If you’re looking for some office design inspiration, you’ll probably be thinking about changing things up in the lighting department too. It’s a good idea - many lighting options are outdated and also don’t do the best for the planet either.
If you’ve currently got strip fluorescent lighting then you’re not helping the planet as well as you could. For sure, solar power is by far the best option for the environment and your budget, but not every business can achieve this or feels ready to do so.
So, what are your other options?
LED lighting is a great choice.
LED lighting is far more cost-effective and energy-efficient than any other type of lighting, except for solar power. LED lights have an 80% efficiency benefit over fluorescent lighting and they cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by a huge amount.
The other plus point is that you’re cutting down on waste too. When you use LED lights, only 5% of the energy created is wasted, converted to heat. The remaining 95% is usable as light and therefore hardly anything gets wasted.
Where you position your lights is also important. If you have a part of your office that has a good amount of natural light getting in, you don’t need as much artificial lighting in that space. Instead, you can utilise lighting where you need it, i.e. in darker parts of the office. Of course, during the darker, winter months you may need to boost lighting in the spots that are normally a bit lighter from the windows, but those situations should be few and far between over the course of a year.
When designing your office, looking at lighting isn’t something you should forget about. The same goes for flooring. These are things people tend to smooth over but don’t consider changing. When it comes to saving heat and light, updating how you power your office is a must-do. And, we all need to look towards being more energy efficient these days - the climate is not going to sort itself out, that’s for sure.
Redesigning your office may take time and a little money but when you make changes such as this, you’ll save over the long-term. Your energy bills will be lower, your employees will be happier with their new space, and overall, productivity will be on the rise.