CBB Senior Associate Marty Salzberg participated in the February 18, 2015 Designers’ Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY) program entitled “Taking Sides.”  The event, geared towards designers and students, was a fast-paced debate of five hot topics in the lighting design industry.

The topics and each speakers’ position on these topics were randomly assigned.   Marty spoke for a resolution stating that a nationally recognized certification program for the architectural lighting design profession is necessary, and should be implemented as soon as possible.  Many attendees did not know that a new certification program – the Certified Lighting Designer (CLD) program – is in development.  The program was developed under the auspices of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), but will be separately administered.  After four years of research, the task force saw the risk that persons outside of the industry, such as legislators or those in other public spheres, would seek to define the lighting design profession.  The CLD certification process will use established standards to assess whether an individual is a professional and proficient architectural lighting designer.

The program is intended to go live in the first quarter of 2015.  The website is www.cld.global.