Smoke and mirrors?

This week brings together articles that focus on the business case for investing in better-quality lighting – putting aside the minefield of ‘human-centred’, ‘integrative’, ‘circadian’

et al…

The MIT Lab report looks at how ‘healthy’ spaces perform … ‘This premium for healthy spaces is independent of all other factors, such as LEED certification, building age, renovation, lease duration, and submarket….These results indicate that healthy buildings are seen as an asset that correlates with employee or tenant well-being and productivity’. – The Financial Impact of Healthy Buildings

This report is sponsored by Philips and focuses on productivity in the workplace – so it’s not exactly impartial and of course you can find research to back up any argument you want to make. But it might be worth a read if you’re interested in the business case for ‘human centred lighting’ – Lighting, Well-being and Performance at Work

You might enjoy this one – The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness, by Emily Anthes – here’s a quote from the blurb on Amazon – The Great Indoors provides a fresh perspective on our most familiar surroundings and a new understanding of the power of architecture and design. It’s an argument for thoughtful interventions into the built environment and a story about how to build a better world–one room at a time.’ 

This summary of a report by Zvei, Management Consultants AT Kearney for Lighting Europe is a bit older – 2012 – but it still makes some interesting points – Research assesses the value of human-centric lighting (MAGAZINE)

Buying a better-quality lighting system is always going to be more expensive up-front. You get what you pay for after all, ‘Building for Wellness: the Business Case’ from the Urban Land Institute (see page 49) explains how property developer Delta rents the lighting system from LED Lease for the Park 20|20 housing scheme. “Leasing light” makes good business sense and is environmentally sound too: Both Park 20|20 and LED Lease have the [financial] incentive to save energy to the greatest extent possible.” – Building for Wellness, THE BUSINESS CASE

And finally, buyer beware – retailers have been using lights for a while to get you to stay longer and spend more – this article explains more – Feeling disconnected from others: The effects of ambient darkness on hedonic choice

And finally, if you find being in front of all those brightly-lit mirrors in the gym is rather off-putting, this article explains how gyms are using lighting to help people feel more confident while they work out – Dark Matters.