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Bridging the Lighting Knowledge Gap 

NEMRA Lighting, in collaboration with the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), proudly 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 Stepped Educational Curriculum features sequenced courses, and within each course 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. 

Level One: Lighting Trained (8.5 hours)

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Fundamentals of Lighting and Controls

Free with NEMRA Lighting Membership, Level One course is the perfect starting point for lighting newcomers or those refining their expertise. This essential foundation builds a clear understanding of core lighting concepts, control strategies, industry terminology, and how lighting systems work together. Each module is designed to strengthen your confidence in communicating with distributors, contractors, and specifiers, ensuring you can participate in professional discussions. Because later stages of the curriculum build on this knowledge, completing Level One gives you the vocabulary and insight to approach more advanced topics with curiosity, competence, and a deeper appreciation for lighting. 

VIEW LEVEL ONE

Level Two: Lighting Educated (11 hours)

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Selling Across Varied Customer Segments

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 manager, 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, the course knowledge to provide informed guidance for customers.

VIEW LEVEL TWO

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

Level Three: Lighting Specialist (10 hours)

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Advanced Specialist Market Knowledge

Transition from lighting generalist to lighting specialist with advanced training that prepares you to collaborate with lighting designers, specifiers, architects, and engineers. The course focuses on the cradle-to-grave journey of a lighting system (including bidding, approval, and long-term performance). You can jump straight into this level if you already have an advanced understanding of market segments, which is covered in Level Two. 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.

VIEW LEVEL THREE

Level Four: Lighting Professional (8 hours)

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Becoming a Trusted Lighting Consultant

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 course 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.

VIEW LEVEL FOUR

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. Existing Users: Sign-in with your MyIES credentials.  Click here! 
  2. New Users: Create a free account.  Click here! 
  3. Return to: NEMRA Lighting Stepped Educational Curriculum 
    1. Click "View Level" above for additional information. 
    2. Each Level requires separate registration. 
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 Members: Join today!
  3. Levels 3 & 4 also require IES Membership: Join today!  
Learn and Return:  
  1. Sign-in each time you would like to continue 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. 

Building Your Lighting Career

Beyond the courses in the Stepped Educational Curriculum, you can consider educational opportunities: