The Future of Lighting

Imagine a world where light switches don’t exist. Your factory floor is illuminated only when and where it needs to be. Your administration offices feature light fixtures that have more intelligence, providing services, such as public address, WiFi, and security, and they’re incredibly energy-efficient. This is the future of lighting. And you can make it happen today.

Already in the marketplace, there are light bulbs and lighting fixtures which produce some of these effects. High-efficiency LED bulbs are already available for most industrial and commercial needs, and they aren’t even custom-designed. You can find LED bulbs designed to fit most existing receptacles, and while the price is currently slightly prohibitive, it will go down. LED bulbs that replace the old tube fluorescents are already available, and in the near future will have additional features.

Light fixtures that detect motion are also already available, but this is a flawed technology in that it only activates lighting when there is motion in a room. Future lighting fixtures will contain heat and motion sensors, turning on lights when a warm body is in the room, even if that person isn’t moving enough to trigger the motion sensor, enabling good lighting for office workers, and reducing the turn-off time once everyone has left for the day.

Lightbulbs containing WiFi repeaters or security cameras are also already available, although these are consider niche products, your business could definitely benefit from converting to the secure wireless connections offered by these ‘near-future’ systems, especially once they’re integrated into a single bulb or fixture. Costing slightly more to implement, the cost savings add up over the increased lifespan of newer bulbs. And newer bulbs are living longer and longer with every iteration.

Consider the future of lighting your workspace now, and invest in better illumination for the future.

Quality Lighting to Keep a Workplace Safe

Quality lighting solutions are a necessity when it comes to keeping a commercial office space, retail center, warehouse, or mercantile occupancy safe for their employees and a building’s means of egress well-lit. Severe weather, fires, and threats by an intruder can all contribute to the need for quality lighting to be present and maintained at a workplace. Relumination can provide services and quality products that will keep a business during an unforeseen catastrophe.

Escape Routes

The proper interior lighting can provide illumination to an escape route for employees or customers during a crisis. Relumination is able to provide energy-efficient lights that are in good working order. It is important for companies and building owners to be ready for any type of evacuation situation, such as a fire or tornado. Clearly marked and well-lit escape routes are important to all of the occupants of a structure.

According to the Health and Safety Authority, “All workplaces must have clearly identified means of escape in the event of fire.”

Employee Safety

Employees working in a building want to fill safe at their job. Good lighting and emergency exit signs go a long way in offering assistance to workers during unplanned events that require immediate evacuation and the need to find an exit door quickly. Keeping a means of egress marked and illuminated may also contribute to less slips, trips, or falls in the workplace. This is good for the general well-being of all employees, and also for keeping worker’s compensation losses to a minimum.

Smart Interior Lighting

With the exception of kitchens, interior lighting is too often an afterthought in our homes. Besides ambient lighting, such as recessed overhead fixtures, we also need low-level accent lighting to create a mood, navigate through areas we’re not using to get to a room we are using, and so forth. And of course, we need plenty of task lighting for food prep, grooming, reading in bed, indulging in hobbies, and working in our home offices. Besides being functional, we also want our lighting to add to the beauty of our homes through our choice of lamps, fixtures and placement. To that end, let’s explore some of the smart, functional and beautiful ways we can use interior lighting throughout our homes …

Ambient Lighting

This is the type of light you’re most likely to flip a switch for as you enter a room. It usually comes from overhead and can include chandeliers, pendants, sconces and architectural lighting such as cove, soffit or recessed lights.

Task Lighting

Task lighting is designed to illuminate a specific function. It’s important to choose task lighting based on what you do that requires a focused light, because everybody’s task lighting needs are different. Do you need more light for reading in bed? For doing paperwork in your home office? For food preparation? Make a list of the places you’re likely to need good task lighting before you buy.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is used to highlight a particular area, a piece of art or a special feature in a room, or to set a mood or provide atmosphere indoors and out. It’s a powerful and creative design-enhancing tool too often overlooked.

Embracing Energy-Efficient and Economical Solutions to University Lighting

Universities across the country are homes to millions of students, many of which can be found “burning the midnight oil” while studying for exams on campus. One way or another, proper university lighting is essential. Now, more than ever, colleges are finding ways to make their lighting energy-efficient and economical.

Northern Arizona University (NAU) has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Interior Lighting Campaign, winning awards in the categories Best Use of Lighting Controls in a Single Building as well as Exemplary Higher Education Sector Site. By switching the lighting in the Student and Academic Service’s Building to LED technology, NAU has significantly cut unnecessary energy usage, saving both energy and expenses.

Meanwhile, Boston University has been going across campus and replacing its usual metal halide bulbs, which have been prominent in its outdoor lighting, with LED bulbs. Over fourteen different lighting retrofitting projects have been completed at Boston University since 2008, when the sustainability initiative began. In the new Center for Student Services alone, the implementation of LED lighting has decreased energy consumption by fifty-three percent.

Tufts University has embraced both LED lighting and motion sensors. The first college to sign the EPA Green Lights pledge (an agreement to improve the lighting in ninety percent of their floor space), Tufts has achieved this and more. By investing in LED lighting and motion sensors to shut lights off in empty spaces, the university has saved approximately $91,930 and 876,024 in kilowatt-hours.

By embracing sustainable forms of university lighting, colleges can become more energy-efficient and save expenses.

Improve the Mood of Your Hospital by Upgrading the Lighting

You can improve the mood and health of the patients and staff in you hospital by upgrading the lighting. Hospital lighting has a great effect on anyone who spends a lot of time in the hospital. Below you will find five benefits to upgrading your lighting.

1. Increased productivity: with brighter lighting, employees will feel better, and produce higher quality work.

2. Better sleep for your patience: everyone needs a certain amount of light for their body to function well. If the light is lacking, people have trouble sleeping.

3. Improved mood: increased lighting can boost the moods of your patients and staff. Low lighting produces fatigue and total mood disturbance.

4. Quicker healing: when your patients are exposed to brighter lights, it reduces the time that it takes for their body to heal.

5. Improved moral: when the hospital is lit properly, everyone is functioning at their best. This helps to improve the mood of everyone that spends any time at the hospital.

The above reasons to upgrade your lighting are just a few. With better lighting in your hospital, everyone will feel the difference and be happier. The best source of light is the sun, but for the patients that have to be in the hospital, the brighter lighting will be better for them than the traditional low lighting of a hospital.

Want to Improve Your Grocery Store’s Lighting? 3 Reasons Why LED Lighting Fits the Bill

A grocery store is not just a building with aisles full of food. It can contain quite a few departments including meat, deli, seafood, bakery, produce, and sometimes a pharmacy. Then you have the front desk, break room, warehouse, refrigerator, freezer, loading dock, and general storage room. Switching to LED is one of the smartest things that you can do when you want to upgrade the lighting as a whole.

Light Is Always Needed

Every one of these departments or areas require lighting for efficient operation. This means you will need to have the lights on in most of the grocery store at all times. Since LED lighting is so efficient, you should be able to see a noticeable difference in your energy costs when changing all of the lights over to LED.

Brightness Is Key

An often overlooked advantage of LED lighting is the fact that it takes no time to reach complete brightness. This means that as soon as an employee walks into a room and turns the light on, they can start working. While this may only save a few seconds, over time it can amount to hours or even days. Also, it is easier for your employees to be safe when they have full illumination for handling tasks.

Spend Less on Cooling

It is important for a grocery store to be kept at a cool temperature at all times. This is especially true in the deli and meat department, as well as the refrigerator and freezer storage rooms. LED lights do not produce heat, so you do not have to worry about combating with lights that heat up these areas. Ultimately, this upgrade to better lighting will also provide you with lower cooling costs.

Six Advantages of LED Lighting over Fluorescent Bulbs

Incandescent lights produce so much heat, they can burn your skin when touched. They were even used to heat toy ovens sold in the 1960s. That they’re energy inefficient is beyond dispute. On the other hand, fluorescent lights are considered an energy-efficient alternative to incandescent lights. But how do they stack up against LED lighting? Here are six comparisons:

  • Fluorescent bulbs emit omnidirectional light while that of LEDs is directional. Fluorescent bulbs radiate light 360 degrees around the tube’s circumference. Only a small percentage of this light is directed to the area directly below (such as at a desk in an office). The rest radiates in less useful directions unless the bulbs are installed inside reflectors, which still scatter some of the light. On the other hand, LED lights are directional in that most of their light radiates in a 110 degree arc. They don’t require the bulky reflectors of fluorescent tubes.
  • LED lighting is more energy-efficient than fluorescent bulbs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a 12 watt LED light puts out the same lighting as a 15 watt fluorescent light. In other words, LEDs use 20% less power.
  • Fluorescent bulbs emit UV light. Fluorescent bulbs emit some UV light, which is hard on the eyes and causes color fading in fabrics. This is wasted energy. LED lighting does not emit UV light. In fact, its light emission lies entirely in the visible light range.
  • LED lights last longer than fluorescent bulbs. LED lights last up to 13 times longer than fluorescent bulbs. This means a big savings in maintenance costs.
  • LED lights are more rugged than fluorescent lights. LEDs are solid state lights, which are more damage resistant than the fragile tubes of fluorescent lights. Breaking fluorescent bulbs also exposes one to mercury.
  • LEDs do not flicker near the end of their life. Fluorescent lights go through a period of flickering before burning out. However, the usefulness of the light ends when the flickering starts.

Finally, fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, and may therefore present waste disposal issues.

Trends in Hotel Lighting

Hotels in the U.S. spend more than $7.5 billion on energy every year, as reported by the EPA. This equates to about $2,200 per room per year taking into account the more than 47,000 hotels and motels in America. Given these facts, there is significant incentive within the hospitality industry to take advantage of advances in technology to reduce costs. At the same time, consideration for an environment that caters to the needs and comfort of guests is equally important.

Hotel lighting accounts for a hefty portion of total hotel energy consumption, and lighting is moving toward energy efficiency in the form of CFL (compact florescent lighting) and LED lamps as the use of incandescent lighting decreases. Although CFL and LED bulbs are initially more of an investment, the energy savings and lower maintenance makes them a financial win. Also, most standard lamps can now accommodate CFL and LED bulbs, making the change relatively painless while still providing lighting that is aesthetically pleasing for guests.

Lighting public spaces such as atriums, lobbies and hallways is becoming more important as baby boomers are becoming senior citizens, and safety is more of a concern. The needs of millennials has also come into focus. They’re a connected group that tends to share their views on a hotel or other venue through social media. They generally seek pleasing public spaces in which to work and are more attuned to design. It is important to consider combinations of task lighting and ambient lighting that will appeal to millennials as a whole.

While these ideas are trending, we understand that each client has considerations unique to his or her hotel or chain.

Is Your Parking Lot Lighting Adequate?

There are many opinions as far as parking lot lighting is concerned. Many feel as if the lighting in a parking lot is sufficient if it simply exists, and others feel it should be very bright, and meet all of the needs of the people.

When considering an upgrade to your lighting system, there are many things to consider. For example: if your lighting has not been upgraded in many years, you may want to consider the five basic questions below, and then decide if you need to upgrade your lighting system:

  • Intensity of the lighting: how bright are your lights?
  • Uniformity of lighting: how consistent is the light level throughout the lighted area?
  • Color of lighting: how accurately does the lighting show colors?
  • Efficiency of lighting: how much light per watt of electricity does the lighting system give?
  • Lamp life: How long do the lamps last before they will have to be replaced?

If you follow the suggested list above, you will be well on your way to ensuring that your lighting is up to date, and safe for anyone who enters your parking lot. Following this list will ensure that your lighting meets all the needs of the people.

Many business choose to wait until the lighting is not working to replace them. This is not a wise idea. Updating your system with brighter lighting will ensure your parking lot is running smoothly and is at the ultimate level of safety for your staff, and customers.

Will Solar Wallpaper be The Key to Lighting Sustainability?

Solar panels and electric lights have been getting quite cozy over the past few years. Whether it’s highway lamps charged up during the daylight hours, or businesses who dedicate their solar arrays to keeping the interior lights on, a huge amount of renewable power is being spent to make sure we never have to deal with the dark. Of course, for businesses who are looking for new and innovative ways to keep the lights on, the answer may have come from a former Chinese furniture store.

Does Solar Wallpaper Offer Sustainability For Lighting?

Len Gao and Phillip Gao are a father and son who, for years, used their furniture business as a way to finance their solar power ambitions. The result,according to Sustainable Brands, is that their new business Sunflare has produced a product unlike anything else; solar wallpaper.

It may sound ridiculous, but it’s actually not. These solar panels lack the stiff, glass substrates found in traditional solar arrays, and they are significantly thinner. Which means that, if someone wished to, they could put these panels up as wallpaper. Perhaps in the sun room.

An Open Design That Welcomes, and Saves Energy Costs

With the ability to put solar panels up inside, businesses may start re-thinking their designs. After all, if you can put up a bunch of windows to let in natural light, then you’re saving costs, and generating electricity at the same time. And, if a business combines these subtle solar panels with efficient lighting systems, like light-emitting diodes, then it’s possible they may never need to pay to keep the lights on again.