Environmental Issue: High electricity use for commercial lighting
Lighting accounts for roughly 20 percent of all electricity used in the United States and accounts for up to 40 percent of electricity used in commercial real estate.
Instead of conference rooms being located on exterior walls they can be located near the interior giving the most number of people the most amount of natural light. Interior offices can be fitted with large pieces of glass that don't cost much to let light shine from the outside windows deep into interior spaces.
Light Tubes (Daylighting), unlike traditional skylights, can be extended through the attic and insulation. They are easy to install and more secure because they are smaller. Solar tubes can be used in residential or commercial construction.
Automatic Light Sensors reduce the amount of energy required for lighting by turning off office lights when not in use. Studies have shown that automatically shutting off unused lights can result in a significant savings. A large portion of the savings comes from automatically turning off office lights after employees have left for the day.
Fiber Optic light feeds are not easy to find but are used in other countries to bring outside light into any interior space via a Fiber Optic tube. The advantage of a Fiber Optic tube is that light can be sent deep within the interior space including basements. Unlike light tubes there are no limits on the distance of the length of fiber optic cables.
Offices can be retrofitted with florescent lights. They use only a fraction of the electric than incandescent lights. Several countries have already outlawed the use of incandescent lighting due to its high energy consumption and heat generating attributes.
Environmental benefit: Commercial buildings use a large percentage of electricity (up to 40%) and therefore reducing the amount electricity used by commercial buildings has a direct positive impact on the amount of CO2 produced.
Other Benefits: Employees prefer natural light. Studies show the school children score higher when taking tests under natural light. Interior designers like working with natural light because it represents the full spectrum of light and it illuminates objects with better color.
LEED building standard awards points for how many people can view the outside. LEED certifications can increase the market value of a building as they tend to feel more open and are built to a higher level of quality.
Large retailers such as Wal-Mart and REI are seeing dramatic savings from converting to natural lights.
Cost and complexities: Many of the above items are better done during the remodeling or construction phase. Unlike residential real-estate most commercial-based office buildings are renovated frequently because new tenants usually demand tenant improvements as part of their lease negotiation.
Implementation Plan:
- Negotiate modifications that need to be made before signing a lease
- OR search for office space that has already been updated with the above modifications
- OR search for LEED certified office space
Where to purchase:
Light Tubes - Solar Tubes <http://www.solatube.com>