TierramadreLandscape.com

Driving Innovation in Landscape Lighting | Intuit

What drives innovation in our industry?  Experience. Experience breeds innovation as designers and installers continually strive to improve products and methods that result in increased value to the customer.  That value can be in the form of cost savings, system longevity or, more importantly, enhanced effects. Innovation can be directed toward any of a lighting system’s components including fixtures, transformers, mounting systems or even connectors, and is often the result of matching demand with available technologies, emerging markets, or even production capabilities that historically may not have been feasible.  We just need to be open to recognizing the need.   Often, end users are not aware of many product innovations because improvements can be subtle, like an improved thread or the addition of an O-ring.  However, the benefits in product quality, or efficiencies gained from these advancements, are undeniable. Fixture quality has advanced substantially over the last several years as new metal alternatives have been introduced and fixture design has evolved, the result of which has been the designer’s ability to more accurately enhance architectural distinctions or unique attributes within a landscape.  Lamp quality has also increased greatly with the introduction of halogen and more recently, xenon based lamps, resulting in extended lamp life and more available variations in color, intensity and beam angles.  Transformers have improved with the addition of magnetic breakers, stainless steel cases and multi-tap voltage options for better management of the power source.   Mounting systems are going through a minor revolution with the addition of better stake designs and available technology which are resulting in flexible mounting systems ideal for high-traffic areas.  Connectors will also no doubt realize continuing advances through products like King Connectors or Blazing Products silicone-filled connectors.   Something as basic as wire, can have innovative features that are hidden to the consumer, but can be valuable to the installer and designer.  Strand count, sheath thickness and composition, as well as footage markings, are all properties of low voltage wire that have improved over recent years.  Though less visible, these features become extremely valuable when technicians can now appreciate ease of stripping along with greater flexibility and durability, and wire usage is now accurate when invoicing is completed.  And, let’s not forget about installation methods and techniques.  How long ago did we utilize power equipment to install lighting systems?  In many cases, use of this equipment simply did not justify the additional cost, manpower or clean-up expense that they created.  Sometimes simplifying can be innovative. Looking forward to the next wave of technology and innovation, LEDs (light emitting diodes) appear to have great appeal as a replacement for conventional lamps for a number of reasons.  Very low power consumption, extremely long lamp life, and no generation of heat, are all potentially attractive aspects of this technology, provided it is applied in the appropriate situations.  For instance, LEDs are not necessarily well-suited for landscape lighting in northern climates because this technology produces no heat and therefore cannot melt themselves clear in the winter.  They can however, provide an excellent lighting alternative where the thermal issue is not important, but a bright, efficient marking device is.   Solar power is another innovation that has been lurking around our industry for some time, but because of its historically marginal performance, has not until recently gained much acceptance as a viable power source.  Significant advancements over the last few years however, in both solar cells and batteries, have greatly improved the performance of solar powered lights and will certainly continue to advance the value of solar power in a landscape setting.  With increasing emphasis on being “Green” conscious, the combination of solar power and LEDs may be a perfect match.  Functional and efficient, along with zero operating costs, meets the conservative criteria often scrutinized today and can be expected to gain momentum in the future.   Innovation manifests itself in a variety of ways, and how it does is not really important.  Good ideas are just that regardless if it is a better method or product or application or whatever.  Making ourselves open to letting innovative thinking enter our businesses make each of us critically aware of how we can improve our own products, business methods and strategies and continue positively shaping our industry.  As industry leaders, driving innovation is a responsibility that all of us should exercise with enthusiasm for that is where opportunities emerge.

Source: Driving Innovation in Landscape Lighting | Intuit

Important Tips To Follow When Shopping For Solar Patio Lighting

...you can build your own Solar Panels, saving $10,000’s off of retail price.

...almost anyone can do this, even if they have no solar experience.

...there is a step-by-step guide that will show you exactly how to build your own solar panel system.

Why pay thousands of dollars for solar energy ($27,000 average cost) when you can build your own solar panel system for just a fraction of the retail cost. You can build a single solar panel or you can build an entire array of panels to power your whole house.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed . Thanks for visiting!

Garden lights are a good way to accent special elements in your garden such as trees or fountains. You may use them to create a special mood in your garden. You can get a superb look in your garden using solar powered lights. When it comes to choosing the proper fixtures for your garden lighting remember that they’ll be obvious in the day.

...

Read more...

News

Canon PowerShot SX230 HS (red)

CNET - Mar 18, 2011

The good: The Canon PowerShot SX230 HS has good low-light photo quality for its class; excellent color; shooting options that encourage experimentation; and great-looking video quality. The bad: Its shooting performance, though good, lags behind the and morenbsp;raquo;

The changing lighting landscape

The Republic - Mar 07, 2011

But they#39;re much better now, both in color quality and manufacture. Now if you try them out, you#39;ll be pleasantly surprised.quot; quot;Still, the case is that most light bulbs in use are incandescents,quot; added Sylvania#39;s Anderson. quot;People are using a blend, and morenbsp;raquo;

HTC ThunderBolt Review

SlashGear - Mar 18, 2011

The ThunderBolt#39;s main camera shoots 8-megapixel stills and 720p HD video, and is on a par with other recent HTC handsets for quality. Images are decent in daylight, with good detail and realistic color balance; though suffer from noise in low lighting and morenbsp;raquo;

Project Innovation: Connecting Naples landmarks focus of meeting

Naples Daily News - Mar 17, 2011

Project Innovation: Connecting Naples#39; landmarks focus of meetingThe city is looking at ways to connect the five districts, not just physically but architecturally through pavers, lighting and landscaping, Curl said. David Buchheit, project manager for the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Community Redevelopment Agency, and morenbsp;raquo;

Apple iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom: Tested, Rated, Compared (Video)

PC Magazine - Mar 12, 2011

Only very bright lighting improves things. The iPad 2 shoots 720p video, which looks higher quality than the photos it shoots, but is still no replacement for the footage a typical point-and-shoot can capture. While the Xoom clearly takes better images and morenbsp;raquo;

UAE- Gulf Landscape Systems wins AED 33 million Mina Al Arab landscaping ...

Middle East North Africa Financial Network - Mar 04, 2011

The work includes Road Works, Street Light, Hard Landscape, Soft Landscape, Irrigation System, Landscape Lights, Street Furniture, Water Features, Swimming Pools and play area equipments Walid Al Wahsh, General Manager GLIS, said: quot;We are proud to be

Olympus E-PL2 (silver, with 14-42mm lens)

CNET - Mar 02, 2011

The color rendition remains excellent--what little color I could find in the February NYC landscape--and it seems as if the metering has been improved to produce slightly brighter exposures under similar lighting conditions. The video quality remains and morenbsp;raquo;