CIRCULAR LIGHTING
“SUSTAINABLE” LIGHTING:
What Are Lighting Designers Asking For? By SARA SCHONOUR, LC, MIES, IALD – LUXSI REIKO KAGAWA, LC, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, WELL FACULTY
Are you confused about what lighting designers are asking for regarding material transparency, and how they are defining the ambiguous term “sustainability”? 100+ specifying firms (114 and counting, to be exact) have signed the Lighting Advocacy Letter. Written in 2021 and hosted on Mindful Materials’ website, this missive clearly outlines the specific things the lighting specification community is looking for. The Letter is inspired by the AIA Materials Pledge, written in 2019 and signed by over 190 architecture and design firms. The Pledge encourages designers to be more intentional about materials specification and asks them to support five distinct priorities: •
Human health, by preferring products that support and foster life throughout their life cycles and seeking to eliminate the use of hazardous substances
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Social health & equity, by preferring products from manufacturers that secure human rights in their own operations and supply chains, positively impacting their workers and the communities where they operate
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Ecosystem health, by preferring products that support and regenerate the natural air, water, and biological cycles of life through thoughtful supply chain management and restorative company practices
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Climate health, by preferring products that reduce carbon emissions and ultimately sequester more carbon than emitted
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A circular economy, by reusing and improving buildings and by designing for resiliency, adaptability, disassembly, and reuse, and aspiring to a zero-waste goal for global construction activities
The Lighting Advocacy Letter brings the focus of these 5 “buckets” to the lighting industry. It asks manufacturers to provide material ingredient reporting (MIR) and environmental impact disclosures (Environmental Product Declarations
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designing lighting