Brandston worked as a designer at several lighting manufacturing and design firms including Century Lighting, Incorporated, serrving as an Assistant to Stanley McCandless; Principal, Brandston Partnership, New York, NY, 1966-; Consultant, Howard M. Brandston Lighting Design/MM Brandston and Company, Incorporated, Lighting Design, Hollowville, NY, c. 2010;

Feltman Chair in Lighting, Cooper Union, New York, NY; Adjunct professor, Social Science and Humanities, Cooper Union; Adjunct Professor of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; Guest Lecturer/Visiting Professor, Ohio University, Athens, OH; City College of New York (CCNY), New York, NY; Cooper Union, New York, NY; Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; Washington University, Saint Louis, MO; Brandston has delivered talks before the American Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Producers Council, and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology, among others;

Inductee, Interior Design Hall of Fame, New York, NY,1992; American Institute of Architects (AIA), Institute Honors Award, 1999; Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Medal, 1999; Initial Inductee, Lighting Design Hall of Fame; Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association of Lighting Designers; Louis B. Marks award for Exceptional Service to the Society, IES, 2006; Richard Kelly Award, (for outstanding contributions to lighting education), IES, 2006; President, Illuminating Engineering Society, New York, NY; Member, Architectural League of New York, New York, NY; Member, Municipal Arts Society, New York, NY; Member, International Association of Lighting Designers, Chicago, IL; Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, London, UK; Committee Member, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC; IES Representative to the Architectural and Engineering Federal Energy Committee, c. 1974; Founding Member, Ad Hoc Committee of Lighting Research and Education Funding Entities; Member, Lighting Research and Education Fund; Member, Lighting Research Institute; Member, Lighting Research Center.

Theatrical Illumination, City University of New York, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY;