This section is a good place to start when exploring our site. It provides basic information on a variety of lighting-related topics. Simply choose a topic from the list on the left, and you will find information about related LRC programs, projects, publications, and educational opportunities.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE), conducted extensive research in 2001 to 2004 to identify and to seek ways of reducing the barriers limiting the wide acceptance and use of energy-efficient lighting systems. Our research teams include experts in experimental psychology, vision, photobiology, engineering, physics, architecture, photometry, optics, and design. This expertise is why the world often looks to the LRC for objective answers to its lighting questions.

We operate an independent lighting research laboratory accredited by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) in order to test lamps and lighting equipment (NVLAP lab code: 200480-0). Our research facilities include a fully equipped photometry laboratory, climate-controlled lamp and electrical testing laboratories, human factors research space, and the equipment necessary to produce fully functional prototypes and models.

New Book - Research Matters: A Compilation of Articles from the Lighting Research Center Published in LD+A, December 2002-September 2006

A compilation of articles written by Lighting Research Center leaders for "Research Matters," a regular column in LD+A magazine (published by IESNA), between December, 2002 and September, 2006. There are a total of 42 articles from five LRC researchers that are scholarly, yet highly readable contributions. Timely and interesting when they were published, these articles will have a lasting impact on the intellectual foundations of lighting design and applications.