CSA's state-of-the-art LED lighting laboratory open for business in Atlanta to meet growing global demand for energy efficient lights

ATLANTA, Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - To address the growing demand for energy-efficient lighting products and new 2012 lighting standards, CSA today unveiled a new 30,000 square-foot testing facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The laboratory provides testing and certification of LED and lighting products to more than 75 different standards as well as required third-party ENERGY STAR^® testing.

"This advanced laboratory facility will offer our clients a unique advantage in speed to market as we can a provide full suite of service offerings in one location to address their overall needs for Energy Star evaluation along with testing and certification of lighting products," says Rich Weiser, vice president for U.S. and Mexico operations, CSA Group. "This lab further expands CSA's overall capabilities and capacity in the U.S. to better enable it to deliver strategic regional and localized services to meet the growing demands our clients in the rapidly growing LED lighting product market."

The lab has the capacity to test thousands of lighting products for safety, light output, heat output, endurance and light dispersion. The new lab is more than three times the size of CSA's previous lighting lab in Atlanta and can test LED lighting products for use in homes, cars, boats, airport runways, flashlights or streetlights as well as more specialized applications such as to government or military specifications. The lab also provides full LM79 testing, complete NRCan testing and offers new automotive headlight testing. To ensure that LED lighting products will last for thousands of hours, they are tested at room temperature as well as under adverse conditions in rooms heated to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). ENERGY STAR^®-qualified LEDs use only 20 to 25 percent of the energy of incandescent bulbs and last up to 25 times longer than the incandescent bulbs they replace.

The Department of Energy estimates that rapid adoption of LED lighting in the U.S. by 2027 could deliver savings of about $265 billion, avoid the need for 40 new power plants and reduce lighting electricity demand by 33 percent.

The lab will test lighting products for compliance with new efficiency standards required by the Energy Independence Act of 2007. Starting in January 2012, these standards phase out the sale of 100-watt incandescent bulbs, with 40-watt bulbs being phased out by January 2014. Also beginning in January 2012, various light bulbs will be required to use anywhere from 25 to 80 percent less energy. The new standards are estimated to save consumers $6 billion per year, according to the Department of Energy.

CSA International, a leading testing and certification organization, has been in the energy efficiency business for more than 40 years and has developed over 50 standards that support the advancement of the energy industry.

About CSA International
CSA International is a provider of product testing and certification services for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and a variety of other products. Recognized in the U.S., Canada and around the world, CSA International certification marks appear on billions of products worldwide. CSA International is a division of CSA Group, which also includes CSA Standards, a leading solutions based standards organization, providing standards development, application products, training and advisory services; and OnSpeX, a provider of consumer product evaluation, inspection and advisory services for retailers and manufacturers. For more information, visit www.csa-international.org

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SOURCE CSA International

Image with caption: "Rich Weiser, Vice President, US and Mexico, CSA Group demonstrates some of CSA's new state of the art LED testing equipment for energy efficiency evaluation, and safety testing and certification at the official opening of CSA Group's new 30,00 square-foot lighting laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia (CNW Group/CSA International)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20111130_C2640_PHOTO_EN_7670.jpg