AIA/IDCEC Accredited – Join Greg Barrett for an interactive exploration of the science and craft behind lighting for artwork. Starting with basic lighting techniques and recommendations for lighting various types artwork, attendee’s will experience how changes in key attributes impact the perception of artwork to create a desired impact. Subsequently we will showcase the expanded experiential possibilities the latest lighting and control technology can create to ensure that each piece of art is always shown in its best light.
Electric light is a dazzling modern marvel, but can we have too much of a good thing? Dark night skies can have profound positive effects on human sleep and wellbeing, but common exterior lighting techniques all but eliminate our access to beneficial darkness. Explore the hidden costs of electric light at night on our own health, learn more about light pollution and light trespass and the growing number of communities that outlaw them, dig into a few of the negative environmental impacts of light at night, and apply what you learn to residential facades, outdoor living spaces, and backyards.
AIA/IDCEC Accredited – Join Greg Barrett for an interactive exploration of the science and craft behind lighting for artwork. Starting with basic lighting techniques and recommendations for lighting various types artwork, attendee’s will experience how changes in key attributes impact the perception of artwork to create a desired impact. Subsequently we will showcase the expanded experiential possibilities the latest lighting and control technology can create to ensure that each piece of art is always shown in its best light.
After a long day at work, the human body and mind are ready for relaxation and rest. Lighting during the evening and nighttime hours plays a critical role in fostering safety, security, and a sense of welcome to residential projects. Discover a new, client-friendly approach to illuminating interiors, learn what makes some light fixtures better tools, see why we are putting lighting in the wrong places, and explore the intersection of light, human wellbeing, and intelligent controls.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC) require design professionals to maintain current knowledge through rigorously vetted continuing education programs. Lightapalooza 2026 offers a minimum of four accredited sessions delivering Learning Units (LU) with Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) credit, providing architects, interior designers, and lighting professionals with credentials required for license renewal while addressing critical knowledge gaps at the intersection of lighting design, human wellbeing, and environmental responsibility. Sessions explore essential topics including the physiological benefits of darkness for human health, the regulatory landscape around light pollution, client-centered residential lighting methodologies that prioritize circadian wellness, color rendering metrics including CRI and TM-30 standards, and specialized illumination techniques for artwork. These programs deliver actionable technical knowledge applicable to residential design projects while fulfilling mandatory continuing education requirements for both credential maintenance and practical design competency.
Your competitors aren’t standing still — and neither should you. Success in 2026 won’t come from doing more of the same, but from smarter strategies that put your business out in front. In this session, you’ll learn a proven framework of 8.5 steps that bring sales, business development, and marketing together to help you boost visibility, strengthen trade and client relationships, and win more of the right projects. Walk away with practical, actionable tactics you can implement immediately to stay one step ahead and position your company to dominate your market this year.
Every company has a constraint — a single weak link limiting growth. It might be quoting speed, staff capacity, financial clarity, or lead flow. The key is not to solve everything, but to solve the right thing. In this session, you’ll use a proven method to identify your biggest current constraint and walk out with a clear action plan to fix it.
In-Session Work:
Use VITAL’s constraint mapping tool to walk through your core business systems.
Identify symptoms vs. root cause: is the constraint upstream or downstream?
Define success criteria for solving the constraint.
Build a 30-day action plan including metrics, owner, and next steps.
Outcome: Walk away with clarity on what’s holding your business back — and a focused, actionable plan to remove the biggest barrier to growth.
Most companies know their processes exist… but very few have them clearly defined, documented, and operationalized. That lack of clarity leads to un-billable time, miscommunication, and inconsistent results.
In this session, you’ll learn how to quickly capture and design processes using the SIPOC Framework, a proven Lean Six Sigma tool that breaks any process into 5 key components. Then, we’ll show you how you can use the framework as a prompt to leverage AI to instantly create an actionable SOP or checklist your team can use immediately.
You’ll walk away with a repeatable method to:
Clarify how work actually gets done in your company.
Break down complex processes into simple, shareable steps.
Take what’s in the heads of your employees into SOPs and checklists that drive consistency and accountability.
Whether you’re running lighting projects or managing back-office logistics, this session gives you the framework to move from “tribal knowledge” to scalable, documented processes.
Delivering lighting successfully requires more than installing fixtures—it demands a clear framework of responsibilities across designers, integrators, electricians, and contractors. This session highlights why role definition is essential to protecting design intent, avoiding miscommunication, and keeping projects on track. Attendees will learn how to use tools such as Lighting Fixture Responsibility Charts to clarify scope and accountability from project kickoff through closeout.
By mastering the art of defining and communicating boundaries, project managers can minimize conflicts, reduce rework, and preserve profitability. The session provides practical strategies for setting expectations with other trades and ensuring the integrator’s role is understood, respected, and valued throughout the project lifecycle.
Missed handoffs, unclear ownership, and “I thought they were handling it” moments derail lighting projects every day. This session introduces a Responsibility Matrix, a modern take on the RACI framework, to clearly define roles, responsibilities, and handoffs across your lighting workflow. After learning how to use the tool, you’ll work through one designed around a standard lighting fixture installation project to helping you quickly identify gaps and overlaps, clarify task delegation, and even see where your next hire should be.
