The New Buildings Institute just released a new market guide, Controlling Comfort and Energy in Offices, which outlines the benefits and best practices to implement lighting and shading retrofits in today’s market.

Authored by Kevin Carbonnier, PhD, Cathy Higgins, and Webly Bowles, AIA, the 12-page guide focuses on:

• High-quality automated shading: Window treatments, which help counteract direct sunlight, glare, heat, and lack of privacy, are very common in office buildings. They come in many different forms, ranging from traditional manual blinds with strings to automated fabric shades. Today’s automated fabric shades can be pre-programmed to raise and lower according to sunlight patterns. Employees appreciate the benefits without having to spend the time getting shades just right.
• Modern LED lighting with advanced controls. Innovative office building lighting systems, dominated by LED lighting, can be automated down to the individual fixture. Equipped with advanced wireless controls, individual fixtures will dim or shut off automatically based on conditions around each fixture. Employees, who have become accustomed to adjusting their own lighting while working remotely, can override the system and adjust their assigned fixture to suit their own preferences.

Click here to download it.

The University of Oregon recently published a new white paper, “The Impact of Lighting and Views in the Workplace of the Future.” The paper concludes that daylighted spaces with controlled lighting and views can improve occupant well-being, workplace productivity, and satisfaction by positively influencing various physiological and psychological processes. Lighting and views also impact property value and employee recruitment and retention.

Light and the visual environment impact nearly every facet of an employee’s life. Lighting directly influences mood and performance during the day and the quality of sleep at night. As new evidence expands the understanding of how specific characteristics of light and views affect human behavior and health, the emergent consensus is that increased access to light, particularly bright daylight, and views during the day can improve productivity and well-being. Occupant interactions with light and views also significantly influence the user experience within the built environment, impacting interrelated physiological and psychological responses.

“In the past, we spent a lot of energy trying to make our lighting systems as uniform as possible. We now know that it matters when, where, and how much light we are exposed to, and the field is working to develop lighting systems that offer more holistic benefits,” says Siobhan Rockcastle, co-author of the white paper and Director of UO’s Baker Lighting Lab. Personal shading and electric lighting control systems can help realize the benefits of daylight and views while significantly improving comfort, satisfaction, and energy performance.

“The demand for daylight, views, and personal controls are continuing to increase in the workplace,” says white paper co-author, Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, PhD., Director, Institute for Health in the Built Environment. “At the Institute for Health in the Built Environment, we believe that enough is known about the influence of the visual environment on human well-being and performance to recommend action.” The white paper discusses literature indicating the value of daylight indoors to support of healthy circadian rhythms and improve sleep quality. However, the paper cautions against over-generalizing what are currently highly contextual and typically discreet findings.

We now know that it matters. The white paper recommends a measured approach to lighting practice, utilizing natural daylight where possible and electric lighting, patterned on the cycles of the natural environment, that reinforces the body’s natural rhythms. This approach should be dynamic. Studies show occupant preferences vary drastically in different contexts and the ability to respond to these changes is a key predictor of user satisfaction. Furthermore, lighting should not be evaluated only with respect to visual-task performance. The experiential qualities of daylight, as well as the natural connections fostered by views, have the potential to significantly improve aspects of health and mood.

Click here to read the whitepaper, which was sponsored by Lutron Electronics.