We are the District of Columbia based section of the Illuminating Engineering Society, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to all aspects of the ART and SCIENCE of ILLUMINATION.
The District of Columbia Section was initially chartered as the Washington and Baltimore Chapter in 1927. We currently encompass Northern Virginia (from Harrisonburg to Fredericksburg), Maryland (Columbia to Frederick), and the District of Columbia.
The IES is the recognized technical authority on illumination. For over a century its objective has been to communicate information on all aspects of good lighting practice to its members, to the lighting community, and to consumers through a variety of programs, publications and services. The strength of the IES is its diversified membership consisting of: engineers, architects, designers, educators, students, contractors, distributors, utility personnel, manufacturers, and scientists, all contributing to the mission of the society: to advance knowledge and disseminate information of the improvement of the lighted environment to the benefit of society.
The IES is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information and a vehicle for its members professional development and recognition. Through its committees, with hundreds of qualified members from the lighting and user communities, the IES correlates research, investigations, and discussions to guide lighting experts and laypersons via consensus-based lighting recommendations.