Beyond Diversity: Making an Honest Effort Toward Equity and Inclusion

The presence of DEI in our workplaces and in the collective consciousness is ubiquitous and undeniable—so much so that the words and the concepts behind them seem to have lost their meaning. What began in 2020 as intense self-reflection and an earnest desire to do better (among some of us at least) has become rote; for many in management, it’s just another box to be ticked. For those of us seeking equity and belonging, however, the urgency has not abated. Quite the contrary. Black people, indigenous people, immigrants, LGBTQ+ folks and other marginalized groups are finding their histories, their basic rights, and in some cases their very existences debated and legislated away, all the while businesses are twisting themselves in knots to “achieve” diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. We will examine DEI practices and initiatives in the lighting industry: comparing it to the world at large (spoiler: it’s not pretty); unpacking the resistance to change that is pervasive in certain corners of the industry; identifying performative acts, missteps, and pitfalls; and illustrating honest actions that can improve not only the office, but the world beyond as well.

SPEAKER:

Alana Shepherd - Intangible Light | North American Coalition of Lighting Industry Queers

Seeing UGR Clearly: A Study on Background and Application Use of UGR

When understood and used properly, the Unified Glare Rating (UGR) can provide insight into lighting visual comfort expectations. When not understood or used improperly, UGR can lead to unintended glare, unnecessarily limited luminaire selections, and overall unexpected project results. This session will dissect the UGR metric by sharing how it has evolved as a standard metric and how it is best applied as a predicter of glare for interior spaces. It will also review human factors with glare, UGR application pitfalls and demonstrate the three categorized uses of UGR in practice.

SPEAKERS:

Harold Jepsen - Legrand North & Central America
Melissa Rickets - Acuity Brands
James Gaines - Signify

How Can BIM Deliver on its Promise?

In typical practice, lighting designers are responsible for defining design intent and specifying lighting and control technology that they believe will deliver that intent. However, designers often sacrifice control over what products actually get installed or discover a gap between expected and actual product performance that limits their ability to control characteristics of the finished environment. This presentation continues the conversation started in a 2021 IES Webinar by further examining how digital workflows can deliver additional measures of validation, accountability, and control into the design-bid-build process. Attendees will learn how the use of standard practice tools like Autodesk Revit can be extended to capture more design intent, how contract language can be modified to support the delivery of BIM models, how software applications can leverage BIM models to automate design and create performance expectations that can be verified, and how emerging standards are making it easier to develop such applications.

SPEAKERS:

Michael Poplawski - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Star Davis - Focal Point