Craig DiLouie, LC, CLCP recently had the pleasure of interviewing Trevor Palmer, President, Acuity Brands Lighting and Controls, about indoor lighting trends for an upcoming article in tED Magazine, the official publication of the NAED. Here’s the transcript, originally appearing on Lighting Controls Association.
DiLouie: The lighting industry appears to be reaching a new inflection point as LED lighting achieves a market saturation passing the 50 percent mark in many regions of the United States. The big question is: As the LED revolution completes its displacement of traditional lighting systems, what’s next for lighting as a category and an industry?
Palmer: As the lighting and lighting controls industry has evolved over the past decade we have seen three notable benefits to the expansion of LED source technology:
• The transition from legacy technologies has provided freedom of design separate from the source form factors.
• LED technology provided us with the benefit of delivering high efficiency lighting sources without sacrificing the quality of the light being emitted.
• The efficacy of the LED source has also evolved from medium to high lumens per watt of energy.
LED lighting sources have provided the design and manufacturing community with exceptional freedom to design and deploy lighting with characteristics of high efficacy and creative form factors that were once not possible.
We continue to see advances in efficiency and quality of light specific to the task with designs that are more efficient to install and service with longer life.
We are committed to simplifying the selection, purchasing, and installation processes. Our innovative solutions are designed to make it easier for our customers to achieve their lighting goals, whether it’s for a small retrofit project or a large-scale renovation. By streamlining these processes, we enable our customers to focus on what matters most – creating safe, sustainable, and highly efficient environments.
DiLouie: What do you see as the top five trends in the marketplace shaping demand for commercial indoor lighting products?
Palmer: The Global Sustainability movement is a top trend. Here in the U.S., our federal government has stated that it wants to achieve a carbon pollution free power sector by 2035 and a net zero carbon emissions economy by no later than 2050. The only way the country can achieve a net zero carbon emissions economy by 2050 is retrofitting existing buildings to make them as efficient as possible, which includes retrofitting lighting
Another trend is the move toward electrification and ultimately higher electricity consumption. We will see an increased demand for even more efficient lighting technology, optimized lighting and lighting control designs, enhanced need for load shedding capability, and new expanded utilities incentives as they strive to meet future needs.
A third is more advanced control solutions enabling lighting systems to interact with the US grid effectively and efficiently.
We will continue to see a need to maximize efficiency through the conversion of legacy light sources to LED … still a very significant amount of older installed lighting technology in commercial spaces.
And finally, we will see more regulatory changes moving across the country to support the transformation to greater energy efficiency.
DiLouie: What vertical markets are particularly strong for commercial indoor lighting products this year?
Palmer: Healthcare – Luminaires and controls for use in healthcare facilities such as ambulatory care (urgent cares, medical office buildings, surgery centers, and clinics), hospitals, senior living, long-term care facilities, and behavioral health.
General retrofits – Lighting retrofits will continue to drive the increased efficiency of buildings across the country as we move to a net zero carbon emissions economy by 2050. As more buildings move toward deep energy retrofits across multiple measures, we will likely see the introduction of new funding mechanisms and tools that allow building owners to continue to justify the upgrade in efficiency measures in their building.
Data Centers – Lighting solutions featuring high ambient temperature resistance, energy efficiency, and uniform illumination for enhanced safety and efficiency. These solutions also offer modular design for scalability and easy maintenance. Additionally, the offerings include remote monitoring and control capabilities, compatibility with emergency systems, and compliance with industry standards to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
Industrial/Warehouses facilities – Product solutions that provide optimized vertical illumination and task lighting for personnel and robotics in warehouse, fulfillment, and distribution spaces — delivering the highest payback for warehouse lighting with energy efficient solutions and reduced maintenance.
Schools and University campuses (Education) – Create a positive living and learning environment with lighting and lighting controls that pave the way to sustainability, with seamless solutions to complement both existing and new infrastructure. Energy efficient spaces that offer the latest technology while providing quality lighting.
Retail – Lighting and controls that create dynamic and engaging lighting environments to help deliver on cost saving and revenue enhancing goals, while simplifying retail solutions to decrease energy, labor, and maintenance costs with advanced engineering.
DiLouie: What are the top five technological trends in commercial indoor LED luminaires?
Palmer: Phosphor systems that mimic daylighting; targeted spectrum to affect the health and quality of illumination for humans, plants, and animals; advancements in lighting controls; and connectivity to building management systems.
DiLouie: What impact are these trends having on the state of lighting in 2024?
Palmer: Lighting delivers more value than even before to the customer: Aesthetics, energy savings, features, environmental controls, circadian, connectivity to other platforms, and overall improved user experience.
DiLouie: As LED achieves a high degree of saturation, thereby becoming the standard, do you believe the lighting industry will return to embracing standardization? Specifically standard interfaces enabling light sources and drivers to be easily field serviceable and replaceable/upgradeable?
Palmer: Lighting and lighting components offer a variety of interfaces to support the specific voltage requirements of different countries and regions.
The next generation of in luminaire components offer field configuration and a wide variety of controls interfaces. Standardization of in luminaire component communications, such as D4i, continues to exhibit benefits permitting the selection and application of the best-choice components from a variety of manufacturers.
Lighting control interfaces, particularly in the North American marketplace, continue to use proprietary controls interfaces and programming.
DiLouie: As lighting controls became increasingly popular, some predicted the luminaire would become a primary platform for control implementation with embedded controllers and sensors. How would you characterize demand for luminaires with onboard controls, and how do you see that category evolving in the future?
Palmer: Embedding controls technology into luminaires provides the industry with the opportunity to simplify the project design and installation. Previously, these separate elements of a lighting project demanded meticulous planning and the installation of numerous parallel lines and low voltage components.
Integrating these components significantly reduces the total number of components and connections needed in the field, as well as the configurations required. This reduction decreases the overall electrical trade labor on the project and minimizes potential points of failure.
In addition, these devices can offer a variety of field adjustable options providing unprecedented flexibility, such as lumen output and color temperature adjustment.
DiLouie: What are the top five trends in lighting design in commercial buildings?
Palmer:
1. Embedded controls technology – Embedding of sensors and controls interfaces into host luminaires.
2. Wireless lighting controls – Application of wireless lighting controls interfaces and use of mobile applications for the configuration and commissioning of controls algorithms.
3. Hybrid DC Lighting power – Introduction of distributed DC power sources for lighting and controls solutions.
4. Source Light Color control – Application of advanced controls technology to adapt the color temperature to the task or time of day.
5. Miniaturization of luminaires – Smaller form factors or apertures for luminaires or light sources.
DiLouie: An age-old struggle in the lighting community is communicating the value of quality lighting to the owner. How does the typical owner regard lighting today, and what opportunities exist for distributors to promote lighting options that save energy but provide a better luminous environment?
Palmer: Lighting solutions can realize both energy efficiency and lighting quality in areas such as visual comfort without making compromises. Lighting quality considers factors such as color rendering, color temperature, glare, flicker, and uniformity. A lighting system that factors in quality of lighting can enhance the visual appeal of a space, help improve productivity, and even impact the mood of the occupants in a space.
There are several key lighting fundamentals to focus on to equally emphasize lighting quality including:
• Delivering the correct amount of light for the space and task
• Distributing the light evenly where and when it is needed
• Evaluating lighting fixture service life
Using the right lighting and controls solution can enhance the comfort, productivity, safety, and security of a given building or facility space. The right LED technology and enhanced controls can help meet code compliance and deliver energy efficiency and reduce operating budgets while offering visual comfort and lighting quality for occupants over the expected life of the system.
DiLouie: What can electrical distributors do to become more effective lighting sellers in their prospective territories?
Palmer: To succeed, companies must add value for both their sales partners and end users. This involves working closely with partners to improve efficiency, service, transparency, and sustainability. Sales partners want better digital experiences to simplify their business and enhance local customer service. This includes tools like EDI, VMI, APIs, and e-commerce sites to help them operate efficiently, cut costs, and grow.
Investing in training is vital. Distributors should ensure their sales teams understand the latest lighting technologies, such as LEDs, smart lighting, and energy-efficient solutions. This helps them effectively communicate benefits to customers and recommend the best solutions. Offering services like lighting design consultations, energy audits, installation, and maintenance can set distributors apart and add significant value for customers.
DiLouie: What can electrical distributors do to more effectively partner with manufacturers to develop lighting business?
Palmer: We all recognize that manufacturers and distributors need to become increasingly efficient. As distributors consolidate and move to centralized purchasing, there are many impacts, including a need for greater consistency in service and investments in technology to enhance operational efficiency. As a manufacturer, we want to support those initiatives and enable capabilities like direct application programming interfaces (APIs), which help in sharing real-time data and information. We also see a growing movement towards alignment around sustainability goals and ways we can partner to impact carbon reduction, social engagement, governance, and customer buying behavior.
DiLouie: If you could tell the entire electrical distribution industry just one thing about current trends in commercial indoor lighting, what would it be?
Palmer: We believe that the foundation of our success is built on strong partnerships and transparent communication. By holding each other accountable, we can consistently deliver unparalleled value to our customers and end users. Our commitment to open dialogue ensures that we stay aligned with our partners’ needs and industry advancements, fostering a collaborative environment where innovation thrives.
