Adjusting lighting can save energyWestCor Construction recognized for safety

What will the lighting in your home look like in the future? According to American Lighting Association expert Monty Gilbertson, it will look a lot like it does today, only it will be more energy-efficient.

As a member of the Lighting Vision Committee for the non-profit Consortium for Energy Efficiency in Boston, Gilbertson is among those coming up with ways to get the general public to use 50 percent less lighting energy by 2012.

The ideas they have come up with so far include educating the public about the benefits of using more energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, moving to Energy Star-qualified fixtures and using dimmers with the new technologies.

Norm Brown, regional manager of Noburn Lighting and Bath Center in Vancouver, Canada, said the latter is among the most promising recommendations he has heard.

"Not only do you get great aesthetic results from putting lights on dimmers, the energy savings are astounding," he said. "You use less wattage and double the life of the bulb to boot."

"In addition, dimmers allow for greater flexibility in lighting product selection and allow you to get multiple uses out of a room," said Gilbertson, who is a certified lighting consultant and manager of Lighting Designs by Wettsteins in La Crosse, Wis.

In today's homes, the three main types of lighting available are incandescent, magnetic low voltage and electronic low voltage, which are all easily dimmed.

There are several different types of dimmers. They include:

-- Simple wall box dimmers, which allow you to bring the light up and down slowly;

-- Scene lighting dimmers, which allow you to control multiple light sources from a single panel to set a mood;

-- Whole house systems, which allow you to control all of the lights in your home from one panel at the touch of a button; and

-- Occupancy sensors, which turn on and off whenever someone enters a room.

Karen Engle, CLC of Zanger Associates Inc., of Eldersburg, Md., points out dimmers of all types are extremely useful, particularly for those who like to entertain often.

"I recommend people put dimmers just about everywhere in the house because they offer such great flexibility," she said. "For example, when everyone's gathering for a party, it's nice to have the lights at full brightness; but as your guests move into the house and get comfortable, low light is more desirable. Then later when it's time to clean up, it's nice to be able to bring the lights to full strength again at the flip of a switch."

Jacklyn Stanton, owner of lighting supplier Lytestyles in Knoxville, Tenn., said: "Technology is moving forward so quickly, I predict that within 10 years, you won't even be able to find today's darling, the fluorescent bulb, on store shelves anymore, much less Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb.

"Everyone will be using LEDs (light-emitting diodes), which by the way are already dimmable," Stanton said.

For more information about lighting design, or to find a lighting showroom near your community, log on to the American Lighting Association's Web site at americanlightingassoc.com or call 800-274-4484.

The National Association of Home Builders has announced that WestCor Construction of Las Vegas is among the honorees of the second annual Safety Award for Excellence, which recognizes member companies and their employees for the excellent safety programs that make them leaders in the residential construction industry.

WestCor is a member of NAHB and the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

The awards will be presented Feb. 13 during the International Builders' Show in Orlando.

WestCor Construction specializes in crew framing of single-family production housing, custom homes and commercial/industrial projects.

WestCor has achieved certified trade contractor status in the NAHB Research Center's National Housing Quality Trade Contractor Certification Program, which is administered locally by SNHBA.