A look at light: What trends are driving the lighting industry?

The lighting industry is meeting today for the virtual Swiss Lighting Forum to discuss current challenges and trends that are affecting the industry. Energeiaplus spoke to Julia Hartmann, a member of the Swiss Lighting Forum committee, in the run-up to the national industry meeting. She tells us what will help the industry to move forward, but also which trend is causing her concern.

The lighting industry wants to become even more efficient. It set itself this goal in 2018 with the Davos Lighting Agreement (see box). For Julia Hartmann, Managing Director and Creative Director of the lighting design office Lightsphere, efficiency and sustainability are major issues in the lighting industry - not only on a technical level, but also on an economic and ecological level. One expression of this are two trends that can currently be observed in lighting design and luminaire construction.

3-D printing for faster and more cost-effective design

"On the one hand, there is 3-D printing, which has become an important component in planning in recent years," explains Julia Hartmann. Thanks to this process, she says, luminaires or components thereof can be very easily printed in three dimensions and integrated into a lighting project as prototypes and luminaire accessories. "Users can thus get a real picture of the luminaires at an early stage. Adjustments to the design can be made more quickly and, above all, more cost-effectively," emphasises Hartmann.

Closing material cycles

On the other hand, the industry has for some time been focusing more strongly on circular processes within luminaire production. "Today, entire luminaires sometimes have to be replaced if, for example, the light source is broken. This creates a lot of waste and we ask ourselves: how can spare parts be replaced more easily? How can material cycles be closed and individual luminaire components become more sustainable?". This is also accompanied by considerations of how consumers should be informed about the sustainability of luminaires, for example in the form of a label. "But the lighting industry is really still at the beginning with this," explains Julia Hartmann.

Problematic UVC LED lamps

A trend that has its origins in the current corona pandemic, on the other hand, is causing Julia Hartmann concern. "Occasionally, manufacturers have started marketing with the disinfecting effect of UVC LED lamps." Integrated into the basic lighting, such lamps could help disinfect rooms, the advertising promises. "Such statements are very problematic," says Julia Hartmann, on the other hand. Because UV light can cause a lot of damage if used incorrectly: the skin but also the eyes can be damaged by the radiation. "The use of UV-C-LED lamps should therefore be planned very carefully and specifically only by specialists," explains Julia Hartmann. At the moment, studies are being carried out to clarify how high the damage potential of this radiation actually is.

Light also affects people on an emotional level

Higher demands on the efficiency of lighting products has triggered many developments in the lighting industry and will continue to be an important driver. For Julia Hartmann, an interior designer by training, efficiency counts for a lot, but in her field of work - lighting design - the aesthetics and the effect of light on users are no less important. "Light influences the body and mind in many ways, it triggers biological processes that control the circadian rhythm in our bodies, light also influences people on an emotional level in a very individual way - think, for example, of how they react to a campfire atmosphere, to the bright blue sky or a sunset." Understanding these interactions is central to any lighting design, says Hartmann. Spatial perception, user demands and, of course, technology integration are other pieces of the puzzle that need to be considered in lighting design, he adds. "As lighting designers, we always move in both worlds, that of efficiency and that of aesthetics," says Julia Hartmann.

"energylight" picks up speed

In September 2018, the lighting industry signed the Davos Lighting Agreement, in which it set itself the goal of halving the electricity consumption of lighting in Switzerland by 2025. With the "energylight" initiative, the industry is putting the agreement into practice together with SwissEnergy. The first projects are now underway, including the Optilight project, which helps building owners get their LED lighting up and running optimally. "If the control system is optimally set and the individual programming of the LED luminaires is matched to their use, a lot of additional energy can be saved in a building," explains Stefan Bormann, Optilight project manager. "In one school building, the electricity consumption of the lighting could be reduced by 30 percent - just thanks to the correct setting of the luminous flux of the individual luminaires. A further 20 percent saving has been made possible by reducing the overrun time (switch-off delay) of the sensor-controlled luminaire from 15 to 5 minutes." In the coming months and years, more partners are to be recruited for "energylight". "The aim is for us to attract 70 partners from the lighting industry, all of whom are implementing their own projects," explains Eva Geilinger, who is responsible for "energylight" projects at the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. To date, the initiative has 16 partners.

Sabine Hirsbrunner, Communication SFOE