The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), sponsor of the International Illumination Design Awards (IIDA), is pleased to announce the award recipients for 2008. The Society received 400 entries resulting in 8 International Awards and 151 Awards of Merit.

The International Awards included one Award of Distinction, five Awards for Excellence and two Special Citations. The International Awards will be presented at the Welcome Event in conjuction with the IES Annual Conference on November 9, 2008 in Savannah, GA.

The IIDA program recognizes individuals for professionalism, ingenuity and originality in lighting design based on the individual merit of each entry. Judges are selected from a broad professional spectrum representing knowledge of lighting and design excellence.

The judging system is entirely based on how well the lighting design meets the program criteria. The IIDA program is not a competition. The IIDAs comprise four parallel programs:

• The Edwin F. Guth Memorial Award for Interior Lighting Design honors the memory of fixture manufacturer Guth, who held 147 patents at the time of his death in 1962.

• The Paul Waterbury Award for Outdoor Lighting Design honors Waterbury’s achievements, including the development of 1,500-W metal halide lamps for stadium use.

• The Aileen Page Cutler Memorial Award for Residential Lighting Design honors Cutler, the developer of new and creative ways to light residences.

• The Energy and Environmental Design Award sponsored by OSRAM SYLVANIA recognizes quality lighting installations in commercial and industrial buildings that incorporate advanced energy-saving strategies and environmentally responsible solutions into the overall design.

Each of the four award programs comprises several levels. Section Awards acknowledge commendable achievement in lighting design at the local level. Awards of Merit are given in recognition of meritorious contributions to lighting design. Those projects receiving a score of 85 or greater at the Merit level continue on to be judged at the international level.

There are three awards considered by the panel of international judges. The Special Citation recognizes superior elements of an outstanding lighting design or, in some instances, the use of lighting as an art form. The Award of Excellence is presented for an exceptional contribution to the art and science of lighting design. The Award of Distinction honors extraordinary achievement in lighting design.

Changes in 2009: The IES Illumination Awards

In 2009, the IIDA program will be renamed the IES Illumination Awards, in conjunction with the Society’s Strategic Plan. It will be the first year all entries will be submitted online, and some of the judging will be done virtually from the judges’ desktops. Great thought and time have been put into these changes, and the Society has reached out to many individuals who have been involved in the program to craft this online system. These changes will benefit participants at all levels of the judging process. Please look for more information soon to be posted on the IES web site at http://www.ies.org.

IES is the oldest and largest educational and scientific society in North America devoted to lighting. Since 1906, the IES has sought to improve the lighted environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that benefit the public. A broad variety of programs, including publications, conferences and seminars, have been established to accomplish this mission-IES publishes and distributes the finest lighting literature authored by committees with the most experienced minds in industry and academia today. For more information about IES, go to www.ies.org.