Today is an exciting time for the lighting industry as the benefits of LEDs provide significant solutions for design styles, configuration and concepts. With compact size, great efficiency and
long life, LED technology is viable from a performance and economic standpoint moving it into mainstream lighting applications. There are many opportunities for architects, lighting designers and engineers to make a building sustainable, attractive and meet an owner’s needs. For example, sustainable lighting that is seamlessly integrated with the design will add to the building’s aesthetics. Interaction among all building disciplines is required to achieve overarching building design goals. Early commitment and participation of these parties that extends throughout
all stages of the design process is necessary to optimize overall performance and sustainability. Demand for green buildings is being driven on multiple fronts. The need for healthier environments has grabbed the attention of owners and tenants, while the long-term value proposition of efficient buildings is gaining credibility. Even municipalities are weighing in with a mix of mandates and incentives. For example, Washington, D.C. became the first major US city to require large, private non-residential buildings to be environmentally friendly. Under the Green Building Act of 2006, new and substantially improved commercial buildings of 50,000 square feet or more must meet or exceed LEED New Construction or LEED Core and Shell standards by 2012.
Boston also wrote green building requirements into its zoning code in 2006. In Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley has laid out a goal to make Chicago the greenest city in the US and business owners can receive tax incentives for greening their buildings. California’s Savings by Design program - sponsored by four of the state’s largest utility companies – provides design assistance and subsidies for energy efficient nonresidential buildings.
These mandates and incentives provide an excellent catalyst for LED luminaire manufacturers to continually improve the technology and product designs, and for lighting designers, engineers and architects to truly integrate energy efficient LED luminaires into a building’s plan.
Whether the project is new construction or renovating an existing building, the architectural integrity does not need to be compromised for the sake of sustainability and energy efficiency. Today, lighting designers, architects and engineers have technology choices for both interior and exterior lighting such as intelligent lighting, skylights, electronic dimming ballasts, occupancy sensors and computer-controlled daylight sensors that offer energy savings options that easily integrate into building designs. New LED technology allows designers to provide quality lighting within the requirements of the latest energy codes, integrate controls and provide life-long energy savings and decreased re-lamping costs to facility owners.
Take this interesting luminaire comparison: Based on calculations and a case study by Charlotte, N.C.-based architecture firm SFL & A, a 100,000- square-foot building without sustainable-design features such as LEDs might cost about $30 million to operate over 40 years. However, the same building with about $3.5 million in green design features could save the owner/operator $8 million in utility costs over the same period. As this example illustrates, lighting provides one of the greatest potentials for saving energy since lighting applications represent 40 to 50 percent of commercial establishments’ energy costs. And, electricity consumption in buildings doubled between 1989 and 2005, and if this growth rate is sustained electricity demand in buildings will increase another 150 percent by 2030.
In-addition to well-designed green buildings yielding lower utility costs, these buildings have a tremendous human resources advantage. Employers are seeing greater productivity, less absenteeism and stronger attraction and retention of workers than in standard buildings. An article in the Harvard Business Review, “Building the Green Way,” highlighted a company that built a new 12-story LEED-Platinum headquarter facility and experienced an increase in employee morale, satisfaction and improved productivity because it utilized abundant day-lighting, individual climate controls and outdoor views.
Following are two recent outdoor lighting applications. One illustrates how design doesn’t need to be compromised for the sake of sustainability and the second example highlights that even in a parking garage, lighting can enhance the facility and drivers’ experience while also achieving dramatic energy savings.