The Future of Commercial Lighting: Designing with LEED and WELL Lighting Requirements

In this post pandemic world, many offices and community spaces have new, or changed purposes from what they did a few years ago. With more employees working remotely, time spent in the office is often meant for collaborative meetings or training sessions. This is causing some companies to reconfigure their work spaces; reducing footprints in both the building size and energy efficiency. Many businesses, medical facilities, schools, libraries, and community centers have received relief funds for upgrading their HVAC systems, as well as other capital improvements like lighting for promoting healthier spaces.

How do LEED lighting and building standards and WELL building standards impact lighting recommendations? These requirements can create more environmentally friendly spaces while improving the health of the people who will use the space.

In the most basic terms, LEED standards tend to focus on the environmental impact of designs; WELL standards are focused on the health and well-being of the people interacting within the space. Visa Lighting offers many lighting fixtures that are designed with WELL lighting standards and/or LEED lighting standards in mind. All of Visa Lighting’s luminaires meet or exceed the WELL Standard for color quality with 80 CRI or higher with most having an option for 90+ CRI. All of Visa Lighting’s luminaires have the ability to dim 0-10V, which meets the dimming/shading WELL requirements.

Researchers have learned that people who spend their days working solely indoors, in areas with no access to natural light, may develop health problems stemming from a disruption to their circadian rhythm. Visa Lighting’s Unity, Symmetry, and Lenga luminaires all include settings with circadian lighting options following WELL standard guidelines. All of these products are suitable for the workplace, meeting the requirements necessary for use in a healthcare setting for better patient-centered design.

Both WELL and LEED lighting standards require reduced glare in the workspace. Visa Lighting’s Brin Bell pendant light was designed with a flat, acrylic surface to diffuse the LED light sources more evenly and reduce glare more effectively. The result is an energy efficient, high output light, which follows LEED guidelines, provides a pleasant work area, following WELL guidelines.

Another aspect when considering WELL and LEED standards is the acoustic value of the space. Visa Lighting offers three products which can help reduce and absorb sounds. Our Celest-TR, Celest-SQ and Celest-HX acoustic pendant lights can all help to promote a more peaceful, less stressful environment. This will improve the well-being of the people who occupy the space, as well as making the space more comfortable by significantly reducing persistent background sounds. The shape and felt coverings of our Celest products serve to mitigate unwanted noise. To better determine your acoustic needs, Visa Lighting provides an acoustic calculator to help you achieve your WELL and LEED lighting standard goals.