Eco-Friendly Lighting: How To Modify Commercial Spaces For Sustainability
Today is Earth Day! We love the opportunity to reflect on how we, as a company, can be supporting the environment. If you’re looking for a way for your company to become sustainable? Trying to cut down on your electricity bill? Or even looking for a way to improve productivity in the office? Sustainable lighting is a step in the right direction! Here are four ways to make changes to your commercial-use building:
Daylighting:
Skylights, clerestory windows, and reflective surfaces is a way to effectively daylight a building. Instead of relying on artificial lighting, which is proven to affect migraines, headaches, and eye-strain, try to daylight your buildings. It’s eco-friendly and sustainable. Daylighting has also proven to increase satisfaction and productivity in retail stores, warehouses, offices, and other commercial use buildings.
Using natural light in retail stores can increase sales by 20% We love the use of clerestory windows in this space!
Photo Credit: Robert Bye
Lightbulbs:
There are several types of eco-friendly lightbulbs. LED lightbulbs, halogen incandescent, and CFL are the main most-known eco-friendly lightbulbs. Fluorescent light strips have toxic elements. For a sustainable and eco-friendly office space, choose LED lights. They have less heat and use 25% less electricity than incandescent lights. LED lights are easy to switch and will last 25 years. You’ll save the initial money you spent on them in the first year on the electricity bill.
Motion Detector Lights:
In commercial use buildings, lights are often left on for long periods of time without being used. Motion sensor lights help prevent that. These lights, after a certain amount of time, will turn off when nobody is in the room.
Sustainable Fixtures:
Use recycled glass, cardboard, and reclaimed wood for sustainable lighting fixtures. There are plenty of companies that make it a priority to source eco-friendly lighting fixtures that will fit your needs. Read online what your fixtures are made out of and be smart with what you buy.
You wouldn’t know by just looking at it, but these light fixtures are made out of recycled cardboard. Hand-pieced together each light has such detail and brings a soft light to a room.
Photo Credit: Greypants