Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Aug. 11, 2021. The years 2020 and 2021 will be remembered for many things. Who will forget a postponed Olympics games followed a year later by games with no spectators? Still, the athletes put on a great show. But I was thinking more about how the lighting sector will remember activity in germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) technology when I wrote this. UV-C band disinfection has been long studied by a few, has lurked behind the scenes for most, and now is front of mind for people well beyond the lighting space.
We wrote yesterday about a significant development in the far UV-C band where excitement has built based on the potential safe use of such radiation with people present. I’m not sure there is a precise definition of far UV-C, but it’s below 230 nm and much research has been done at 222 nm where excimer lamps radiate. Acuity Brands is now taking orders for 222-nm fixtures. There have been some far UV-C products on the market, but most have had a shaky technology foundation. I’d suggest that the Acuity products are built on a more solid base in the form of the Ushio Care222 base.
Acuity had told me late last year that its far UV-C product was ready for market. The company was waiting for some third-party affirmation of safety to sell it. The announcement yesterday included the news that UL had certified the Care222 module for use in occupied spaces. Still, I’d warn that commercial success is uncertain. As we covered in our latest UV-C special Report, capex and opex costs are both obstacles to adoption of UV technology in commercial spaces. Businesses will be plotting ROI on complex spreadsheets to determine how such an investment delivers payback. Then again, with the latest surge in COVID-19, it’s easy to wish you saw such a fixture in every public space.
And speaking of the surge, it’s almost assuredly going to impact the final hope for an in-person lighting industry event this year. I was so looking forward to attending LightFair in New York, seeing people I haven’t seen for near two years, and visiting my favorite Manhattan haunts. I can say with almost certainty that I won’t attend. Moreover, major companies will not exhibit, even if they have sunk costs they can’t recover.
The LightFair organizers are in a very tough spot. Our friendly competitor Randy Reid over at Edison Report wrote a parody about the LightFair dilemma earlier this week. At best, the event happens with mask mandates and vaccination requirements. But I don’t see any of Randy’s fictional invitees showing up for dinner.
The subject of dinner reminds me to mention a couple of things. Our Mark Halper continues to follow horticultural experiments in space that help feed astronauts aboard the International Space Station. In his latest story, however, Mark wrote about the potential positive psychological benefits of farming in space.
Of course, feeding residents of a space station is a relatively small scale problem while sustainably feeding 30,000 people on a college campus is quite a different challenge. Daniel Wells, associate professor in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, is undertaking such a challenge with two container-based vertical farms that are also operated by students. The vegetables will move mere blocks to the dining facilities that serve them. We will learn more about the program at our upcoming HortiCann Light + Tech Conference on Sept. 28–29.
Also remember that Strategies in Light is just two weeks out. Attendees will have the chance to hear about the latest innovations in enabling technologies and up the food chain to the most compelling applications such as smart buildings, lighting for health and wellbeing, connected lighting, and more.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 208-9442, [email protected]