To improve productivity, profitability and the work environment in companies, lighting has become a determining factor. Controlled systems with design adaptable to spaces are the novelties.
Richard Santa
To generate the best work environment in a company, it is important to have good relations between all employees, the best technological tools and in recent years the correct management of lighting has become vitally important.
This issue has been dealt with even by the governments of Latin American countries. This is the case of Argentina, which at the beginning of this year implemented a surveillance program in companies to improve the safety of workers, which included a series of specific technical standards for lighting.
Among the aspects that must be monitored by those who make the evaluation, are the atmospheric conditions at the time of measurement, including cloudiness; whether the Lighting to be measured is natural, artificial or mixed; the type of source installed, incandescent, discharge or mixed; the type of lighting system that exists, indicating whether it is general or localized; as well as the values of the ratio E minimum = (E mean)/2, of uniformity of illuminance.
And although this protocol for the measurement of lighting in the work environment seeks to protect workers by reducing risks, it marks an attention to what the industry has been working on.
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The importance of lighting in the work environment has been studied and developed by the different manufacturers, which today offer controlled lighting solutions in the market according to the requirements of each company and, obviously, with technologies that favor energy saving, the environment and allows sustainable buildings.
According to data from the company Lutron Electronics, the control of electric and natural light in work environments increases the productivity of workers. This includes any aspect of the visual environment, from controlling electric light through dimmers to controlling natural light through shutter and curtain systems.
Statistically speaking, according to company data, worker productivity can increase by at least 5% if they can have control over their visual environment, regulating the levels of electric and natural light in their workspaces according to their needs.
General Electric Lighting is another of the companies that has been characterized by carrying out research and developments on this subject. This company highlights that today's offices are complex and fluid environments, with the participation of a wide range of visual tasks, in which computers and other digital tools play a fundamental role.
Therefore, when establishing a lighting system for these spaces, factors such as minimal glare on the screens, low luminance that contrasts around the workstation, the reduction of energy costs, among others, must be taken into account. All its solutions combine the latest in LED technology with an elegant design.
Generating environments
One of the highlights of the new lighting systems for corporate environments is that they allow lighting with quality but with different environments and styles according to the spaces and the type of activities that are performed in them.
According to Tomas Sandoval, Philips' International Lighting Consultant for Color Kinetics, told AVI LATINOAMÉRICA, "the biological rhythm affects daylight and this in turn influences the productivity and mood of workers. But thanks to digital lighting, you can already control the spaces and generate environments of sunny days on gray days."
These combinations, he added, can also generate the feeling that you are during the day in the nightly working days. In general, all these effects are achieved thanks to the development of software to control the lighting and thus seek to generate sensations rather than just illuminate.
This is also highlighted by Lutron Electronics when it argues that the company's digital systems allow individual control of each light attenuator, blind or curtain that is installed in a building, achieving a high level of control of electric and natural light that can be adjusted to different needs of use simultaneously.
Technology and design
The new installations of lights in companies have the latest technology but manufacturers have also been concerned that their products are aesthetically well presented and adapt to the particular design of each company and, even, can be part of the image you want to project.
Based on the studies provided by Lutron Electronics on the subject, they indicate that there is a direct relationship between the level of comfort, design, control and productivity. Workers tend to feel more comfortable if they have the possibility of being able to control the visual environment of their workspace and thus gain well-being, ultimately having a better performance.
Undoubtedly, the lighting industry has been able to generate all these advances thanks to the development of LED technology. Tomas Sandoval recognizes that with the development and massification of this technology it has been possible to achieve an intelligent control of lighting, which with the predecessor technologies could not be achieved.
"But despite the developments of manufacturers, there is still a need for greater knowledge on the part of installers about everything they can achieve with new technologies. Therefore, one of the tasks of manufacturers among their marketing strategies is education and the delivery of clear information, because without education there is no growth," he said.
And although LED technology is in its entire phase of development and massification in all segments of lighting, manufacturers are already working on its replacement. In the not too distant future, OLED lighting will be responsible for illuminating spaces with its fine model and diffused light quality.
It is clear that this is a technology that is in the research stage, as manufacturers are just beginning to find the right uses and how to lower manufacturing costs to start mass production. It is estimated that this process will take five or ten more years.
In general, manufacturers of lighting systems for companies emphasize that the increase in productivity of workers can generate the necessary profits to cover the cost involved in installing an electric and natural light control system in a period between seven and 36 months, depending on the country and other factors.
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