Lighting
Time to rethink the office, how it is lit & how we buy it Bob Bohannon, President of the Society of Light & Lighting, looks at an post-Covid office that is better designed and better lit, sustainable both in its operation and in its procurement Many reading this article will be working from home, proof positive of humankind’s innate ability to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances – in this case the risks of coronavirus transmission. The economic shock from lockdown has prompted the need to stimulate the economy, however rather than seek to merely regain ‘business as usual’, the call has been to Build Back Better – restabilising our future economy on much more sustainable lines. The office is changing, sustainability is more important to the investment decision and this is increasingly reflected in The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) rating, tenant decisions and the need for corporate social responsibility. The government has adopted a target of 2050 to reach Net Zero carbon emissions. The popularity of working from home, the time (and C02) saved from not commuting will have large impacts on office use and office design. It is widely thought that many offices will becomes hubs and meeting zones, places where the crucial networking and organisation culture are exchanged, but with much work done from home. The government is calling for a doubling of resource productivity by the year 2050. This requires changes in luminaire construction (for example replaceable drivers to ensure
extended service life and reusable bodies), but also changes in procurement and application.
they will sit, then the lighting design becomes dangerously simple – light everything, a blanket 400 lux wall-to-wall, corner to The past is a foreign country – corner, so that the bin in the corner gets the they did things differently then same amount of light as a prime desk top. When we look back it often surprises us The ’carpet bombing’ approach was sold as what poor building performance figures we being energy efficient, and indeed lighting has accepted, the obvious example is the tungsten been well in advance of many building services light bulb with its abysmal energy efficiency, in terms of energy efficiency improvements. the low energy compact fluorescent lamp With the migration to LED over the last alternative had its drawbacks, but now five-10 years, lighting has focussed on everybody’s go to technology is output efficiency (the energy the LED. However we still efficacy of the luminaire regularly accept a similarly itself) – i.e. a product led With th questionable standard strategy. Improvements e migrati practice in our office in luminaire efficacy o over th n to LED procurement. The are now suffering CAT A fit out. diminishing returns 10 year e last fives, lighti In the UK, a very whilst scheme focusse ng has large proportion of quality has been d offices are speculative compromised, the efficien on output cy – i.e developments, built resultant schemes . a produ before the end occupant are bland, boring ct led is either identified or and unpopular. s t rategy. consulted on their needs. The problem arises when Some in the development and the tenant moves in and not real estate sectors consider that unreasonably wishes to arrange to let out the building, every office the space according to their own floor must be fully fitted out with ceilings and organisational objectives. The result is that lighting – known as the CAT A fit out. If you very often a new and almost unused lighting do not know the client, what they do or where scheme is thrown straight in the skip, E Issue 27.4 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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