Energy conservation is on more and more people’s minds – particularly building owners and managers and corporate officers. Energy is a growing cost for any business and with recent discoveries in technology that saves energy use, more and more businesses are turning to energy savings to gain many diverse economic benefits.

Among the best ways to save energy is through lighting upgrades. Changing to more energy efficient lights is one of the best “low hanging fruits” for energy savings. But, it is critical that you do not just run to the hardware store and buy new lights labeled “energy efficient”. Changing to the wrong lights may save you some energy costs now, but actually cost your company much more money when it comes to worker productivity.

Work and, Therefore, Lighting Needs Have Changed

For example, in commercial spaces, the way that offices are operated has changed in recent years. Most offices used to be a collection of private rooms for each employee, based upon size (larger ones for senior management), with little common space and hallways. Now, more and more offices are “open” with one or a few large rooms for many employees. Fewer lights are needed because there are fewer walls and separations. Put another way, lighting for one person in one office can now adequately provide proper lighting for several people’s work spaces.

The nature of work has changed, too. Office work used to be based on reading or writing on paper. But now much more work is done on personal computers, tablets, and other devices. Less artificial light is needed because these devices give off light.

Too Much Lighting Is Not Good Either

Therefore, you do not need to provide your employees with as much light as you used to. De-lamping, the strategic removal of light fixtures, effectively reduces wattage and energy costs. If done right, it will not adversely affect, but will improve worker productivity. Excess light, studies show, is actually not a good thing, potentially causing headaches, fatigue, stress, and even disrupting circadian rhythms.

The Illumination Engineering Society (IES) used to recommend a lighting level of 750 to 1,000 lux (lumens per square meter) in offices. However, IES now recommends a lighting level for open offices of about half of this: 300 to 500 lux. While a manager may be tempted to keep lighting levels as they are “to be sure” that everyone has sufficient light, this may not be a good idea for the reasons mentioned above.

Another matter to consider is the use of natural light. While allowing sunlight to enter an office as a replacement for artificial lights (whether by switching off lights or with a daylight control) is an effective energy saver, it can cause glare and solar heat gain, affecting worker productivity and adding to your air conditioner’s load and raising energy costs that way. Installing “low-e” film on the windows that allow sunlight will reduce glare and solar heat gain, providing the office the natural light with less of the downside.

Reducing lighting is a positive way to reduce energy costs and be more sustainable. However, your company will benefit more by doing this coupled with the right lighting.

CCES has the experts to help your company evaluate your current lighting and determine whether there are opportunities to not only replace your current lights with more energy efficient ones, but to also install the “right” lighting to improve productivity. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.