The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) and the Lighting Controls Association (LCA) have announced a collaborative effort to offer online courses to advance knowledge of networked lighting control (NLC) technology and applications. The collaboration comes after a 2020 DLC and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) study revealed that NLCs in LED projects yield an additional energy savings of nearly 70% for some building types and an average of 49% across many building types—but for various reasons, including lack of training, NLCs are underutilized. In order to increase usage of NLCs, the DLC will continue to offer in-person courses, but discontinue its online offerings to instead support the LCA’s Education Express online platform, under a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The joined forces mean both an introduction of new stakeholders to the LCA education courses and the availability to explore fresh educational material for DLC members and allies. “By supporting the LCA’s online program, we are expanding the reach of practical, high-quality training about NLCs and thus expanding the community of professionals who will be eager and able to adopt this transformative technology,” says Christina Halfpenny, DLC executive director. With over 67 hours of instruction available, the Education Express is free, user-friendly and enables students to earn CEUs at their own pace.
Go to either www.designlights.org or www.lightingcontrolsassociation.org to learn more.