Silver Spring, MD – After conveying disappointing results for the first-quarter of 2015, when lighting-equipment demand was 3.6% below fourth-quarter 2014 demand, the latest NEMA Lighting-Systems Index (LSI) results show that a modest rebound occurred during 2015’s second-quarter: Demand was up 0.4% over first-quarter performance and 2.2% above second-quarter 2014 performance. “While quarter-over-quarter performance may not be something to ‘write home about,’” said National Lighting Bureau Executive Director John Bachner, “year-over-year results are definitely encouraging and quarter-over-quarter results show that lighting-equipment demand is moving in the right direction. We’re optimistic that the next report will show continued growth over the third quarter.”
The NEMA Lighting-Systems Index (LSI) is a seasonality- and inflation-adjusted composite measure of luminaires, ballasts, miniature lamps, large lamps, and emergency lighting shipped throughout the United States by the lighting-equipment manufacturers of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). NEMA used 2002 data to create the LSI’s 100-point benchmark.
According to Laurie M. Miller, NEMA’s director of statistical operations, the second-quarter demand increase was driven principally by shipments of emergency lighting and fixtures. Shipments of ballasts, large lamps, and miniature lamps declined. Bachner commented, “We need to bear in mind that the lighting market itself is changing, especially because of light-emitting diode (LED) technology. LED lighting doesn’t use ballasts and, in many cases, it doesn’t use fixtures, in the sense that a lamp and fixture are integrated to comprise a single component.”
Established in 1976, the National Lighting Bureau is an independent, IRS-recognized not-for-profit, educational foundation that has served as a trusted lighting-information source since 1976. The Bureau’s services – all provided free of charge – are 100% dependent upon the funding provided by its sponsors: professional societies, trade associations, manufacturers, and agencies of the U.S. government, now including, among others:
- A.L.P. Lighting Components, Inc.;
- ATG Electronics;
- GE Lighting;
- Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES);
- Imperial Lighting Maintenance Company;
- interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO);
- International Landscape Lighting Institute;
- Jan & Brooke Luminae, LLC;
- Lighting Controls Association;
- LumenOptix;
- Lutron Electronics Company, Inc.;
- Magnaray;
- National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA);
- National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA);
- OSRAM SYLVANIA;
- U.S. General Services Administration; and
- Viscor Group of Companies.
Obtain more information about the Bureau by visiting its website (www.nlb.org) or by contacting its staff at [email protected] or 301/587-9572.
A founding sponsor of the National Lighting Bureau, NEMA is the association of electrical-equipment and medical-imaging manufacturers, established in 1926 and headquartered in Rosslyn, Virginia. NEMA’s 400-plus member companies manufacture a diverse set of products, including – in addition to lighting systems – power-transmission and distribution equipment, factory-automation and control systems, and medical-diagnostic-imaging systems. Total U.S. shipments for electroindustry products exceed $100 billion annually.