RESIDENTIAL
Focus Clearly, Change Easily When we help clients understand the benefits of light, we can transform the design process and deliver better results.
By DAVID K WARFEL
The Evolution of Controls Photo credit: David Warfel.
Light is nothing like a new couch, so why are millions of homeowners happy to spend several thousand dollars on a new sectional sofa every few years, but balk at swapping out a $10 disc light for a $100 recessed downlight? Residential lighting, whether it be in large apartment complexes or luxury estate homes, has arguably gotten worse in the last ten years instead of better. Yes, we are saving some energy by switching to LEDs. But the energy gains are offset by increased glare, decreased dimmability, and just plain ugly environments. I am afraid it will not get any better until we, the lighting industry, stop baffling clients and hawking products and instead start sharing the gift of light. When we move away from confusing metrics (ask the average client about TM-30 and watch confusion spread across their face) and stop focusing on how easy it is to install (this wafer light installs in seconds and provides bad lighting for years!), we make room to talk about the many ways light can help us live our best lives. The sofa, according to its clever marketing, promises to make our homes beautiful, make clean up a breeze, and give our 78
designing lighting
lives the fabulous aura of “European beach getaway vibes.” Yes, that is a real ad for a sofa, essentially promising that changing out our couch will magically transport us to another continent, another house, another family…another life. There is a difference between a new couch and better lighting. Better lighting can actually change the way people live – for the better – every single day of the year. For decades. So why are architects, interior designers, builders, electrical contractors, and homeowners choosing container loads of poor lighting every day? We are the lighting industry, and we are to blame. That is good news, because we can make it better. So far in this series, I detailed several ways that light can help our clients live better lives. Light, where we hold things in our hands, can help us see what we are doing so we can do it better. Light, for faces and places, can help us know where we are, where we are going, and who is with us. Light, for our bodies, can help us feel more rested in the mornings, more alert in the afternoons, more relaxed in the evenings.