LightFair announced the 14 winners of its 2020 LightFair Innovation Awards (LIA). The 31st annual awards recognize innovative products and designs introduced by LightFair 2020 exhibitors during the last 12 months. Originally scheduled to be presented in person at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the awards were announced digitally after the cancellation of LightFair 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“Although LightFair did not take place this year, we want to honor our commitment to celebrating the ingenuity and achievements of the lighting industry through the LightFair Innovation Awards,” said show director Dan Darby. “While we are not gathering in person to celebrate our winners, we are just as inspired by their innovations and even more excited to see them when we gather again in 2021.”
An independent panel of judges chosen from LightFair partners the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) selected the LIA winners from 146 submissions through a meticulous two-day judging process. Criteria included the product’s clarity of purpose, versatility, adaptability, sustainability, ease of use, design efficiency and aspects that enhanced human wellbeing.
The four main award winners are:
Most Innovative Product of the Year: Kuzco Lighting – Magellan
The Magellan commands contemporary spaces with elegance, and pure, concentric form. Multiple shades surround a hollow center in a static orbit, creating a soft, floral effect that invites the eye to navigate the fixture’s contoured repetition. Indirect light is cast onto the shade interiors, creating an even, ambient glow. Featured as a stand-alone or clustered in larger spaces, the Magellan is especially suitable as a dramatic focal point, available in black finishes.
Magellan is a low voltage power delivery system. The core serves as a framework for an evolving platform of new configurations, material options, and lighting effects. Each shade is an individual light source that can be mixed or exchanged.
Technical Innovation Award: Rab Lighting Inc. – Lightcloud Smart Outlet
The Lightcloud Outlet is a tamper resistant duplex receptacle that delivers plug-load control and measured power monitoring for loads up to 20 amps. The bottom receptacle is always on, and the top receptacle can be controlled manually (App, Touch, or local Dimmer), schedules, occupancy/vacancy/daylight sensors, or advanced automations such as variable control throughout the day. Energy usage can be viewed from the Lightcloud Web App or exported to PDF or CSV. The Outlet is compatible with all Lightcloud systems and extends the range of the Lightcloud wireless mesh.
The Lightcloud Outlet has energy meters for each receptacle for precision power monitoring and energy savings across controlled and always-on receptacles. Energy data and insights are available through the intuitive, cloud-based Web App.
Design Excellence Award: Glint Photonics – Hero
Hero is the first track luminaire to give users the ability to aim light without tilting the luminaire itself. Users move the joystick to aim light in any direction, allowing luminaires to be installed into the tightest spaces, perfectly aligned to one another. Hero has inward pointing LEDs, adaptive baffle, and advanced antireflective materials for incredibly low glare. Simple colors and clean unibody design give Hero a sophisticated aesthetic. Installed to align with the architecture and with its slim form and low glare, Hero virtually disappears, focusing attention only on what’s important.
Judge’s Citation: Illuminating Engineering Society – IES eLearning Portal
In October of 2019, the IES launched its eLearning portal of individual one-hour courses. Categorized by interest and level of experience, you can currently learn anywhere you have an internet connection from more than 15 topics including TM-30, Connected Lighting, IoT of Lighting, Lighting Design and many more from recognized industry experts. Each course includes a unique quiz to promote lighting content comprehension and retention, while providing a CEU in support of our industry’s respected licenses and certifications.
The IES eLearning is the first of its kind to provide online lighting courses, open to the public, from a standards & organizational point of view. On-demand content is curated to embrace the diversity of the lighting industry for various levels.
The 14 category winners are:
- Ballasts, Transformers, Drivers, Systems and Kits: ETC – F-Drive R12
- Commercial Indoor: Troffers, Suspended and Surface Mounted: Lightheaded Lighting Ltd – Adjustable LED Pipe
- Control and Distribution Systems, Connectivity and Analytics: Savant – Savant Daylight Mode
- Controls: Components, Sensors, Interfaces and Software: RAB Lighting Inc. – Lightcloud Smart Outlet
- Dynamic Color, Theatrical, Cove, Strips and Tape: Wac Lighting– InvisiLED CCT Color Temperature Adjustable Tape
- Indoor Decorative: Kuzco Lighting LLC – Magellan
- Industrial, Vandal, Emergency and Exit: Concealite Life Safety Products– Conceal X Series: Concealed Exit Signs
- Lamps: Conventional, Retrofit and Replacement: Maxlite, Inc – JA8 Listed G9 Base Lamp
- LED/OLED, Chips and Modules: L.P. – Bridgelux Vesta® ThriveTM
- Non-Luminous: Research, Publications, Software and Specialty Hardware: Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) – IES eLearning Portal
- Parking, Roadway and Area Luminaires: Hei Technology International Gmbh – hei libertas - solar energy tubes
- Recessed Downlights, Wall Washers and Multiples: Dmf Lighting – DCD Series Higher-Lumen Modular Downlight
- Sports, Step, Landscape, Pool & Fountain Luminaires: Kuzco Lighting LLC – Stem
- Track, Display, Undercabinet and Shelf: Glint Photonics – Hero
