Visiting the Lighting Research Center

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) was founded in 1988 with core funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) with a mission to advance the effective use of light and create a positive legacy for society and the environment. As part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) has built an international reputation as an independent, objective, third party research and education center providing reliable information about lighting technologies, applications, and products.
The LRC moved from the Rensselaer campus in 1992 to a facility across the Hudson River in Watervliet, New York. Its rapid growth, however, prompted the LRC to find a new home back in Troy in 2000. Now occupying two floors in the W. L. & E. Gurley Precision Instrument Building in downtown Troy, LRC researchers continue to lead efforts to find better ways to provide energy-efficient and effective lighting worldwide.

LRC programs and projects have changed lighting practice and have improved the energy efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of lighting. The LRC’s research into architectural and optical design applications, system development, product testing, and human factors often identifies needs that could be met by new technologies and product improvements.

The Lighting Research Center has forged strong ties with public benefit organizations, manufacturers, utilities, and government agencies. Through this collaboration, the LRC has developed customized research and education programs to meet the needs of society and industry. The LRC has been called “an outstanding example of what public-private sector partnerships can contribute by linking science, government, and industry to achieve shared objectives.”

The LRC's Partners program is a collaboration of academia, industry, utilities, public benefit organizations, public advocacy groups, and government. This teamwork approach ensures the highest quality in our results. Through our Partners program, public and private sectors work together to support large projects and share resources. Our projects have changed lighting practice worldwide.

LRC Partners:

  • California Energy Commission
  • GE Lighting
  • Genlyte/Thomas
  • New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA)
  • NE Utilities System
  • Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
  • Osram Sylvania
  • Philips Lighting
  • United States Department of Energy
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency
  • Xcel Energy
  • Westinghouse Lighting Corporation

Lighting Design Lab
The Lighting Design Lab has worked closely with the LRC over the past decade. LDL has helped provide input on research topics, and has hosted an array of speakers from the LRC. The LDL provided mockup space for an examination of lighting quality in the visual environment. The LDL has hosted a LRC Partners meeting.

LRC Programs

  • NLPIP -
    National Lighting Product Information Program
  • DELTA -
    Demonstration and Evaluations of Lighting Technologies and Applications
  • PEARL -
    Program for the Evaluation and Analysis of Residential Lighting
  • Lighting Transformations -
    Projects that speed the creation, entry, and penetration of new, energy-efficient lighting products into the commercial and residential markets
  • LRC Partners -
    a collaboration of academia, industry, utilities, public benefit organizations, public advocacy groups, and government
  • Outreach Education -
    One to five day workshops and seminars on advanced technology and application topics
  • Light and Health -
    Research and application into how visual and circadian systems work
  • Solid State Lighting -
    Research, application and training in the performance and application of LED lighting
  • Transportation Lighting
    Research and application into lighting of our vehicles and roadways
  • Graduate Education -
    Masters Degree Programs at RPI
  • VIP Lighting -
    Vision, Impression, Performance: applying our understanding of human factors to deliver lighting technologies and solutions that encourage acceptance of energy-efficient lighting
  • Lighting Futures -
    An online quarterly newsletter that offers news on the latest advances in lighting technologies, techniques, and trade, especially those that have environmental, economic, and human benefits

Most Popular Areas on the LRC Website

 


Above: Diana Grant at the front door of the Lighting Research Center

All images courtesy of Diana Grant, Program Manager of the Lighting Design Lab


Above: Welcome to the LRC!


Above: Russ Leslie, LRC Associate Director, in one of the classrooms


Above: One of the daylit offices at the LRC


Above: A daylit space at the LRC with self-commissioning controls


Above: a daylighting model


Above: Russ Leslie standing next to an integrating sphere, used for photometric analysis


Above: an ever-changing display of LED lighting for ongoing research into solid-state lighting


Above: One of the product testing labs that the LRC uses for the National Lighting Product Information Program


Above: A test bench for analysis of lighting product performance and life


Above: Russ Leslie in a lab area used for testing the effect of heat on the performance of solid state lighting