Ambient lighting may soon take advantage of energy-efficient LED luminaires. The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring research that seeks to double or triple the power output of LEDs in three years.²¹ Elsewhere, researchers have made semiconductor LEDs more than seven times brighter by etching nanoscale grooves in a surrounding cavity to guide scattered light in one direction.²² If development of this kind continues, LED lighting could eventually replace incandescent and fluorescent lamps for general illumination.

The attractiveness of new technologies, especially for energy savings, may divert attention from the individual’s needs for lighting quality, however. To keep that from happening, everyone—lighting professionals, architects, building owners, facility managers— must remain vigilant. They have good reason to: Given that people represent about 85 percent of the costs associated with a building, it is logical that decisions about lighting, as well as other elements of the space that affect those working there, should take their cue from the occupants.

Notes:

1 Steven J. Orfield, personal interview, October 2006.
2 Ahmet and Gisela Çakir, “Why humans need daylight at their workplace?” Ergonomic Institute for Occupational and Social Sciences, Berlin  (accessed July 2006).
3 Krishnan Gowri, “Green Building Systems: An Overview,” ASHRAE Journal, November 2004: 56-59  (accessed July 2006).
4 Mariana G. Figueiro, Mark S. Rea, Richard G. Stevens, Anne C. Rea, Light and Human Health: EPRI/LRO 5th International Lighting Research Symposium: Palo Alto, CA: The Lighting Research Office of the Electric Power Research Institute (2002): 185-193 (accessed July 2006).
5 Dennis W. Clough, “Vision 2020: The Lighting Technology Roadmap,” U.S. Department of Energy, March 2000  (accessed July 2006).
6 Ibid.
7 Steven J. Orfield, e-mail exchange, November 2006.
8 T. Moore, D.J. Carter, and Al Slater, “User attitudes toward occupant controlled office lighting,” Lighting Research Technology, 34, 3 (2002): 207-219.
9 Anca Galasiu and Jennifer Veitch, “Occupant preferences and satisfaction with the luminous environment and control systems in daylit offices: A literature review,” Energy and Buildings, 38 (2006): 728-742.
10 Guy R. Newsham and Jennifer A. Veitch, “Lighting quality recommendations for VDT offices: a new method of derivation,” International Journal of Lighting Research and Technology, v. 33, no. 2, 2001: 115-134.
11 Ibid.
12 Steven J. Orfield, e-mail exchange, November 2006.
13 Ibid.
14 Jennifer Veitch and Guy R. Newsham, “Exercised control, lighting choices, and energy use: an office simulation experiment,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, v. 20, no. 3, September 2000: 219-237.
15 Craig DiLouie, “Lighting and Productivity: Missing Link Found?” Architectural Lighting, September/October 2003  (accessed July 2006).
16 Peter R. Boyce, Jennifer A. Veitch, Guy R. Newsham, Michael Myer, and Claudia Hunter, “Lighting Quality and Office Work: A Field Simulation Study,” U.S. Department of Energy, December 2003: 159-160.
17 Guy Newsham, Jennifer Vietch, Chantal Arsenault, and Cara Duval, “Effect of dimming control on office worker satisfaction and productivity,” IESNA Annual Conference Proceedings, Tampa, Florida, July 25-28, 2004: 19-41.
18 Adrian Leaman and Bill Bordass, “Productivity in Buildings: The “Killer” Variables” in Creating the Productive Workplace, ed: Derek Clements-Croome (London: Spon Press, 2000).
19 T. Moore, D.J. Carter, and Al Slater, “User attitudes toward occupant controlled office lighting.”
20 C.C. Jones and E. Richman, “Lighting Business Case: A Report Analyzing Lighting Technology Opportunities with High Return on Investment Energy Savings for the Federal Sector,” U.S. Department of Energy, September 2005, 7.
21 Science Daily, “Researchers Aim to Close ‘Green Gap’ In LEDTechnology,” ScienceDaily.com, August 29, 2006 (accessed August 2006).
22 Science Daily, “Novel Nano-etched Cavity Makes LEDs 7 Times Brighter,” ScienceDaily.com, July 23, 2006  (accessed July 2006).