Lighting [A guide to ecological design]

Abstract

Lighting consumes between about 29-35% of the energy used within commercial office space while lighting only consumes about 11% of the energy used in a residential environment. Through conscientious design of the lighting systems, the lighting load can be reduced by more than half within both environments. These estimates can vary significantly as a consequence that buildings vary significantly in shape and size as well as functions. Additionally, the more inefficient a building is, the greater the potential to accrue savings. Office environments operate very differently to residential environments. Offices have a very high level of occupancy during office hours and are then largely unoccupied while residential buildings have highly sporadic occupancy levels throughout the year. Consequently, the same intervention will have different results depending in which environment it operates