Achieving Net Zero Lighting at Your Office Building

Led Lighting: A Great Option for Net Zero Buildings

If you are looking to transform your office into a net zero building, the lighting you choose will have a huge impact on your success. It is crucial that your lighting be very energy efficient; LEDs will be your best option for efficiency, and they have the added benefit of running cool (so they won’t increase your air conditioning needs). Adding totally-off-grid solar lighting where possible is another great way to reduce energy consumption. Read on to find out more about both of these options!

Green Lighting Tip: Pick the Top lm/W Lights

To get the most out of your LED lighting, you want to choose fixtures that have a high luminous efficacy (sometimes called lm/W). This choice will ensure you are using as little power as possible without reducing the amount of illumination in your space.

Main Aspects of Net Zero Building Design

When it comes to designing a net zero office, there are many specifications to meet and ideas to consider. The main aspects integral to a Net Zero Building Design include:

• Having solar panels installed on your roof/property, or having another green energy alternative to powering your commercial location,
• Properly insulating and situating window locations to maximize your temperature control,
• And choosing ultra-efficient lighting and appliances to reduce the energy needs of your building.

In this article, we will be focusing on just one point of net zero design: Ultra-Efficient Lighting. We’ll go over the best options for inside your net zero building and for adding net zero lighting outside your building, too.

Net Zero Lighting Plan for Indoors: Energy-Efficient LEDs

To achieve a net zero commercial building, choosing lights that have the lowest draw of energy possible should be top-of-mind. For inside your office building, a good rule of thumb is to look for lighting with a luminous efficacy above 150 lm/W. To see some options in this high efficiency category, check out our full array of net-zero-friendly lighting!

A great option to consider for retrofit applications option is LED strip lighting. Replacing fluorescent tubes with LED strip lights will improve the efficiency of existing ceiling lighting by 50-75% on average. Strips are also cost effective and easy to install. Our current selection of LED strips includes options >180 lm/W, which is a super-efficient luminous efficacy for your net zero office.

Green Lighting Tip: Recycle Your Tubes

During your net zero upgrade, you could end up with a lot of used fluorescent tubes that you may not know what to do with. The safest and simplest disposal method is to recycle your fluorescent tubes as hazardous waste by using one of our select a mail-back recycling kits!

Net Zero Lighting Plan for Outdoors: Solar LEDs

To achieve net zero lighting outside your commercial building, your best option is going off-grid with solar powered lights. In addition to costing you nothing in electricity, solar lights are also super easy to install. No hard wiring, trench digging, or power connecting needed; simply mount on a wall, pole, or other structure and let them run!

Want to see some great solar light options for parking lots and walkways? Check out the newest addition to our off-grid, zero-energy-usage outdoor lighting collection:

Get Started with Your Net Zero Lighting Project

Whether you are planning on building a new net zero office building or retrofitting an existing office to meet net zero standards, our team can help get your lighting up to spec. By putting top-efficiency LED lights inside and zero-energy-usage solar LED lights outside, you will be on your way to net zero lighting operation. Reach out today to receive a lighting layout, product recommendations, design services, recycling services, and more!