Reflecting on 2025, Building in 2026: Advancing the Future of Lighting

For the DesignLights Consortium, 2025 was a year defined by collaboration and momentum. Across North America, the lighting industry continues to evolve rapidly—driven by growing expectations for transparency and performance, rising energy costs, decarbonization goals, and municipal ordinances . In response, the DLC spent 2025 laying the groundwork for important updates to our technical requirements, while simultaneously supporting Members, manufacturers, test labs, distributors, and program administrators navigating today’s lighting market.

The DLC’s focus for 2026 is clear: support smooth adoption of new requirements, strengthen the integrity and usefulness of the Qualified Products Lists (QPLs), and accelerate the role of lighting and controls as foundational tools for energy efficiency, grid flexibility, and sustainability. None of this work happens in isolation. It is the result of collective action—deep engagement with utilities, lighting manufacturers, program managers, and standards organizations—working together to ensure that lighting continues to deliver measurable value through performance and energy savings.

2025: A Pivotal Year of Progress

Shaping the Next Generation of Technical Requirements

In 2025, the DLC was deeply engaged in developing the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) V6.0 and Light Usage for Nighttime Applications (LUNA) V2.0 Technical Requirements. These updates, guided by extensive stakeholder input, represent the most significant revisions to the DLC’s core policies in more than half a decade. The goal was not change for its own sake, but alignment with a market that increasingly demands higher performance, smarter systems, and verifiable savings.

Across SSL categories, minimum efficacy thresholds increased by approximately 14 percent. The higher bar enables early replacement programs for existing LED installations and supports better ROIs for customers when utilities introduce tiered incentives. Expanded product eligibility—including low-CCT and Amber LEDs, solar-powered luminaires, medium screw-base HID replacements, turtle-friendly lighting, and additional retrofit options—ensures that efficiency programs can reach more customers without sacrificing performance or environmental stewardship.

Advancing Controls and HVAC Integration as an Energy Savings Strategy

A defining theme of 2025 was the DLC’s continued emphasis on advanced lighting controls. Expanded dimming, control options, and reporting frameworks were incorporated into SSL V6.0 to make incentive verification easier, streamline evaluation processes, and support advanced control strategies tied to higher savings tiers. Clear control categories were added to the Technical Requirements, that will align product listings with Technical Reference Manual (TRM) assumptions and simplify program evaluation.

The DLC released tools to create new pathways to connected lighting. The NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit and accompanying “How-To Guide” gave energy efficiency programs practical resources for achieving whole-building savings exceeding 20 percent through coordinated lighting and HVAC controls. In 2025 alone, more than 800 stakeholders downloaded the toolkit, and 19 utility members completed assessments to explore integration opportunities.

Standards Alignment

The DLC also played an active role in advancing industry standards, including ANSI/NEMA C137.9, which standardizes reporting requirements for lighting controls and energy monitoring data from NLC systems. This work supports efficiency programs by providing better measured savings, scalable incentive design, and greater confidence that installed systems perform as intended.

Responsible Outdoor Lighting and LUNA Expansion

Outdoor lighting was another area of significant progress in 2025. Updates to the LUNA Technical Requirements expanded eligibility pathways for non-white light sources and amber LEDs, better supporting municipal customers seeking to balance energy efficiency, safety, and light pollution mitigation. With nearly 950 known North American municipalities now having lighting ordinances, the expanded LUNA QPL provides a practical bridge between policy goals and rebate-eligible products.

Supporting Specialized Markets: Horticultural Lighting

As controlled environment agriculture (CEA) continues to mature, the DLC reinforced its role as a trusted benchmark for horticultural lighting. In 2025, the DLC released the Horticultural Lighting V4.0 Requirements, raising Photosynthetic Photon Efficacy (PPE) thresholds and providing programs with standardized performance data. (PPE relates to how efficiently a light fixture converts electricity to light that is usable by plants.) This work supports clearer differentiation among high-performance products and lays the groundwork for deeper energy savings in a rapidly evolving sector.

Collaboration at the Core

The DLC’s impact in 2025 was amplified through collaboration. The Member-exclusive Program Planning Working Group brought together 23 efficiency program representatives across 19 members and 25 states. Through focused sessions, participants produced actionable strategies and best practices to support program planning and implementation of energy efficiency offers.

Beyond its membership, the DLC actively contributed to 15 major standards and advisory committees, including IES, NEMA, ASABE, NCQLP, and others.

We also held a robust webinar program in 2025 that delivered 18 sessions and attracted more than 3,500 registrations.

2026: From Policy to Impact

With SSL V6.0 and LUNA V2.0 already in effect this January, the DLC’s highest priority is supporting adoption in ways that deliver real-world impact.

Supporting Adoption and Program Planning

In 2026, the DLC will host member meetings, committee sessions, and regional engagements to gather feedback on timing, incentive needs, and program updates. The Program Planning Working Group (a Member-exclusive group) will continue to serve as a critical forum for Members to align on implementation strategies—particularly around new control-focused product categories. Targeted marketing, technical guidance, webinars, and lunch-and-learn sessions will help manufacturers and programs navigate SSL V6.0 and LUNA V2.0.

Deepening Connected Lighting and Systems Integration

Connected lighting remains one of the most promising pathways to deeper savings and decarbonization. In 2026, the DLC will integrate SSL V6.0 control requirements more closely with the Networked Lighting Controls QPL, making it easier for programs to implement incentives that reflect real system capabilities.

Updates to the NLC-HVAC Integration Toolkit will provide refreshed guidance, templates, and best practices for large buildings, while new criteria for compatible accessories will support small and medium business applications. The upcoming NLC Technical Requirements update will expand guidance for outdoor controls and promote standardized system configuration reporting—giving programs greater assurance in setup, performance, and verified savings.

Preparing for the Next Horizon

Looking ahead, the DLC will continue advancing research and gap analyses to inform future technical requirement updates. In horticultural lighting, the development of a Horticultural Lighting V5.0 draft will explore higher efficacy thresholds, premium classifications, and improved crop-type reporting—ensuring the QPL remains a meaningful benchmark as the market evolves.

Empowering Municipalities Through LUNA

In 2026, the DLC will further strengthen its role as a trusted resource for sustainable outdoor lighting. An updated ordinance map and new educational resources tailored to municipal staff, planners, and sustainability officers will help utilities support their customers in meeting ordinance requirements while achieving energy savings. In addition, we’ll be engaging with turtle lighting stakeholders and providing resources about protecting coastal ecosystems from light pollution.

Moving Forward, Together

Across all of this work, one theme remains constant: collective action delivers the greatest impact. The challenges facing the lighting industry are complex, but they are solvable when we work together.

As 2026 unfolds, the DLC looks forward to partnering with industry stakeholders to translate the new requirements into meaningful outcomes. By advancing high-quality, data-driven lighting and integrated solutions, we can continue to help utilities deliver verified savings, support resilient energy efficiency programs, and build a more sustainable future for communities across North America.