Trends

Successful architectural lighting design requires professionals that have artistic vision along with solid technical aptitude.  These experts need to couple their creativity with knowledge of building codes, physics, optics, sustainability practices, internet of things (IoT), LED and control technologies and human-centric lighting, and more. Today’s lighting designers take a holistic approach to illuminating a property with attention to the aesthetic, functional, and energy efficiency aspects of lighting.

A broadening of the role of luminaires and a continued focus on people and energy efficiency are three top commercial lighting trends projected for 2020.

When you think of a healthcare facility, do you think of a large sprawling hospital campus?  Today, that is just one of the many types of medical facilities. There are a variety of other facilities that provide healthcare services including medical offices, urgent care, ambulatory surgical centers and more. In fact, the future of healthcare is looking a lot like retail that targets the consumer--distributed settings that are smaller, less expensive, conveniently located and with an eye to the experience.

Higher education is undergoing profound changes.  Declining enrollments, changing student demographics, and waning retention rates have institutions sharpening their competitive edges. In the fight to recruit and retain a larger share of the dwindling pool of potential students, many schools are looking to build new or retrofit their aging buildings. However, universities are finding limited capital funding is forcing them to do more with less.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is widely entrenched in education today with distance and online learning, learning management systems, and completely virtual universities. With cloud-connected devices, students can take a class from an Ivy League university right from their home, prep for the SAT with an online tutor, and learn just about any skill by viewing a YouTube video.

Open office design has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years. In fact, the New Yorker magazine claims that approximately 70% of all offices now have an open floor plan.

We are almost at the half-way mark of 2019 and it’s time to take a look at what content is trending on the Digital Systems Blog. Our industry is changing so rapidly, it is no wonder that four out of the top five most popular posts are looking at the what, why, and how of commercial lighting trends.

Higher education institutions across the globe have embarked on sustainability initiatives with great success.  As part of their campus philosophy, sustainability concerns are being integrated into curriculum, policies, programs and campus design. By fostering sustainable student lifestyles, the hope of these institutions is that these enlightened young men and women will carry those behaviors and attitudes into the world to support positive environmental change. 

Disruption is the new norm in the lighting industry. Commercial lighting is now more than illumination as seen by our top five trends for 2019. 

The commercial real estate industry is at an inflection point as a number of parallel trends are shaping transformation in the industry.

First, the industry is moving from products to services, and ownership to access. Examples of this in other industries include buying cloud services instead of building out a data center; listening to streaming music instead of purchasing CDs; or renting a dress for a black tie wedding rather than purchasing one.