GE Edison Awards winners announced in mid-April

GE Announces GE Edison Awards Finalists at Light+Building 2010

For the first time ever, GE Lighting will announce the finalists for its prestigious and long-running annual GE Edison Awards at Light+Building. Light+Building is one of the leading trade shows for architecture and technology. It will be held from April 11 to 16, 2010, in Frankfurt, Germany. The GE booth (booth #D20 H4.1), with a floor space of over 130m2, will showcase numerous lighting technologies, including its light-emitting diode (LED) system and components. "One of our main goals with the GE Edison Award is to put the spotlight on lamp design," said Mary Beth Gotti, director of the GE Lighting & Electrical Institute.

"Our announcement of the finalists at Light+Building is a fitting announcement, as the GE Edison Awards motivate attendees and generate global interest."

"Since the GE Edison Awards' inception 26 years ago, previous winners have come from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Germany. In the past three years, approximately 30% of entrants have come from countries other than the United States.

"We see this as a great opportunity to expand our competitiveness on the international stage," notes Simon Phillips, GE Lighting's sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The GE Edison Awards competition recognizes excellence and quality in professional lighting designs that employ significant use of GE light sources (lamps and/or LEDs). It is open to professional designers, architects, engineers, and consultants worldwide. The selection criteria include excellence, architectural compatibility, effective use of lighting products and techniques, appropriate color, form and texture, energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

This year, the judges come from France and the United States. Patrick Rimoux is the first Frenchman to join the GE Edison Awards jury. This French light sculptor recently worked on the lighting of the Grand Place in Brussels and on a special lighting design for the City Hall and the future Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques (Center for French-speaking American Communities) in Quebec.

All participants - the finalists named at Light+Building 2010 - will be invited to an awards ceremony to be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, in Las Vegas, USA, the evening before the opening of LightFair International. During the evening, the designers who have been named winners of the Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit, Awards for Sustainable Design, and Award for Residential Design will be presented with personalized plaques in recognition of their lighting design work. The identity of the 2009 finalist winner (awarded in 2010) will remain confidential until the awards ceremony. The winner will receive a personalized Steuben crystal trophy and one year of free advertising. A plaque

distinctive will also be awarded to the owner of the winning installation.

All lighting projects must have been completed between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.

Because Light+Building is a biannual show, GE will choose a different location for the announcement of the following year's finalists. "We hope

make the announcement of the finalists an event in its own right,” adds Simon Phillips.

About GE Appliances & Lighting

GE Appliances & Lighting operates worldwide as an industry leader in appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential applications. The ecomaginationSM initiative enables GE Appliances & Lighting to bring to market products and solutions that help customers address environmental challenges. General Electric (NYSE: GE), imagination at work, markets Monogram®,

Profile, GE®, Hotpoint®, SmartWater, Reveal® and the Energy Smart®, Tetra®, Vio and Immersion® brands.

For more information about the GE Edison Awards, visit www.GEEdisonAward.com.

For more information on GE Lighting production: www.gelighting.com

Press contacts:

Mathilde Ozanne

Phone:

01.39.24.29.04

Email: m.ozanne@factomedia.fr