Environmental Sustainability: Why LED Lighting Is a Step in the Right Direction

Economic sustainability requires that business activity not cause environmental deterioration or depletion of natural resources. For the most part, this hasn’t been the case for the last 150 years. Energy inefficient technologies accelerate the use of non-renewable fossil fuels that spew carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere. However, more recent technologies are reversing this trend. These include LED lighting, which is having a positive effect on reaching environmental sustainability in a number of ways. Here are four of them:

LEDs Put Out More Light with Less Power

Lighting can account for a third or more of the energy consumption in buildings. This hefty energy consumption is due to huge inefficiencies in old lighting technology such as incandescent and fluorescent lighting. LEDs are far more efficient than either of these two lighting technologies.

From a sustainability point of view, LEDs reduce fossil fuel consumption and place a smaller energy load on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. This makes renewable energy sources and their reliance on battery storage technology more economically viable. Technological improvements in renewable energy, batteries, and LED lighting will only make renewable energy still more competitive in the years to come.

LEDs Have a Greater Service Life Than Other Forms of Lighting

LEDs have a substantially greater service life than either incandescent or fluorescent lighting. This reduces LED light replacement, which reduces the environmental impact of their manufacture since fewer lights are required. The resource and energy consumption of their manufacture and packaging, as well as the fuel consumption of transporting raw material and finished products are reduced.

The greater service life of LEDs also reduce their disposal into landfills. LEDs don’t contain environmentally damaging substances such as the mercury used in fluorescent lights.

LEDs Produce Less Heat

The extensive lighting of buildings place a heavy heat load on air conditioning systems during warm weather. Because LEDs put out substantially less heat, air conditioning systems do less work and therefore consume less energy.

LED Light Output Is Easily Controlled by Sensors

LED lights are easily dimmed and switched on and off by sensing technology such as motion sensors. These prevent unnecessary lighting in unoccupied areas of buildings, which further reduces energy consumption.

Protect Your Customers and Your Business with LED Lighting

As a responsible business owner, you’ve kept your property safe for both your customers and employees by looking for and promptly correcting safety hazards. Injured employees reduce your productivity and their insurance claims increase premiums. When customers get injured, you risk possible litigation and losing their repeat business. One of the most common injuries sustained on business property is slip, trip, and fall accidents. These can occur in any area frequented by foot traffic.

For example, staircases are often the site of fall injuries. They and their railings should be structurally sound. Carpeting at their top and bottom must be free of wrinkles and well secured. Likewise, parking lot pavement shouldn’t have large pot holes, cracks, or other tripping hazards. It must be cleared of ice and snow. Similar upkeep duties exist for sidewalks, walkways, and garages. In addition to structural problems and slippery surfaces, another common cause of slip, trip, and fall accidents is poor lighting.

In fact, poor lighting alone is a big risk factor in these accidents. In some ways, lighting is the weakest link in your efforts to keep your business premises safe. One burnt out or dimming/flickering bulb can make sections of your otherwise well maintained property unsafe. Business owners are required to cordon off or place a warning next to uncorrected safety hazards. However, unless the warnings are themselves lights, they become invisible without good lighting.

LED lighting will last up to five times longer than CFL lights. LED lighting also has a fuller frequency spectrum than CFL lights. This means the light is more similar to daylight and therefore provides better illumination. Longer lifetime and better light add up to better protection of your customers, employees, and your business. Other benefits include lower energy costs and reduced maintenance requirements.

Long for the Warmth of Incandescent Lighting? LEDs Can Do That Too

It’s a remarkable thing that LED lighting came from the same technology that shrank the equivalent of room sized computers into palm held mobile devices. This is the technology of semiconductors. Like other semiconductor products, LEDs are getting more versatile, better, and cheaper.

This trend has even allowed LEDs to take a step “backward” in the sense that LED lights can put out the same warm light as incandescent bulbs while retaining high energy efficiency. Why is this important? Because many people have a distaste for the “unnatural” light of CFLs. The warm light of incandescent bulbs serve well for interior lighting in environments where an atmosphere of intimacy is important. These environments include the home, restaurants, bars, and hotels.

Unlike other forms of technological change such as improved cars and computers, internal lighting affects our circadian clock. When productivity is important, a fuller spectrum white light works best because it simulates sunlight. That is, it reminds our circadian clock that it’s daytime and there’s work to be done. The warm light of incandescent bulbs lack the blue component of sunlight that “tells” us it’s daytime. It allows our sleep cycle to slowly take over while providing light for restful and intimate activities. This is why there will always be a need for warm lighting.

Another reason people don’t want to let go of the warmth of incandescent light is its romance. No one disputes the romance of candle light or of relaxing next to the warmth of a fireplace. Fire has a long history with the human race. It provided warmth, protection from night predators, and light for telling stories at the end of the day. People are reluctant to let go of incandescent bulbs because they emit a similar type of light.

The versatility of LED technology allows it to accommodate this human need for intimate lighting without the energy wastefulness and limited service life of incandescent lighting. LED lights are available that put out the same warm lighting. Many also come as glass bulbs that look identical to incandescent bulbs.

The Lighting Efficiency Benefit of Unidirectional Light

LEDs have greater lighting efficiency than incandescent and fluorescent lights. This means that more of the electrical energy going into LED lighting is converted into light while less turns into heat. This is why they are cooler than other types of lighting. However, comparing its light output to electrical power input is just part of the picture.

Another property of LED lighting that saves energy is its unidirectional light. Unidirectional means that the LED’s light moves in a single direction as opposed to the omni directional light of fluorescent tubes that radiate light in all directions.

Why does unidirectional light save energy? Because if you are trying to illuminate an area below the light such as a work table in an office or on a factory floor, most of the light output from the LED source is illuminating the work table.

By contrast, a lot of the omni directional light from a fluorescent tube doesn’t reach the work table. Of course, they do have reflectors on their topside to direct more of the tube’s light downward. But the reflector is crude and doesn’t do a good job of this. To achieve the same table illumination (measured in lumens), you would need a stronger fluorescent light that puts out more light (overall) so that the small fraction reaching the table gives it the same illumination level as the LED light.

Therefore, the omni directional light property of fluorescent tubes is a kind of energy inefficiency because the light that shines in the other directions is wasted energy. Of course, if your intent is to illuminate a wide area with diffuse light, then unidirectional LED lighting is less optimal.

However, LED flood lights are available, which have special optics that produce the same omni directional light of fluorescent lights. Because LED lighting uses less power to achieve the same illumination output, they still outperform fluorescent lighting for this purpose.

Tips for Making Your Retail Lighting Distinctive with LEDs

Retail lighting should do more than merely illuminate a store. It should welcome and draw customers in the door. How is this done? By creating an attractive ambiance unique to your store. This is already common practice in the paint color choices of store interiors. But establishing ambiance through effective use of lighting is under-exploited, especially through effective use of LED lighting.

Ambiance starts with using the right light color temperature. For those unfamiliar with the term “color temperature,” it’s a way of describing the warmth, coolness, or brightness of white light. For example, light from a fireplace has a warm if somewhat dim appearance. Incandescent lighting also has a degree of warmth. Sunlight however, is very bright and resembles neither fire light nor incandescent light. Color temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). This is the temperature you would need to heat up a block of carbon to produce the same type of light. This is only a convention used to describe the light quality. LED lights produce very little heat, but can put out light with different color temperatures.

There are three color temperatures:

  • Warm white light. Warm white light has a temperature range between 2000 K to 3000 K. It has a yellowish white appearance and produces a cozy and intimate effect. It works best where you want to create a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.
  • Cool white light. Cool white light has a temperature range of 3100 K to 4500 K. This light temperature is bright and vibrant. Its color is white with a slight blue tinge. It works well when you wish to emphasize the natural colors of your merchandise.
  • Daylight light. Daylight light as the name suggests, simulates daylight. It has a temperature range of 4600 K to 6500 K. The light is white with blue in it. Like being out in the sunshine, it produces an invigorating effect. This works to great effect when selling outdoor goods.

LED lights with adjustable color temperature are available so that you can get it just right. This also allows you to adjust the light temperature of different sections of your store to different settings.

Other effects possible with LEDs include:

  • Adding accent colors to walls and ceilings. This is a less committing way of adding accents than using paint. If you don’t like it or would like to experiment, change the color of the lighting.
  • Skylights. Rather than cutting a hole in your roof, install an LED skylight panel. Some are white in color but appear as though real sunlight is shining through them. Others simulate clouds against a blue sky. These sky lights also put out the same white light that you encounter outdoors on a sunny day. However, they don’t emit ultra violet. This works well when selling outdoor goods such as camping gear, fishing gear, or lawn and garden products.
  • Texture emphasis. LED lights that shine across the surface of brick or stone surfaces, cast shadows that emphasize their attractive texture. Experiment with different colors such as reds, blues, or purple.

The Future of Lighting

Have you ever wondered what the future might look like. In 10 years will we all be riding personal scooters? In 50 years will we live on another planet? In 100 years will people vacation in other parts of our solar system? The potential outcomes are almost as varied as the fun choices we can come up with.

Scientists can make a lot of estimations of what the future will likely look like.

One area they have taken especially interesting consideration in, is lighting. What will the future of lighting look like? Here are a few highlights. Some of them may surprise you.

  • Fiber optics. Fiber optic technology is not new. It is believed that as far back as the Romans people were passing light along a strand of glass. However, in the 1790’s it began to be put to good use as a source of optics in a fiber optic telegraph by the French Chappe brothers. Recently we have been perfecting this amazing (and cheap) source of lighting by using reflective surfaces and mirrors to illuminate large areas. The light can be “piped in” by fiber optic cables. So where does the future take this light source? Scientists think it will be used beyond our planet, since the sun can be seen almost anyplace in our solar system. If it is visible the light can be “captured”, moved down a fiber optic tube, and amplified. This could be used to light underground structures on distant objects like comets. Since the surface would be in full sunlight for long periods of time.
  • Lasers based on LED’s. The LED (Light Emitting Diode) is an amazing marvel. This tiny device is a Diode (a part of an electric circuit that allows electricity to flow in only one direction) that emits light when energized. The potential is nearly infinite. Scientists are able to intensify the light being emitted by adjusting the LED’s current that it is drawing in. The more current the brighter the LED can get. The only limitation is the resistance of the components that the LED is assembled from. Particularly robust LED’s are capable of being so bright they can blind a human being. What makes LED’s so attractive to lighting specialists (aside from cheap manufacturing costs) is the fact that LED’s last so long. The traditional light bulb is based almost totally on resistance and heat. These two factors wear down components in any device or electric circuit. LED’s are built specifically to emit light in a very efficient way. This efficiency means they emit very little heat. This translates into cost efficiency because the LED pays for itself in savings. Focusing the light of the LED can make a laser that can be transmitted over a huge distance without loosing much of its brightness. This hypothetically could lead to less wires or even transmitters on earth and receivers of light on something like the moon.

There are a lot of potential other sources of light but many will take decades or even centuries to perfect. One of them is cold plasma, another might be bio luminescent paints you have to “feed” and “water”. It is certainly fun to think about.

Parking Lot Lighting Helps Customers Feel Safe

If you are a proud business owner, you certainly want to excel in your field. There are some very smart ways of doing this. You want to do things that bring repeat customers. You can accomplish with by, first and foremost, make your customers feel valued. Allow them to see that you understand the fact that without them, your business could not survive.  Do you want your customers to feel safe when they enter your parking lot? Of course you do. This is why adding quality lighting in your parking lot  is essential.

If you are establishing a rapport with your customers, then you likely know many of their names. This gives much more depth to the idea of keeping them safe. How can  quality parking lot lighting keep them safe you ask? Just think about the things that are happening in our world today. There are people who refuse to leave their own home after dusk. Wouldn’t it be gratifying to know they will still come out to visit your establishment, despite nightfall, simply because you’ve made their safety a priority? With the right lighting, customers will be worry-free of getting out of their cars to come inside, because any danger lurking is visible.

How Manufacturing Lighting Benefits from LED Technology

Increased global competition has forced manufacturers to produce their goods more efficiently. Increased efficiency demands less time intensive, resource intensive, and energy intensive manufacturing processes. In terms of energy efficiency, it is useful to expand your attention beyond the manufacturing process to include the energy consumption of the entire plant. You will find that keeping your plant well-lit over multiple shifts consumes significant energy. If you aren’t using LED lighting, then you stand to gain substantial energy savings. Why turn your money into waste heat using old and inefficient lighting?

Beyond the energy savings, LED technology benefits your manufacturing operations in many other ways including:

  • Increased worker productivity. LEDs produce a white light that is similar to daylight except that it doesn’t contain UV light. This reduces eyestrain and worker fatigue. This similarity to daylight also boosts worker mood, alertness, and productivity.
  • Increases accuracy in production tasks. The colors of objects as they appear to the human eye depend on the lighting source. For example, candlelight renders colors differently than daylight. The fuller spectrum light of LEDs improves the worker’s color perception, which is important in many production tasks. This reduces mistakes.
  • Reduces maintenance costs. The longer working life of LEDs translates to reduced maintenance costs. This includes labor costs and the cost of using specialized equipment for reaching high ceilings and other hard to reach areas. LEDs are also vibration resistant, which increases their longevity in vibration filled environments.
  • Reduces air conditioning costs. The extensive lighting of manufacturing facilities produces waste heat that adds to the air conditioning load. Using cooler LED lighting reduces your air conditioning costs and increases worker comfort.
  • Increases the professional appearance of your facilities. While a well-organized and clean manufacturing floor is important for projecting professionalism, it isn’t enough when the area is dimly lit. The bright white light of LEDs remedy this. The appearance of your facilities affects worker morale and influences the decisions of touring VIPs.

All the above benefits as well as reduced energy consumption serve to increase the efficiency and productivity of your manufacturing plant, which in turn increase your business’s competitiveness.

Design Considerations in Hotel Lighting

Many elements contribute to the success of a hotel, and hotel lighting is one that can make a huge impact in how customers perceive a hotel. Attractive fixtures enhance a room’s appearance, and bright lighting can project a cheery ambience, while dim lighting can lend a mysterious air to the establishment. At the same time, lighting must meet the needs of the hotel guests.

Whether the hotel guest is in town for business or leisure, the room should contain a variety of lights for different tasks, moods and times of day. There should be overhead lights as well as bedside and desk lamps. Bathroom lights should be bright enough to allow guests to easily perform the tasks required in getting ready for the day. A floor lamp near an easy chair provides good light for reading.

Dimmer switches help satisfy guests with different brightness needs. One room may house a businesswoman who requires ample lighting as she works late into the night on a big presentation scheduled for the next day, while the room adjacent holds a vacationing couple who desire dim, romantic lighting. Dimmer switches allow the guests to adjust the brightness to their liking.

The fixture style helps establish the ambience of the hotel, both in public areas and guest rooms. The style of the fixture should fit well within the overall decorating style of the room and coordinate with other design elements. Take shape and material into account when selecting fixtures for a particular room. For example, a modern, geometric, stainless steel fixture will look out of place in a room decorated with a traditional brick fireplace and claw foot arm chairs.

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.