Bringing together property/facility decision makers, designers, luminaire manufacturers and enabling technology providers, the 2010-2011 SSL Summit series, hosted by Solid State Lighting Design, has taken a strong stance in its approach to help boost a quality only message inside the LED lighting industry.
The East coast edition is slated for September 14-15 in New York City, with the West coast follow-on happening January 19-20, 2011 in the Los Angeles area. For 2010-2011, the SSL Summit is sticking firm to a commitment to require participating companies that would receive product-level visibility, to meet some basic quality vetting criteria.
According to conference co-chair, Chris Brown, CEO of the national lighting solutions provider Wiedenbach Brown, Whether a company is considering involvement as a speaker, sponsor or Summit showcase participant, we're looking for them to meet some very basic criteria for their participation. While the Summit is not requiring the highest efficacy or perfect product, it's clear that the players are substantially narrowed when you put basic hurdles in place, such as being able to show that independent LM-79 test data matches what they put out on their data sheet, that they are appropriately representing certifications, and that they bring a decent reputation with them.
The SSL Summit puts forward a solid agenda designed to engage to the participants in the key issues and successful approaches visible in the LED lighting industry today. Avraham Mor, IALD, LEED AP, MIES and Partner with Lightswitch Architectural added, Beyond the strong networking I've seen from my previous SSL Summit experience, one of the reasons I was willing to participate as a co-chair for this year's Summit is the 'quality required' message that it carries. When considering what LED lighting has to offer, lighting decision makers quickly run head-on into a bewildering array of offerings. The Summit doesn't claim that a participating company's product is perfect, but it does stand behind the vetting to assure that engaging with that manufacturer to understand their offering is worth the decision maker's time. The Summit is receiving industry backing from a host of recognized companies, with the list so far including diamond sponsors Lithonia Lighting and LEDnovation. Platinum sponsors include GrafTech, Toshiba, Greenlight Initiative and Wiedenbach Brown, and are joined by CRS Electronics and NYECC at supporting levels. Highlighted speakers for New York include Margaret Newman, Chief of Staff of the NY City Department of Transportation, and David Bomke, Executive Director of the NY Energy Consumers Council.
