LIGHT TALK

Singapore, 11^th March 2010

Lighting designers are not the lead consultants, at least not in the majority of the projects, they are part of a much greater project team. I am speaking with my hat of architectural lighting designer on.

The thought for today was triggered by this morning’s meeting where I found out that the “big boss” had totally different ideas of what the lighting was supposed to do than the project director we had been dealing with so far. It was our first presentation of the lighting concept to the board of management. In the lead up we had been closely coordinating our lighting concept with the client’s project director and the lead architect. Understandably we were taken aback. Who is in charge here? Who decides what? Does anybody know what they want?

My point is this: while we need a brief from the client or, if not available, develop a brief and design direction with the client, we need to understand who the key decision makers are. We may love our own lighting concept, the architect may love our concept but if the key stakeholders are not on the same page with you, we may be wasting our time. Of course one can argue that it is up to me to get my client excited about my concept and convince them that “this is it”! But sometimes we are genuinely not on the same page.

I am not the type of lighting designer that says to the client: “it is my way or the high way”, I am a designer hired to expertly create design concepts that works for my client, not just for me. But as we work as part of a team for a client that includes sometimes multiple stakeholders it is not always easy to figure out who decides what!

Singapore, 10^th March 2010

One of our toughest assignments as lighting designers is to make sure the light fittings that are installed are actually what we originally had planned and specified. I am saying this because while we are talking with the client about our specifications, the site contractor is meanwhile negotiating through the back door with his “friends” to buy what he feels is an acceptable “equivalent”. Needles to say his assessment is mostly tainted by his drive to make money, so for him if it roughly looks the same (and at half the price) from “as specified” he will go for it. It will not be the first time I am shown an as specified sample but on checking the installed fitting find it is a local copy. Of course there are projects where we are well in control but I am generalizing what happens often in the Asian (and probably other) markets, as the problem is real.

It all starts with the light fitting specifications. As it is impossible for us to be aware of all light fittings and lighting solutions that exists (new products are continuously developed) we do need to be open minded about alternative proposals as long as it complies or improves on our specifications. At least that is my approach. The tighter the spec however, the less there is room for different and/or alternative interpretations.  There are so many quality details and performance parameters that can and should be specified (but which are often taken for granted)… 

It is particularly important to engage the client and procurement manager. Often they have no awareness of what makes the quality of a product and once they understand and adopt the “quality” thinking it becomes much easier to have our design installed as per specification!

Singapore, 9^th March 2010

Lighting does not exist without its environment, the architectural envelope that defines our field of view. Most of the time, we design lighting with solid reflective materials in mind. From matt surfaces to glossy surfaces and from white to black via the whole color spectrum. It is important for us to understand the nature of these materials in respect to its reaction to incident light and how the reflected light will subsequently be dispersed back into the surrounding space.

Translucent materials are a different kettle of fish. Thought they still reflect light to a certain degree, their main characteristic is that they let light through or allow you to see “through” the material. I am talking about glass, acrylic or alabaster type of materials, but also perforated materials and textiles such as scrim curtains, canvas, etc. I think that as lighting designer we can use these materials to our advantage as tools in our lighting designs. It allows us to create different and sometimes unexpected lighting effects and moods.

An interesting phenomenon with these materials is that when you light it from or in the front (as seen from your observer position) the material reflects light creating a visual barrier in space. However when you light it from or in the back the illumination allows you to see “through” the object material. For instance, in order for you to see inside a shop window, the lighting levels inside needs to be brighter then outside. We all know the window reflections when the sun shines outside…Likewise at night if we want to see outside into the garden, we can only see if outside has brighter lighting levels then inside otherwise the only thing we see is our own reflection in the window…  :)

One of the latest trends is to use one way mirror materials. For example TV screens located behind such mirrors cannot be seen until they are switched on to miraculously appear behind the mirror.

Singapore, 8^th March 2010

With the “Hurt Locker” movie about the heroics of a bomb squad in Iraq sweeping a number of awards at the Oscars today it seems to be an appropriate subject for today’s blog! In my early days of being a lighting designer terrorism was not really something we worried about. Yes, we would avoid going to “war zones” like Israel and Libanon or areas like former Yougoslavia, but airplane high jacking was not really a threat. In our earlier days of flying we would often go visit the pilot in the cockpit…remember? But some  Al Qaida and 9-11’s later, how the world has changed…

I don’t know about my colleagues, but we have now added a travel alert clause in our consultancy contracts to cover against travelling to areas that have been designated by official government announcements as unsafe to travel. Sad to say that we already had to use to it…

It has also impacted on the actual lighting design as most projects like important public and corporate buildings, hotels, etc, nowadays specifically require lighting for security and bomb checking on arrival. Something unheard of not even 10 years ago. In a design coordination meeting today I was further confronted with it as we discussed the architect’s drawings for a public building showing possible bomb attack and impact zones. You may not believe this, but it had an actual “impact” on the day lighting design of the building! As a result the planned day lighting intake had to be compromised for possible terrorist bomb attacks!   

If things continue this way we may soon find ourselves designing architectural lighting with explosion proof luminaires!

Australia- Singapore, 7^th March 2010

Travelled back to Singapore today… as usual time for some reflection, catching up on some news and work during the flight. There is a big debate going on in Australia about the difference between a product Made in Australia or a Product of Australia. In the first case all components and ingredients are from Australian soil, in the second case packaging, assembling or manufacturing are done in Australia but components and ingredients may well be imported from overseas. In order to support the local economy, origin and ownership (“Australian owned”) are all used in marketing in the same spirit as people are urged to buy “natural, organic or green” products. Where am I going with this?

In lighting we have the same thing happening. “Made in China” is sort of synonymous for fixtures that are cheap and locally made or even copied. Country of origin over the years has always had a quality label attached to it. China, Taiwan, Korea versus Germany, Italy or France in Europe, etc. I remember that in my Philips days clients would insist to have “made in Holland” lamps rather than Philips lamps “made in Thailand” for instance. Of course it is just a sticker or printed or screened label on the product…

The point is that more and more “Made in China” does not necessarily mean a bad quality anymore, on the contrary. Many of the top European lighting manufacturers have set up manufacturing facilities in China, some already for many years. I have visit several of them and the majority of the plants operate with imported machinery and are quality tested according to European standards. Even paint powders and spray machines are from Europe. In fact most of the products that are “Made in China” are exported back to Europe… some not necessarily carrying the “made in China” sticker!

“Product of Germany” still somehow sounds better than “Made in China”. But reversely “Made in China” now is becoming much more attractive (or should I say acceptable) to most developers than “Product of Germany”!

Australia, 6^th March 2010

Considering solar energy as a possible source of energy for lighting is more and more part of our conceptual thinking process. It can be our own initiative, the clients initiative, or just due diligence. In this case the client and architect want us to investigate the economics of applying solar energy as part of the building’s roof design.

We approached a few reputable “solar” companies to obtain some “facts and figures” on applying solar panels. We got a reply back today from one of them indicating a pay-back period of no less than 27 years! Even for the hardened supporters of solar energy this seems a bit too long! The information did not state the lifespan of the panels but from previous experience it is highly unlikely that its lifespan will outperform the payback time. In other words the solar panel will most likely have to be replaced well before its payback time has been reached.

Because we can’t rely on good solar weather every single day, the design needs to be “over designed” to cater for those “non-solar” days. According to general practice the installation should be designed to cater for 3 non-solar days or alternatively for an average of only 3 hours sun per day. However by connecting the solar installation to the power grid we can back up energy short comings any time.  It has the added advantage that the solar power collected does not have to be stored and over production can be fed back into the grid, which saves on the relatively expensive costs of the storage units.

Right now it looks like the economics of solar energy are still a hard sell, but with the system costs reducing, efficiency and life span still improving together with decreasing lighting power needs, solar will undoubtedly reach acceptable pay back times in the near future.

Australia, 5^th March 2010

Right now LED lighting is the trend in practically every architectural lighting application. Interiors, exteriors, landscape lighting, you name it LED will be one of the first lighting systems mentioned as prospective choice. But what about other lighting systems?

Recently in our projects we have been investigating the possibility to use laser light as an alternative to floodlighting. These are conceptual thoughts still but the more we study the more it seems a viable and exciting option. While I can’t really tell you the concepts for obvious confidentiality reasons , I thought it would be nice to share a little bit. Maybe some of you have already had some really good experiences with it.

Most of the laser lighting I see when “googling” around are in the entertainment or projection applications, mostly beam projections in the sky or image projections on building surfaces. What interests me particularly is not so much the multi colored laser beams but the white laser. It looks pure and has a much more architectural feel. Because of the nature of laser it seems we can place the “light box” that creates the laser beams in simple and singe locations, reducing the need for multiple lighting point installations. Add to that the relatively low energy consumption per m2 of building area covered and we have another potentially strong energy saving point.

On the downside, laser is associated with potential danger because of its highly concentrated beam properties. Operating professional laser systems requires a technical license in most countries and may even require a clearance from civil aviation authorities.  There may other negative issues related to laser but despite all that I believe that we may well see more and more laser applications in the architectural lighting domain.

Australia, 4^th March 2010

Today I would like to highlight the importance of applying dimming control systems in our projects. We often focus on energy saving purely from the point of view of the actual light source itself when we compare halogen lighting to equivalent LED lighting for instance and then calculate the return on investment to justify the difference in capital costs. Generally professional clients such as hotel operators and developers will consider the extra investment if it is recovered inside 2-3 years, some even accepting 5 years.

With even more pressure now put on lighting designers to further reduce the energy consumption (and related carbon emissions…) we find ourselves studying  further ways to do so and dimming control is definitely one of them. In summary, the more you use dimming control systems the more energy can potentially be saved and the shorter the return on investment. Considering that dimming installations can be quite costly (like U$ 50 to 100,000 for a decent size/star hotel), showing the client that the additional investment can pay off sooner rather then later is very important to get the client on our side.

Dimming helps in several ways. We can adapt artificial lighting levels to daylight situations and we can program lights to be off when not needed. A study by Lutron showed that dimming lighting levels by 20% can already achieve a return on investment within 2-3 year. Increasing dimming levels further and switching of lights were not required will improve these figures even further.

With our focus turning more and more towards reducing the environmental impact of lighting, dimming and managed lighting control will more and more become an important and integral part of our lighting design considerations in time to come.

PS: I would like to acknowledge Lutron for providing some “facts and figures” on the economics of dimming.

Australia 3^rd March 2010

Sometimes we are put for a decision to do it “right” or to do it “right now”. With right I mean to make sure everything is done as it should be including the quality standards that we envisage the project has to achieve. However projects are often in a time squeeze that may not allow all the time in the world to do it right! Most clients are pushing us to finish things “yesterday” and with very tight deadlines, often driven by commercial motives, we find ourselves scrambling for time and taking shortcuts just to make it within the imposed time. I know what you are saying, but the reality, certainly in Asia, is like that. Easier said than done!

Right now with the Shanghai World Expo to be opened in less than two months, the pressure is on for the many projects that have to be completed by the time the fireworks hit the sky at the opening ceremony. I recently spoke to one of my colleagues in Singapore involved in one of the Integrated Resorts which also have enormous government backed pressure to open sooner rather than later. He told me the pressure was close to unbearable to the level of wanting to walk away rather than be forced to deliver unfinished or sub standard work. The problem is that you can’t really win in these situations, so most of the time you have to bite the bullet and try make the best out of it.

The upside (if it all turns out well, which is exactly the issue here of course…) is a very happy client who is bound to use or recommend you again. However the downside (with far greater risks) is that it does not work out as well and despite the many warnings you may have issued to the client, an unsatisfactory end result will still have them pointing the finger at you.

Doing it right or doing it right now… seems a bit of a catch 22 situation

Australia, 2^nd March 2010

There is not one solution to a lighting problem… there are many! As I discussed the lighting design of one of our hotels projects today, I was asked the question by one of my staff if there is any rule of thumb in applying wattages and lamp types depending on the ceiling height in a space. It seems an innocent question to which most would expect a simple answer.

But the experienced designers amongst us will agree that there are many solutions and not really a rule of thumb to go by. The only thing that I can come up with is that the solutions main parameters will be influenced by the selected wattage (or lumens/watt as a probably better yardstick) and the light distribution at origin (the light fitting producing the light)… At the other (receiving) end there are the required lighting levels and tasks or objects that need illumination. Top that up with the desired mood, theme or ambiance and you have a large mix of variables that will influence the design and thus the light fitting (lamp type and wattage) selection process.

To me the design process nearly always starts with what I want to achieve. Uniformly diffuse lighting, indirect reflected light, focused accent lighting…? Bright or soft, cool or warm light? Maybe even some dynamic sequencing?  That brings us to the key, which is understanding what lighting really is to achieve. This in turn should come out of our interpretation of the clients brief. Then only we can start setting up the criteria to which the lighting has to comply with.

So is there a rule of thumb…no not really. The only ones that apply are the lighting definitions that tell you how the variables relate to each other