Gitesh Agarwal, CMO at D&M Building Products Pvt. Ltd., an integrated interior solutions provider, shares insights on the changing lighting needs in modern offices
When you look at service-oriented business like in IT, BFSI, R&D etc, the modern day worker has found a new freedom - freedom from geographical barriers, work from anywhere, increased collaboration, work spaces which are 'Agile' and 'Activity based', hot desking, and plug in/out.
Lighting is the most intangible asset that makes everything tangibly visible. It also affects health directly, both at the eye level and in the body, by affecting emotions and chemical reactions. The modern office thus, has to enable and ensure that the lighting too is equally flexible, sufficient, uniform, and available where it is needed. Also, since lighting is a major consumer of energy, modern day lighting has to be intelligent, efficient, and effective.
Light plays a crucial role for the ergonomics of a workplace. Good office lighting supports visual tasks and contributes to well-being. The luminous intensity at workplaces should be at least 500 Lux. Workplace-related office lighting include-classical workplace luminaires (desk luminaires), standard luminaires, ceiling luminaires, luminaires for desk-mounting or suspended luminaires, all of which offer best options for an individual lighting solution at workplaces. These luminaires can be switched on or dimmed to meet personal needs. Furthermore, desk luminaires represent highly flexible office lighting. They can be repositioned easily if the workplace situation changes. Mounted luminaires, wall-mounted luminaires, or tubular luminaires also provide the right lighting in office and administration buildings.
IOT is increasingly finding a happy partnership with lighting, along with sensors that harmonise with daylight and human presence. The shape of things would soon find wireless energy further changing how we absorb light. LED, with advancements, lowering of pricing, and initiatives by both the Government and the Industry, is helping the cause of quick migration. LED is now increasingly omnipresent, altogether due to its efficiency, flexibility, effectiveness, and modularity. It is also easily becoming intelligent. Automation, IOT, Tunable LEDs, Emotional, and Healthy lighting, the progress has been swift and will change for the better. Though, we have to be educated on good and better lighting.
Besides LEDs, all the old lighting lamps still remain. The CFL will not go out so easily. Incandescent and Tungsten Halogen have their own fan following, especially amongst the Lighting designers, who find them the most effective when it comes to enhancing colour play. But I think the writing on the wall is clear: LEDs that mimic these and get better and cheaper will become an automatic choice, since energy is becoming more and more expensive. LED is also greener since it is more energy- efficient.
Waldmann is committed to develop energy saving solutions with its innovative and sustainable luminaires and lighting systems that are of high-quality and people-oriented, and are characterised by easily comprehensible installation and application, modern design and a favourable price-performance ratio. The passion for light continues at Waldmann since its establishment in 1928. Today, its product range includes luminaires and lighting systems for offices, industry, health and care, and systems for medical phototherapy. Its 'made in Germany' products, especially in luminaire groups networked to buildings and users, ensure continuous optimisation of health, safety, productivity, and energy efficiency.
With a focus on Design and Sustainability, Waldmann aims to obtain maximum functionality with minimalistic design. It considers the design of an office luminaire from a holistic point of view and not isolated, and actively includes all parameters regarding modern office concepts, furnishings and furniture systems in the design process. As a result of this interdisciplinary working method and high-quality design objects, it is capable of meeting all current and future requirements of modern office lighting that include discreet appearance, optimum user-friendliness, and compatibility with different ambiences.
"Automation, IOT, Tunable LEDs, Emotional and Healthy lighting… the progress has been swift and will change for the better; though we have to be educated on good and better lighting"
Office environments today, are characterized by flexibility, mobility, and new technologies. This is why lighting has to take into account different zones and areas, and be attuned to work content, job profile, and the personal needs of the user. Latest workspace lighting solutions offered by D&M India, the exclusive partner of Herbert Waldmann GmbH & Co. KG, include PARA.MI and LAVIGO. The PARA.MI task luminaire comes in a range of basic forms and colours that can be combined freely to ensure optimal lighting and bring maximum individuality to the work place. The task luminaire allows individual elements and colours to be combined into one, whichever way one wants it. Options include a round or square luminaire head, adjustable single or double arm, round or square base, and various connection possibilities for furniture, combined with high-quality surfaces in black, white, silver or red. So, personal design features and adjustments for the modern office environment have no boundaries.
The characteristic joints are an especially attractive feature in an otherwise unobtrusive design. These maintenance-free, self-locking joints allow a high degree of adjustability. A bright LED module creates homogeneous, wide-angle task lighting, which is dimmable and glare-free thanks to a specially developed reflector. In addition, with only 8 W of installed consumption and upto 700 lux, PARA.MI is also an outstanding energy-saving measure.
Lavigo is simple, minimalistic in design, and provides maximum functionality for efficient lighting at the workplace. The free-standing LED luminaire is limited to a rectangular form. Designed by architects at Structurelab in Düsseldorf, it combines classic design with innovative technology. It has a flat luminaire head with a horizontal beam, and its clear, reduced design gives the luminaire a homogeneous overall look that is compatible with a number of furniture systems and most suitable for the modern office. It is available in three different performance classes and a range of connection, and model variants, which enables the luminaire to meet different planning and workplace requirements. The Pulse daylight and presence sensor technology can be integrated to ensure optimized energy consumption, while Pulse Talk enables wireless communication between several luminaires as an option, thus preventing islands of light.
The new LAVIGO free-standing luminaire, is a further development of the highly efficient Waldmann LED luminaires, with homogeneous light for office work stations. Combined with the new Pulse VTL lighting management system for biodynamic direction of light, it imitates the natural course of daylight in the office, promoting a feeling of well-being to the office occupants.
