The winner is Bamboo, as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the winner of the “Manufacturing Innovator Challenge for Sustainable Manufacturing of Luminaires.”
The majority of SSL luminaires still use aluminum and other energy-dense structural and thermal materials in their designs and manufacturing processes. Through this design challenge, DOE sought new concepts in SSL luminaires using sustainable, recycled materials. The use of innovative materials in the luminaire design could reduce both parts and manufacturing cost of the luminaire.
The winner was the Bamboo Pendant submitted by Brad Koerner, Koerner Design. The design incorporates bio-derived and biodegradable, low-toxicity, sustainable materials and is applicable to net-zero-energy buildings. The forward-thinking design anticipates centralized DC power for buildings, allowing for simplified and efficient driver electronics. This entry also incorporates simple construction, fast disassembly, and reduced toxicity, which can help realize reduced lifecycle costs and liabilities. The design avoids adhesives and screws in large parts of the housing to aid end-of-life processing, while the flax-based printed circuit board and DC-power capabilities show innovation at many aspects of the electric power and manufacturing value chains.