6 Trends in Lighting and Energy Saving

Over the past ten years, the adoption of LED lighting has skyrocketed, with 60 percent of all businesses adopting it. 

Whether your commercial building was an early adopter or among the 40 percent that yet to make the change, you need to know what’s new in sustainable lighting and energy-saving. By 2030, LED lighting is expected to save a total of $30 billion, cutting U.S. energy consumption in half. 

The 7 Types of LED Lighting

In the early days of LED lighting, options were limited and the cost of adoption were higher. Now, businesses can install LED lighting in their retail establishments, restaurants, and offices with no up-front investment.

Schools, prisons, and municipal buildings are all adopting LED lighting as a way to save money, help the environment, and become healthier and more secure.

1. Track Lights have the advantage of one wiring system, which means fixtures do not need to be wired individually.
2. Task Lights provide illumination for individual workstations.
3. Outdoor Lights serve a wide range of purposes -- from attracting drive-by customers to restaurant menus to ensuring that parking structures remain safe and easy to navigate. Cities and towns are also retrofitting traffic and street lamps with LED lighting.
4. Recessed Troffer Lights are flush to the ceiling and emit low levels of heat. They are the best alternative to traditional CFL (fluorescent) lights and require less maintenance.
5. Lay-in Fixtures can be installed in hardware previously used for conventional lights.
6. Warehouse Lights help boost productivity and can reduce human error. Because these facilities usually require extensive lighting systems, a switch to LED can save businesses thousands of dollars -- year over year.
7. Desk Lamps provide free-standing illumination and can be moved throughout workspaces as your business grows, changes, or re-configures.

The variations within each of these lighting types are virtually unlimited. Colors and styles are expanding each year and you no longer need to choose between aesthetics, utility, sustainability, and cost savings.

When you work with an LED expert, they will take a full inventory of your current lighting system and your business needs and recommend a specific and highly-personalized solution, even estimating what you can expect to save every year.

What's Next in LED Lighting and Energy Saving?

As all types of businesses look for ways to cut costs and deliver a better customer and employee experience, LED lighting and other energy-saving initiatives will become necessities rather than options. 

1. Stakeholders and customers will look to companies to report on steps they’re taking to improve customer and employee health and measure effectiveness. It all beings with an energy audit and more businesses will report on how their efforts are contributing to human and environmental health and safety. Energy-saving measures and sustainability reporting will be commonplace in annual reports and strategic plans. 
2. Smart technologies (voice and computer-activated instructions) will be incorporated into lighting fixtures. Motion sensors will become more sophisticated and systems will automatically “make decisions” about when to turn lights on and off and when to dim them.
3. As younger people become a larger segment of the homebuyer and consumer market, they will expect the companies where they work and shop to be environmentally aware. They will even choose to move to communities that value the environment and energy saving.
4. Ambiance and aesthetics have always been important in both commercial and residential design. As more consumers adopt online commerce and dining-in, businesses will need to up their game in creating memorable and comfortable experiences for shoppers, diners, and other important audiences. Architects, building managers, and purchasing departments will all become smarter about green, attractive, and cost-saving alternatives.
5. LaaS (lighting-as a service) will become commonplace. Financing and subscription plans enable businesses to better predict and manage cash flow. The LaaS approach to LED lighting retrofitting is booming because businesses do not have to pay upfront for capital improvements and enjoy tremendous cost savings and efficiencies long-term.
6. Health and wellness are more important than ever, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees will choose to work for companies that value their physical and mental well-being and consumers will spend more with brands that care about those aspects of business operations. 

As you create your operational and marketing plans for 2021 and beyond, investing in an energy audit and considering an LED lighting upgrade can deliver a much-needed boost to your profitability and longevity.

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