Bridging the Lighting Knowledge Gap

NEMRA Lighting, in partnership with the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), presents the Stepped Educational Curriculum, a structured, accessible pathway designed to elevate your lighting expertise, advance your lighting career, and position you as a leader in the lighting industry. The curriculum features sequenced courses (or levels), and within each course are topical modules, carefully curated by lighting experts, ensuring each step builds your competency, skills, and knowledge as you unlock new courses and progress. Whether you’re new to lighting or a seasoned professional, these courses offer a clear and flexible path to mastering the knowledge and bridging industry certifications.

Why It Matters
How to Get Started
Press Release

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Level One: Lighting Trained

Free with your NEMRA Lighting Membership, the Level One course is the perfect starting point for lighting newcomers or those refining their expertise. This foundational course establishes a core understanding of lighting basics, control principles, terminology, and system understanding. This course empowers you to confidently engage with distributors, contractors, and specifiers.

What You’ll Learn (13 Hours): 

  • Module 1: Intro to Lighting (8 total videos)
  • Module 2: White Light and Color Appearance; Volume of Light 
  • Module 3: Visualizing Light (3 videos)
  • Module 4: The Life of an IES File: Predicting Lighting Through Phototometry)
  • Module 5: Lighting Calculations Explained 
  • Module 6: A Second Language of Light

How to Engage: This Level starts the curriculum. All modules must be completed (minimum time watched in each video) to unlock the Certificate of Completion and social media certification patch. You can continue your learning with the Level Two Lighting Educated Step.

Begin Course 1

Level Two: Lighting Educated

Free with your NEMRA Lighting Membership, the Level Two course builds on your foundational knowledge, equipping you with advanced skills to effectively sell lighting and controls across diverse customer segments (including contractors, distributors, facility managers, and end users). This course discusses best practices for product positioning, engaging customer conversations, solution-based selling, and applications. You can jump straight into this level if you already have a basic understanding of lighting, which is covered in Level One. Designed for professionals in sales, quotations, or project management, this course gives you the knowledge needed so you can provide informed guidance for customers. 

What You’ll Learn (10 Hours): 

  • Module 1: Lighting Agency Basics (12 total videos)
  • Module 2: Lighting and Value
  • Module 3: Lighting and Control
  • Module 4: What if we Thought of a  Lighting System as a Teammate?
  • Module 5: A New Sales Pitch
  • Module 6: Selling Lighting Design as a Service: Lighting Beyond the Line Item
  • Module 7: Tunable White Controls

How to Engage: This Level starts with a video series from The Lighting Exchange/NEMRA Lighting introducing the perspectives of different Lighting Sales Representatives. Additional modules unlock as the previous one is completed. All modules must be completed (minimum time watched in each video) to unlock the Certificate of Completion. 

Begin Course 2

Levels Three and Four Additionally Require IES Membership to access. Join the IES today.

Level Three: Lighting Specialized

Transition from lighting generalist to specialist with advanced training that prepares you to collaborate with lighting designers, specifiers, architects, and engineers. This paid course, requiring NEMRA Lighting and IES membership, covers the full lifecycle of a lighting system—from bidding to performance. Learn how to effectively engage in the specification process, anticipate pain points, and add meaningful value during critical project phases. Demonstrate your readiness to work alongside the design community by not just selling but collaborating.

What You’ll Learn (9 Hours): 

  • Module 1: Lights of the Round: Learning Players in the Industry (2 videos)
  • Module 2: Codes, Controls, Compliance – Elements of Successful Lighting Control Designs
  • Module 3: Networked Lighting Controls
  • Module 4: Lighting and Integration
  • Module 5: Solving LED Dimming Issues in Retrofit Projects
  • Module 6: Wireless Lighting: Security Basics
  • Module 7: What’s in the Luminaire YOU are Specifying? Why LED Drivers Matter for Your Lighting Controls Project
  • Module 8: Characterizing the Performance of Color-Tunable Light Sources

How to Engage: This Level starts with a 2-part program called Lights of the Round, with a group of professionals offering their perspectives on buying, selling, procuring, and supporting lighting. Additional modules unlock as the previous one is completed. All modules must be completed (minimum time watched in each video) to unlock the Certificate of Completion. 

Begin Course 3

Level Four: Lighting Professional

The pinnacle of the NEMRA Lighting Stepped Education Curriculum, Level Four course empowers you to master advanced lighting and controls applications, including layout techniques, system integration, control zoning, and aesthetic design principles. This paid course, requiring both NEMRA Lighting and IES memberships, is ideal for supporting design-build teams, integrators, and high-performance building projects by empowering you to speak the language of visual comfort, spatial intent, interoperability, sustainability, and “lighting quality.” For Agents and Manufacturers, don’t just understand how the system works, but also how you serve people and places as trusted lighting advisors ready to elevate your approach to a consultative and strategic level.

What You’ll Learn (9 Hours): 

  • Module 1: Architectural Lighting (Parts 1 and 2)
  • Module 2: “To Light, or Not to Light?”: Developing Lighting Concepts
  • Module 3: A Machine for Light: The Building as  Luminaire
  • Module 4: Applying ANSI/IES TM-30 Metrics in Lighting Design 
  • Module 5: Documenting Control Intent Narratives and Sequences of Operation
  • Module 6: Wireless Lighting: Security Basics
  • Module 7: Layers of Light: Residential & Hospitality
  • Module 8: Industrial Lighting Facilities
Begin Course 4

Why This Curriculum Matters

The lighting industry has grown more complex, and so have the expectations of its specifiers. Whether working with a lighting designer balancing aesthetics and performance, an architect focused on integration and code compliance, or an engineer concerned with technical detail and system longevity, today’s specifier demands knowledgeable partners, not just vendors. Yet, for many agents and manufacturers, accessing reliable, structured education on lighting and controls has often been fragmented or cost-prohibitive. The NEMRA Lighting curriculum will eliminate these barriers by offering a clear, accessible path to professional growth that supports every stage of learning, from foundational knowledge to advanced specialization. 

How to Get Started

  1. Create an IES e-Learning Profile:

    1. New Users: Create a free IES e-Learning account. Click here!
      1. “Create an Account” >Enter your info>Confirm your email.
      2. Return to: the IES Stepped Educational Curriculum. Click here!
        1. Click “View level” above for additional information.
        2. Each Level requires separate registration.
    2. Existing Users: Sign in with your myIES credentials, and go to the Stepped Educational Curriculum page.

  2. Registering for Levels 1 – 4:

    1. NEMRA Lighting Members: Request your discount code to access each level by contacting NEMRA Lighting today. Click here!
    2. NEMRA Lighting Prospective Member? Join NEMRA Lighting today!
    3. Levels 1 & 2 require NEMRA Lighting membership and are free to members.
    4. Levels 3 & 4 also require IES membership and are paid courses. Join IES today!

  3. Learn and Return:

    1. Sign in each time you would like to continue in the Stepped Educational Curriculum.
    2. Go to “My elearning Dashboard” on the left, and pick up where you left off.
    3. Download transcripts for CEU credits, social media patches, and Certificate of Completion as you go.
Access the Stepped Educational Curriculum

Building Your Lighting Career

Beyond the courses in the Stepped Educational Curriculum, you can consider additional educational opportunities with your NEMRA Lighting Membership.

  1. Professional Development Training at NEMRA University.
  2. Sales Training with Sales Mastery Courses.
  3. Attend the NEMRA Lighting Summit to connect with industry leaders.
  4. Take the next step in your career by preparing for your Lighting Certification (LC) Exam.
  5. Explore the NEMRA Lighting Member-Only Resource Library.
  6. Learn with IES at events and virtually.