Office Lighting
How Does Natural Light help productivity?
As a business owner, keeping your employees motivated is crucial to having a successful business. Many business owners will utilise incentive programs or team building events to keep the office morale high. There are many possible solutions to keeping your staff motivated and productive. However, one of the most important ways to increase employee performance is by improving the lighting in your office. Have you ever noticed how much happier we’re during the summer in comparison to winter? Aside from the temperature differences. The vitamin D provided by the sun is in fact the cause of our uplifted spirit during summer. So how does natural light help productivity?
As mentioned above, the best source of vitamin D is the sun. When our skin is exposed to the sun it creates vitamin D from cholesterol. The ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, thus providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur. Vitamin D helps to control the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are vital to keeping our bodies healthy. In addition to these benefits, research has shown that natural light helps us to feel more alert, boost our mood and lowers anxiety. These 3 factors translate to high productivity, thus making natural crucial for your office space.
How to enhance natural light in your office
When it comes to office space, lighting is commonly associated with artificial lighting choices such as Fluorescent, Incandescent, and LED. Although artificial lighting is important for enhancing your office lighting, you must take advantage of natural sunlight. Now we understand not every company has unlimited budgets when it comes to finding office location. However, when finding an office for your business you must consider the following:
- For optimal lighting, find an office with plenty of windows to allow as much natural light as possible.
- Place desks near windows for increased natural light. With this in mind, the desks must also be far enough to prevent direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can be very uncomfortable, specifically when its reflecting off white paper.
- Use glass walls for your boardroom, offices, and kitchens if possible. Using glass instead of the traditional partitions will allow natural light to flow freely throughout the office.
- If you opt for desk dividers, ensure their low enough so they don’t block out the natural light.
Consider a lighting control system
As natural light levels change throughout the day you will need to adjust your artificial lights to have a perfect balance of the two. A lighting control system will automatically adjust the brightness of lights in different arears of the building based on the level of natural light coming in from outside. For example, on a gloomy rainy day with minimal natural light, the control system will automatically adjust to provide more light. A lighting control system has many benefits. For instance, cheaper running cost due to less energy being used whenever more natural light is present.
Choose LED Lights
LED lights are durable, low maintenance and good for the environment. The lifespan of LED lights is considerably longer than that of most other lamps, including fluorescents. They can last up to 10 times longer. As well as lasting much longer, they use less energy while producing more light. Finally, LED lights do not contain mercury which is used in many fluorescent lamps.
LED lights that have a colour temperature of less than 3,000 K are the most beneficial for general lighting. The lower the colour temperature, the warmer and yellowish or redder, making it easier on your eyes. This means you will experience less strain when using them.
In comparison to traditional lighting system LED light installation cost is still significantly higher. However, you will make your money back in a short space of time as the running cost of LED lights is a lot lower due to their low energy requirements.
