Cool jazz pioneer Miles Davis famously said, “Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there.” Architects understand that the same goes for the craft. The work is in what’s built—and the spaces between walls, the floor, and the ceiling and everything else that comprises that architect’s design for a building.
How do architects define space? One way is through form – the grouping of materials – the volume of the structure in terms of its parts that we move through and experience. Another way is through those designs. Architects artfully use natural light or artificial lighting to draw people’s attention to the spaces they have designed.
The architect’s choice of lighting impacts the aesthetic pleasure of the designed rooms as well as their functionality. It’s the difference between a conference room and a luxurious office lobby. Lighting can evoke in a space a sense of tranquility and serenity – or be lit in a way that encourages productivity. Intentional color temperature choices make rooms seem bigger than they are or more intimate.
What Happens When a Certain Type Of Lighting Is Taken off the Market?
If light is an important part of the architect’s palate, what happens when a certain type of lighting is banned? In May, Vermont became the first state to ban the sale of 4-foot fluorescent tubes, which are extremely common in offices, schools, and other indoor spaces. In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2208 into law, phasing out compact fluorescent lamps and linear fluorescent lamps starting in 2024. California went further by including lamps up to 8 feet in the phase-out.
The reason is rooted in energy efficiency. Environmental health advocates say it protects people from lamps that contain mercury. California—one of the nation's biggest lighting markets—may be establishing a trend that leads the country to clean lighting everywhere in the form of LEDs. As previously reported here, the U.S. Department of Energy projects that switching from conventional light sources to LEDs will result in a 75% reduction in energy use from 2015 to 2035—a savings of nearly $630 billion.
Can Architects Create with LEDs?
A big plus is that LEDs are convenient form-and-fit replacements for the lighting that’s going away. LED retrofit lamps use half as much electricity. That’s great for fuel efficiency. But do they also produce the same illumination as fluorescence? Does the goal of cleaner energy come at a price?
There’s every reason to celebrate the emerging dominance of LEDs as an impactful tool for architects to balance art and science in creating mood and experience. Smart lighting controls are important for empowering building occupants to establish an atmosphere. The solid-state construction of LEDs offers astonishing levels of lighting control that architects can pass along to their clients.
Preparing for Future Building and Renovation With LEDs
Governments around the world are passing laws to make way for lighting products to function with increased energy efficiency. In December 2021, the European Union banned the sale of almost all mercury containing fluorescent lamps by September 2023. In March 2022, 137 governments voted to phase out CFLS by 2025. Architects now embark on a new global era of design using LEDs as the foremost lighting technology available.
Today's LEDs are Improved
Early performance issues with LEDs—flickering, buzzing, off colors—are now nearly nonexistent flaws in today’s modes. LEDs solve the architectural challenge of combining both form and function. The coming need to adopt LEDs for new and retrofit projects should be welcome for architects who want to offer energy efficiency a design benefit
Improved Technology – More Design Options
LEDs arrived on the scene in the 1980s with the promise of better longevity and energy efficiency, but still possessed flaws, limits, and challenges, such as unimaginative designs and high pricing.
The good news about pricing is that Forbes reports that in just ten years LED costs have dropped so that many sell at the same price tag as incandescent lights.
Moreover, some LED innovators are expanding producing the best design anywhere in lighting. Architects embracing LEDs as a new medium in space design should compare sources. Some remain dedicated to an inventory of functional commodity styles. Others showcase a vast array of more inventive and stylish bulb shapes. Advances in design have shown more attractive choices in the world of LED lighting.
It is also important to recognize that LED lighting is being created with increasingly higher Color Rendering Index scores. CRI measures the ability of a light source to accurately reproduce the colors of the object it illuminates, making higher CRI a valued architectural tool.
Let’s not forget dimming capabilities. Whether it’s a home, an office, a school or another space, having the power to define the mood and enhance function is the ultimate architectural goal.
Interested in learning more about LED retrofit lighting solutions? Read more at TCPI.com.