The year 2013 has come to an end. It was an interesting year with many new development in lighting. I think it can be concluded that it is also the year in which LED lighting has become feasible also in office lighting. It has been the year of the introduction of the Ecodesign directive for directional lamps. But what will 2014 bring?

First of all the Light and Building will be held again. This major show will generally bring new developments to the market and therefore it will be an interesting show this year. I think it is safe to say that all manufacturers are preparing for the show.

In March there will be a step in the ecodesign directive. This will be mainly for luminaires and from that date the labeling must be used. For lamps there are more stringent requirements for lamp survival factor and lumen maintenance. Especially for LED lamps. Also printed materials for lamps must be updated.

For directional lamps Stage 2 of the DIM 2 becomes applicable in September. Non directional DIM 1 and Tertiary TIM will not have a stage change this year so requirements will remain the same.

We will also see the introduction of ENEC Performance. This will be a performance approval mark for luminaires. It is not yet sure what effects it will have on other parts of ENEC but that will become clear in the coming year. The scheme will take care of the gap that was there for years now in the ENEC scheme for lighting.

This will be an European scheme, but will it succeed? That is a good question. Of course it is good that finally there is a scheme focussed on Europe. Some how in Europe the standardization and certification is lagging behind on other countries especially when we are talking about LED lighting. It is however e very important industry in Europe! So it is good that this new scheme will be introduced. Lets see after the introduction what the content of the scheme will be.

More developments are coming. Some of which I am not able to write about yet but I think in certification it will be an interesting year again. Also on the development in smart lighting this year might prove to be a key year. Yes in the past years a lot has happened but currently there is a increase in activities is this area. Logical since the LED development has gone quiet far and will slow down now. The interest will shift to smart lighting to achieve more reduction of energy consumption but also making light more flexible and adding new things to lighting.

Of course there are already a lot of products on the market but the level of integration is increasing and with that the costs are being reduced. This will result in more competitive products that will make a breakthrough possible in this market. It is also a way for the lighting industry to maintain the growth that is there right now. If the conventional lighting is phased out as it is going in a steady rate right now, there will be a moment when the market will start shrinking, the light sources work for many years more that they were till know so replacement market will shrink. With new and more intelligent uses of light this issue might be different and growth can be kept in the market.

Anyway it will be a very interesting year again! All the best for the new year and lets make it a enlightened year!