Today, the World Economic Forum, the prestigious international organization that hosts its annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, announced the 2011 Technology Pioneers. The 31 young companies selected represent 13 countries and are recognized for making a significant impact on the future of business and society. Heartiest congratulations to all. Of those, an impressive 13 are in cleantech and are solving real-world problems. A great turnout for Team Green, and Digital Lumens is honored to be included. What is noteworthy about...
Team members’ thoughts on lighting innovation, industry developments and other topics of interest.
Lucky #13: Cleantech Well Represented in 2011 Technology Pioneers
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 by Tom Pincince
It Does Not Take a Village
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
Today, we announced our first customer, Maines Paper & Food Services in Conklin, NY. Maines has deployed the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting Solution throughout its 460,000 square foot distribution center, resulting in an 87% reduction in lighting energy cost and 15% of overall energy costs. This is the equivalent of doing an energy retrofit of every house in Conklin....
I have said it before -- energy efficiency at scale is an absolute imperative for the nation. Residential energy efficiency gets the lion’s share of attention, but I submit that prioritizing industrial facilities would be...
What Does Earnings Season Mean for LED Lighting?
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
Over the past few weeks, companies have been reporting their quarterly earnings. The news has been a bit mixed for the overall economy. But, what are the specific signals for LED lighting and perhaps energy efficiency generally? First, lets look at the macro picture. The bad news: top-line revenue has been flat or only slightly up and there is little sign that the employment picture will improve soon. The good news: profits are up as companies are using fewer resources to drive the top line and...
Expanding the Green Jobs Conversation
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
Green jobs are a hot topic. The question is not whether the cleantech industry is generating significant employment, but how to maximize job creation. As a growing company, I am frequently asked about how many jobs Digital Lumens is creating and where those jobs will be? People are trying to size up our potential impact on the local economy as an employer. In thinking about that question, I have created three categories of Green jobs:
- Direct – Jobs created by the Green companies themselves (e.g., chemical...
Bringing Law and Order to the Wild West of the LED Market
Monday, July 26th, 2010 by Brian Chemel
The LED market can seem a bit like the Wild West. It’s a whole new frontier with different standards, capabilities and potential benefits, and there’s a veritable ‘land grab’ for the many potential markets. Both customers and vendors are anxious to tap into the massive dividends LEDs offer -- energy savings for customers and new product adoption for vendors. But where’s the law and order in this new territory? Who is going to be the sheriff who ensures that customers get what they want and...
Energy Efficiency Investments Must Make Dollars and Sense
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by Michael Feinstein
Our customers are smart. Really smart. I am not just saying that because they're our customers. As a group, the managers and executives that run large, complex warehouses and industrial facilities are a very savvy bunch who run profitably in a thin-margin business. They handle tons of inventory (think about the food in your grocery, the products at your favorite retailer, and more) with highly efficient staff, and are always looking for ways to improve their businesses to stay competitive. With hundreds of thousands of square...
Will Boston Be the “Home and Hub” of New England Cleantech?
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
As the developing cleantech cluster in Massachusetts continues to grow in size and stature, an increasingly common question is whether the City of Boston proper will be home to a large contingent of cleantech companies. Or will Boston be the hub, but not the home, for start-ups as it was during the various IT revolutions? Boston Mayor Tom Menino kicked off an infrared scanning project for the city that I was lucky enough to attend (for details on the event, check out the coverage...
Notes from the Lazard Capital Markets Energy Investor Summit
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak at the Lazard Capital Markets Annual Alternative Energy Investor Summit in New York City. What is a private company doing at a Wall Street confab? Well there are two answers to that question – one from the private company perspective and the other from the investment bank perspective. As a private company, I have found that Wall Street analysts typically have a rigorous and skeptical view of the market. These analysts are the source for critical...
Bike Week Reflections
Thursday, June 10th, 2010 by Allison Parker
As Colin blogged about a few entries ago, May 17 -- 21 was Bay State Bike Week here in Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Commuter Challenge ran that same week, as well. The Challenge is a competition among Massachusetts-based organizations that pledge to bike all or part of their regular trips during the week and log their mileage. Being fans of a friendly competition, the Digital Lumens staff plunged in. This meant that in addition to our team members who regularly commute by...
Innovation Month: Boston’s Gravitational Pull
Friday, June 4th, 2010 by Tom Pincince
June is Innovation Month in Massachusetts. A concerted effort among many of the participants in the extended entrepreneurial ecosystem (startup executives, VCs, angels, publications, and others), Innovation Month is a series of events designed to celebrate, gather and reinforce the vibrant startup community in the Bay State. (Here's a recent Innovation Economy blog post on the effort, with a link to related event listings and blogs at the bottom.) Massachusetts has a long history of being the ‘primordial soup’ that hatched many a...