting company, announced yesterday that it is now a partner in the United States Green Building Council’s Affinity Program. This program gives members of the USGBC Northern California chapter discounts at several green businesses throughout California.

Elemental LED launched the partnership with a special 1-month 25% discount to USGBC members. After the first month, Elemental LED will provide an ongoing discount of 20% off the company’s LED lighting products, as well as special deals to new members.

USGBC members include professionals from the fields of architecture, design, construction, engineering, government and real estate who are invested in building environmentally sustainable communities. Elemental LED will be gaining access to a large group of potential customers whose goals of decreasing energy use are similarly aligned. USGBC is in the process of improving benefits in an effort to attract new members.

“We are excited to be a partner in the USGBC Affinity Program. We hope to educate more green architects, contractors and building professionals on the energy and cost-saving benefits of installing LED lighting,” says Elemental LED Marketing Manager Charlotte Dick.

LED light bulbs, lamps and fixtures typically use 90% less energy than incandescent equivalents, and 50% less than fluorescent replacements. LEDs are typically rated to last 50,000 hours, which is 35 times longer than an incandescent equivalent, and 3 to 4 times as long as a fluorescent. Elemental LED products all hold RoHS certification, which guarantees that no environmentally harmful components were used in manufacturing. Fluorescent bulbs and tubes contain mercury, a highly toxic material.

The USGBC has over 35 chapters nation wide. The Northern California Chapter includes over 1,300 members. A complete list of Affinity Partners and member benefits can be viewed on the USGBC Northern California Chapter website.

A good friend of mine, interior designer Erinn Valencich, recently went to the Maison de Objet (Home and Fashion) show in Paris. (I’m totally not jealous, I promise.) Keep in mind that in her line of work, Erinn is regularly exposed to cutting edge home décor products and trends; she’s a bit of a tastemaker herself, as it turns out. So I found it very interesting that in her recap of the event, one of the first things she mentioned from the show that impressed her was an LED lighting installation by Italian design studio Carnovsky. Called RGB, the installation involves intricately designed images that are layered on top of each other, each one in a different color (red, green and blue).  When viewed in full spectrum lighting, the images appear all at once, overlapping each other and creating an overwhelming spectacle of color and shapes. Then, when color-changing LED lights are used to shine light of just one color onto the installation, each individual drawing is revealed. The wallpaper mutates in the illumination of RGB LED wall washers, allowing the viewer to contemplate the meaning of each image individually.

Sure, the overall effect might be a little too hectic for home installation, but it certainly makes a compelling artistic statement. And it’s all possible thanks to LED light technology.

Thanks to Erinn V for the images.

In a sun-drenched place like Albuquerque, it’s easy to see why homes and businesses would be smart to employ solar powered technology. Sandia Resort and Casino is one company that’s made the switch, and it couldn’t have done so without LED lighting. In 2010 the company initiated a retrofit of its parking garage lighting system, replacing inefficient gas discharge lamps with LED light bars that use 4 times less energy. Sandia’s parking garages are some of the largest in Albuquerque, and so the upgrade represented a major improvement in energy savings for the company, and the city as a whole. To top it off, this year Sandia completed the retrofit by adding custom, solar hybrid panels to 52 of these waterproof LED fixtures. The custom panels fit onto the existing fixtures and allow batteries to charge on sunny New Mexico days, while also allowing for the fixture to switch back over to the regular power grid, should the solar energy battery become depleted. “We’re definitely looking forward to seeing a dramatic energy bill decrease. As far as the light quality, we knew what to expect after seeing the vast improvement in the parking garage, but seeing the same crisp, quality light over a much greater area in the outdoor parking lots left us freshly impressed,” says Paul Collins, Facilities Superintendent, from Sandia.

Thanks to SF Gate for the quote and All American Games for the image.

A top 10 list of women leaders in biofuel just came out and of those, including four are based in the SF Bay Area.  Energy has been a predominantly male dominated industry, however when it comes to eco-friendly technology, women are carving out their own piece of the biofuel pie.

Below are the women leading the Bay Area biotech industry.  The bios are from Lisa Ann Pinkerton’s blog post about influential women in cleantech:

-Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones, CEO and Co-Founder, LiveFuels – San Carlos, CA

Lissa Morgenthalter-Jones leads strategic planning and corporate development for the LiveFuels, a company with the goal of developing the most efficient and scalable algae-based biofuel process. Since 1990, she has also specialized in biotechnology investing since 1990. After learning about turning algae and animal waste into fuel, she started her own clean energy venture capital fund in 2004. She raised $10 million from the Quercus Trust and individual investors in May 2007.  To date, her company has established pilot operations across the U.S., generated extensive intellectual property, and is well on its way to producing an economically feasible and sustainable algal fuel.

-Virginia Klausmeier, CEO, Sylvatex – San Francisco, CA

Quite possibly the youngest CEO in the biofuel/Green chemistry industry, Virginia Klausmeier has spent the past five years developing the Sylvatex fuel technology with her late father, Dr. William Klausmeier. Sylvatex is currently commercializing a proprietary renewable fuel for the US diesel and biodiesel markets. The company has won numerous awards at industry conferences and venture funding competitions, including Silicon Valley LAUNCH and PortTechLA, as well as funding and support through San Francisco’s Greenstart accelerator program. Virginia earned her B.S in Chemistry and Physiology and M.S. in Biomechanics at the University of Oregon and has is also active in San Francisco’s BioDiesel Task force and Biodiesel Coop.

-Pamela R. Contag, Ph.D, microbiologist, Founder of Xenogen Corp & Cobalt Biofuels – Mountain View, CA

Cobalt Technologies, located in Mountain View, CA, is leading the transportation industry for cleaner, more efficient renewable fuels. It is a venture-backed company that produces biobutanol from renewable feedstock. Xenogen Corp, located in Alameda, CA,  was founded in 1998, and is a leader in the field of biophotonic imaging. Pamela R. Contag, Ph.D., is a microbiologist who has been called a “serial entrepreneur,” having founded two biotech and two biofuel startups.  She is the founder of Xenogen Corp. and Cobalt Biofuels, Inc. She is also the founder and CEO of Cygnet Biofuels and ConcentRX, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a unique cancer therapy.  She founded Xenogen Corporation with two colleagues while at Stanford University, where they invented in vivo biophotonic imaging. Pamela has filed a patent on a process she developed that utilizes algae to produce polysaccharides that can be easily converted to alcohol fuels or to biolipids, and then to biodiesel. She was also named one of the “Top 25 Women in Small Business” by Fortune Magazine.

-Dr. Claire Kinlaw, Lead Product Development, TerViva BioEnergy – Oakland, CA

Claire is an MBA-trained scientist and currently Project Lead for TerViva BioEnergy, a startup commercializing the high oil seed tree pongamia in the US as a feedstock for biodiesel refining.  Pongamia pinnata is a nitrogen fixing tree native to India that grows on marginal soils. TerVia is working to commercialize this tree as a renewable source of diesel fuel, planting across the southern USA on pasturelands and other lands not used for food production. Claire leads the R&D effort to improve the underlying asset, the tree for even greater, more predictable oil production and good growth characteristics in US locations. Prior to joining TerViva in 2010, Claire developed commercial strategies for biotechnology startups and small businesses, negotiated and managed research and business agreements, directed the USDA Institute of Forest Genetics, and led life science research projects with molecular genetics and genomic science focus. Claire holds an MBA from UC Berkeley, a PhD in biochemistry from Rice University, and a BA in chemistry from the University of Virginia.

It is fairly common knowledge for the eco-friendly people living in the San Francisco Bay Area that the combustion of fossil fuels, in order to fuel our economy, is not sustainable.  New eco-friendly technologies are necessary if we want to not only build a new green economy, but also thrive without sacrificing the environment.

We need everyone to pitch in and help in this effort and there is room for everyone.  If we left it only to the men, we would only be leveraging half of our intellect and human resources.  Despite the great progress women have made, opportunities to advance professionally are still given more to men.  It is great to see these women break through the glass ceiling in an effort to green our planet.  Thanks ladies. You Rock!

Thanks totheinnovationdiaries.com for the photo.

I knew it was only a matter of time. In a few different blogs over the past year, I’ve covered incredible advances in smart LED bulb technology (the Google smart bulb, and LED light bulbs encoded with WIFI signals, for instance). And now, Net LED Technology Corp, a Japanese LED lighting company, has released the first software and mobile app system that can remotely control LED lighting systems from a smartphone or home computer. This cloud-based lighting system controls 40-watt LED light bars, which come with built in WIFI capabilities and last for up to 40,000 hours. The user can control each LED light bar individually, after installing the NetLED app on a smartphone, computer or tablet. So far, only simple actions for this remote control LED are available, like turning on and off or dimming. However, the user can control lights in different rooms, including multiple sets of lights, and can also track energy usage in real time or over a longer period. The manufacturer claims that using these lights can reduce energy consumption by 50 percent. It’s an exciting development to say the least. Though individual artists and designers have been able to remotely control color changing LED lighting systems via intelligent software for a while, this is the first time that a complete system has been available to the public for home or commercial use. The NetLED system will go on sale in Japan on February 20.

Thanks to TechCrunch for the images

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The Super Bowl is looming (February 5^th, 2012), and no matter which team you’re rooting for (or even if you’re not rooting at all), you may want to keep an eye out for an Audi advertisement that will air during the game’s first quarter. The 60-second spot will unveil the 2013 Audi S7, but more importantly, it will highlight the car’s highly stylized LED headlights, which glow from within a newly designed trapezoid grille.

Many auto manufacturers are making the switch from incandescent to LED spot lights, not only on the exterior of their vehicles, but on the interior as well. It just so happens that LED tape creates functional and stylish illumination inside the cabin, while outside, high-powered LED lights allow for better, more directional visibility and increased safety. And, no matter where you put them, LED lights are always the most energy efficient choice on the market.

I’m sure this Audi commercial isn’t the only Super Bowl ad that will feature LED lights…how many can you spot?

Thanks to Autoblog for the image