The Fabric of our Society

May 2022

Considering the Lifecycle of the Luminaire

Jess Kaller

A wholesale shift will be required for the lighting industry to develop environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices, and then to further that effort to sustainable employment practices. Prioritizing people, then product, then money is critical, plus ensuring that manufacturers are financially stable and remain in the sector long term. There’s a sweet spot for market pricing that’s also competitive with legacy products, so that the use of sustainable products and practices can become the industry norm. I firmly believe that these changes are possible and am excited to be part of the industry as we navigate the shift to prioritizing sustainability.

For me, Declare labels resonate as today’s best step in the right direction. In the same sense that we require ingredient lists in our food products, empowering consumers to make their own informed decisions, listing materials allows specifiers and end-users the same type of decision making process. We see nutritional trends change over time as we learn more about different ingredients. Trends and continued research in the lighting space likewise shift our perceptions about different materials over time. Having component information available will empower consumer choice, now and in the future.

Compiling the information and presenting it to designers and end-users will allow industry partners to make their own judgements. The downside of this strategy is that the onus of research and making product-by-product comparisons falls squarely on specifiers. This is where IES guidance can be crucial: providing guidance as we continue to flesh out best practices for the industry. The IES Sustainability Committee has a significant role to play moving the ball forward and shaping industry behavior across the manufacturing and design segments.

Driving Change
I hear often that we need sustainable options for specifiers without having an
increase in costs. The reality is that broad changes are underway in manufacturing: using more sustainable materials and processes, lifecycle analysis and end-of-life planning, and accounting for living wages globally. In addition, we must acknowledge the real costs associated with research and development, in addition to trademark and patent preservation. Early adopters are taking on real costs when they decide to invest in sustainability as a priority. This makes “voting with your spec” so important to furthering real change.

Lighting designers are particularly responsible for driving the shift to sustainable lighting. Manufacturers already do take on considerable cost and effort to shift their design, engineering, and R&D to accommodate demand from the design community. Further, lighting designers drive the conversation among architects, contractors, clients, and beyond to acknowledge the real benefits to human and environmental health brought by deploying sustainable products.

I acknowledge that the lighting industry is behind in developing environmental and healthy materials; flooring, paint, furnishings, etc. are all ahead of us by a decade. However, this can be reframed as an opportunity for significant growth and improvement, informed by those industries that have preceded us. Our first phase of environmental shift focused on energy efficiency, and Wow! Tremendous progress. Now we take a hard look at inputs and lifecycle, which will give a holistic look at product impact over time; at the points of production, use, and then post-use or re-use.

As a lifelong environmentalist, I am ecstatic that we find ourselves in a perfect moment of opportunity to come together from both the design and manufacturing side to drive real change. Specifying products that have taken into account any number of factors that contribute to a more sustainable future is a great practice for showing manufacturers that their investment in sustainable products is, and will continue to be rewarded. Beyond specifications, the new Lighting Industry LCA Incubator and Lighting Advocacy Letter are powerful indicators that we are ready for real change.

Lighting advocacy letter
Inspired by the AIA Materials Pledge, the Lighting Advocacy Letter is a lighting designer–led initiative “intended to inspire a collective dialogue with the lighting manufacturing community about how to align intent and action around a common framework for sustainability.” I wholeheartedly support this effort and encourage lighting design firms, large and small, to endorse these goals for lighting manufacturers:
● Provide publicly available material ingredient disclosure information
● Provide publicly available environmental impact disclosure information
● Do not stop at material transparency, but strive for optimization

In return, the specification community commits to sharing education and best practices to elucidate material content and optimize luminaires. Aligning our interests as much as possible helps to focus on attainable steps toward common goals. Steps that are practicable for as many manufacturers as possible. That's how we will drive the rapid change that is so desperately needed.

Jess Kaller is Principal and Owner of Jess Kaller Design, a full-service design-build consulting firm. She utilizes her skillset and industry partnerships to streamline the design-build process and bring value to high-end residential and commercial projects.

Sustainability and lighting
/Lighting is a powerful tool/
Thing’s we’re considering:
Rohas compliance
Lifetime of products - building to stand the test of time, not only long lasting but
classic design that won’t go out of style
Energy efficiency
Responsible supply chain
Balancing costs associated with sustainability

What are designers looking for?
EPDs, Declare labels, HPDs, living product challenge labels, just companies, impact on climate and human health
Equity - embodied carbon - transparency

IES has chosen to focus on the lifecycle of the luminaire and how it relates back to the design process.

Looking for a “wholesale” shift so that the entire industry develops sustainable
manufacturing practices; beyond that sustainability of employees

People, product, money (mfgs that are financially stable and can be around for a long time is also critical to sustainability), → while also hitting a sweet spot with market pricing that’s competitive so that the use of sustainable products can become the industry norm.

Declare labels resonate for me as the best step in the right direction. In the same sense that we require ingredient lists in our food products which empowers consumers to make their own informed decisions, listed materials allows for the same kind of decision making process for specifiers and end users. Just like nutritional trends change over time as we learn more about how different ingredients work in our bodies there is also a factor of trends in this space, and continued research shifts our perceptions about different ingredients over time- I believe that compiling the information and presenting it to designers and end users will allow for industry partners to make their own judgements over time. The double edge of this conundrum is that the onus of doing the research and making product by product decisions falls largely on specifiers. This is where IES guidance is critical in providing guidance as we continue to flush out best practices for the industry. The IES sustainability committee has a significant role to play moving forward to shape industry behavior across the manufacturing and design process.

I hear often that we need to have sustainable options for specifiers without having an increase in costs. The reality is that making manufacturing changes that account for more sustainable materials, life cycle analysis and end of life planning, living wages for those involved in the manufacturing process, which makes “voting with your specification choices” so important to driving real change in the industry.

Lighting designers are heavily responsible for driving the shift to sustainable lighting. Manufacturers are going to take on considerable costs to shift their research and development to address requests from the design community. Furthermore, lighting designers drive the conversation between architects, contractors, clients and beyond to acknowledge the real benefits to human and environmental health by utilizing sustainable products.

We should acknowledge that the lighting industry is “behind” in development of environmental and healthy materials - flooring, paint, furnishings, etc have all been in development for about a decade. However this can be reframed as a fantastic opportunity for significant growth and improvement. Our first phase of environmental shift focused on energy efficiency and now we get to take a hard look at inputs and lifecycle which will give a wholistic look at product impact over time at the point of production, use, post use or e-use.