Welcome to the IES Illumination Awards Submission Site

The IES Illumination Awards (IA) program recognizes individuals for professionalism, ingenuity and originality in lighting design based on the individual merit of each entry. Judges are selected from a broad professional spectrum representing knowledge of lighting and design excellence. The judging system is entirely based on how well the lighting design meets the program criteria. The Illumination Awards program is not a competition. 2025 Marks the Illumination Awards 52nd year.  We strongly recommend that applicants read through the eligibility/entry rules and FAQs before submitting to the program. 

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE AN IES MEMBER, YOUR LOGIN INFORMATION IS SEPARATE FROM YOUR IES LOGIN. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LOGIN FROM PREVIOUS YEARS, YOU MUST CREATE A NEW ONE. 

Submissions open January 2, 2025

Submissions close February 21, 2025

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The IES Illumination Awards are comprised of five parallel program categories:

The Illumination Award for Interior Lighting Design sponsored by Edwin F. Guth, the Illumination Award for Outdoor Lighting Design , the Control Innovation Award, Sponsored by LCA, a Council within NEMA, the Energy and Environmental Design Award, The Experiential Design Award , sponsored by ETC, Inc., are parallel programs created to recognize outstanding lighting design. 

Projects receive levels of recognition attained by consensus judge scores. The award levels are Section Awards, Awards of Merit, Special Citation, Award of Excellence and Award of Distinction. 

The highest level Society Award recipients will be honored at the Illumination Awards Gala.   

*If you are interested in submitting a project for the IES New York City Section's Lumen Awards, you must use their separate portal. Click here to submit to the Lumen Awards. Submitting to the IA program will not enter your project in the Lumen Awards program.