The U.S. Department of Energy hosted an LED Industry Standards Workshop on March 1, 2006 in Washington, D.C. The Workshop provided a forum to encourage greater cooperation and coordination among standards organizations, and accelerate the standards development process.

James Brodrick, DOE Lighting Program Manager, presented an overview of the Department's commercialization support strategy, designed to ensure that DOE R&D investments lead to SSL technology commercialization. Jeff McCullough, from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, provided details about the proposed ENERGY STARĀ® criteria for LED products, which will be made public later this year. Representatives from standards generating organizations in the United States, Europe, and Canada provided overviews of their current activities related to LEDs.

Participants included the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Commission on Illumination (CIE), and Canadian Standards Association (CSA).

Workshop participants expressed their commitment to work together to quickly advance LED standards. The collective group identified key LED technology characteristics that require standards and test procedures, and assigned the appropriate standards organizations to lead the development in each area. With DOE leadership, the group will continue to coordinate, update progress, and accelerate the process.