Clarity Lighting's LEDs at Zeebar, Bristol click to enlarge
Lighting designer Sharon Stammers, Associate with Phoenix/Large Lightmatters, has her own take on the LED revolution...
innovate don't renovate with leds
So another year passes and a whole host of LED products - all ready and primed to leap off the shelves and into our specifications - wash in through the doors of our practice.
And this time round they are bigger, brighter, cooler, have longer lives, they sing, they dance (not really - you haven't missed any crucial LED developments) and are still set to replace all the other sources we have ever known! Well that's what I am being told.
As a consultant, the amount and variety of products that pass before our eyes in a conveyer belt fashion is mind boggling. If there's a type of luminaire out there, you can bet there's an LED version in the new catalogue. If it's not there yet, then it's in development.
This bombardment is bewildering and detracts from the real issues regarding the integration of the LED into lighting design today. We have held open our arms and embraced the fittings the little devils have been put into without any deep consideration of whether the approach is right.
As the hype is so good, we are all merrily designing them into schemes mostly, I believe, because we have been told that we should be using them. In much the same way as it is hard to imagine a world before email or Autocad, it did exist! Drawings were drawn and communication took place. The applications that LEDs are currently used for were previously filled by other technologies before this tiny source of joy hit the scene. It isn't a given that the LED is saving the day.
I cannot possibly deny the good things about using the LED as a light source. Its tough construction makes it ideal for locations needing a robust source to withstand vibrations, ie, in cars/boats/traffic management. It's safe in damp locations due to its low voltage operation and thus perfect in bathrooms and water features. The extended period of useful life makes it a great choice for locations where maintenance is an issue and as it doesn't really fail, it just gets dimmer, it's a useful source for emergency lighting. LEDs are a wonderful way to achieve coloured light compared to filtering white light as they lose no energy and they run the coolest of all the sources on offer.
Anyhow - you know the drill. Most of us do and therefore resent being taken for a fool by so many manufacturers. They really can't just take this invention, pop it on a circuit board and stick it inside a stainless steel pot/extrusion/box - delete as appropriate.
Current industry criticism tends to fall on the technical elements of LED development not on their application and the fittings that we are being offered.
The vast majority of LED luminaries are no more sophisticated than what happened with the poor old CFL. They got stuck into any old fitting. A more responsible and forward thinking approach is needed. The LED cannot saturate the market just because its available, it must be used because its appropriate and a fitting has been developed to harness that application. The marker light days are over!
All the advantages of LEDs are determined by good luminaire design; life, efficacy, heat output are all variables that can change according to the design of the luminaire
What is most exciting are the companies that are looking at LEDs as a serious source of light and creating off the peg solutions to a variety of applications. They are blessed with the foresight that rather than replacing other technologies, LEDs have the possibility to create new markets because they are able to achieve applications that were hitherto not feasible.
The potential that LEDs have to change and shape the way we light our environments is phenomenal. Lumileds are quoting packages of up to 50W with efficacy of 35-40W/lumen and similar in colour to tungsten lamps. The environmental impact of this development is huge. Sophisticated ideas where lighting is responsive to sensors/amount of people/traffic etc create endless possibilities for energy management and urban development.
New LED technologies such as quantum dots and organic LEDs could shape the future of lighting and the way we live our lives. Interior design, the information superhighway, lighting and entertainment could all merge with innovative use of the LED.
The revolution is not happening in the hands of luminaire manufacturers, its bigger than that. As consultants we should see further than colour change floodlights and start to imagine and encourage developments that challenge this new source and use it to its full potential. Think innovation not replacement technology!