The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announces a new public policy initiative regarding energy conservation and efficiency, sustainability and lighting quality, and a new staff appointment in support of the initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to plan, develop, and coordinate the public policy interests of the IES and government, regulatory, trade and professional associations, and partner organizations as well as the public at large.

The mission of the IES, since its founding over one hundred years ago, has been to advocate quality lighting, which was as much a concern during the transition from kerosene and gas lighting to electric lighting as it is today in the transition to more energy efficient lighting through new technologies such as solid state lighting. Quality lighting implies that all electric and daylighting systems and their controls contribute favorably to visual performance, visual comfort, ease of seeing, safety, and aesthetics for the specific visual tasks involved.

“We have observed an increase in the rate of governmental regulatory and legislative activity in recent years due to the demand for reduced energy consumption and a corresponding increase in product innovation in lighting” said John Selander, incoming President of the IES. “As a standards writing organization for the lighting industry, it is very important that the IES be at the forefront of these trends and activities. Therefore, the Board of Directors felt it was important to have a dedicated staff person to represent the interests of the IES. That is why the IES created a new Director of Public Policy position. The IES is very pleased to announce that Robert Horner has accepted this position. He is highly qualified for the responsibilities of this position.”

Robert Horner received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After spending the early part of his career in energy management, he started with OSRAM Corp. in 1989 and made the transition to OSRAM SYLVANIA in 1993, assuming positions of commercial engineering manager, product group marketing manager for fluorescent lamps, marketing manager for linear fluorescent and business manager for visualization and imaging. Mr. Horner has been a long standing member of the IES and the IEEE. He served the National Lighting Bureau for 10 years as an officer and a member of the Board of Governors. He also co-authored two major IES educational programs: Fundamentals of Lighting (2009) and Discover Lighting, an on-line introduction to the lighting field.

“I am delighted that the IES had the foresight to create this position. This is an exciting time to be in lighting and I’m honored to serve on behalf of the IES and to be an advocate for quality lighting. I’ve been deeply involved in lighting education and have been a long-term active member of the IES and the larger lighting community, which I believe will serve me well in carrying out these responsibilities,” said Mr. Horner.

To contact Bob about IES public policy issues, send an email to [email protected] or call 978-652-8728.