Sustainable design methods for lighting

Sustainable lighting design is tasked with meeting environmental parameters and legislation, while at the same time providing the type and level of lighting requested by domestic and commercial clients. 

Interior designers and architects are responsible for creating lighting schemes that firstly maximises daylight and complements existing light sources e.g. windows, atriums, skylights etc.

Then in areas of low light or in evening or night time settings, creating lighting schemes that create a comfortable ambience and ensuring particular tasks are performed e.g. lighting artwork or architectural features.

Reducing the number of inefficient, energy sapping light bulbs is key to making lighting sustainable. LEDs (light emitting diodes) are an energy conservation alternative to traditional bulbs. They are low maintenance and provide a long service so need to be replaced less frequently. 

Detail Lighting are architectural lighting suppliers and also help clients with design considerations. Sustainability is a constant within all of our lighting designs, regardless of the size of the project. We have over 25 years of experience in the industry and have operated through many changing trends and lighting design requirements, none of which have had more of an impact on our work than sustainable lighting design.

LED lighting for your project’s interior

Energy efficient light bulbs were the gamechanger in sustainable lighting design. Their predecessors, incandescent and halogen bulbs, were found to be highly inefficient with only 10% of the electrical energy being converted into light. The remaining 90% of energy was wasted as unwanted heat. Halogen bulbs use less electricity and last longer than incandescent bulbs, but are still inefficient.

LED bulbs are the forerunners for sustainable lighting design. Using LED lighting for your project’s interior will transform the energy efficiency of your home or commercial building. They last around 50 times longer than incandescent bulbs and 20 times longer than halogen bulbs, typically providing around 50,000 hours of light.

When it comes to affordability, LED lighting is a cost-effective option for your interior lighting simply because LED bulbs use far less energy. Particularly for commercial buildings, this can lead to significant savings.

Outdoor LED lighting

Outdoor LED lighting continues to increase in popularity in domestic settings where customers want to extend the living space of a home to the outdoors.

For commercial buildings, outdoor LED lighting offers security, waymarking and a welcoming aesthetic. Detail Lighting outdoor LED lighting products are available across three main categories: outdoor recessed lighting, outdoor surface lighting and outdoor living.