COMMENTARY: Good Light – The Next Growth Story for Our Lighting Industry

For more than a century, the lighting industry has continuously reinvented itself.

We moved from incandescent lamps to more efficient lighting technologies. We embraced LEDs and substantially reduced energy consumption. We introduced digital controls, connectivity and intelligent lighting systems. Each of these innovations created new markets, new business opportunities and, most importantly, better lighting.

Today, I believe we are at the beginning of another transformation. Human Centric Lighting, Integrative Lighting, or simply good light, has the potential to become the next growth story for our industry.

What began as an emerging area of scientific research has developed into a rapidly expanding body of evidence on the effects of light on sleep, alertness, wellbeing and human performance.

Light remains one of the most overlooked elements of healthy buildings. Yet poor sleep has become one of the greatest public health challenges of our time, and improving the quality of indoor lighting during the day and evening remains a largely untapped opportunity.

The Timing Could Hardly Be Better

The lighting industry can be proud of what it has achieved. LED technology has reduced lighting energy consumption to a fraction of what it was two decades ago. But as products become increasingly efficient and commoditized, energy savings alone are no longer enough to drive future growth. Our industry needs a broader value proposition.

That opportunity lies not in the electricity bill, but in the people inside the building.

Buildings exist to serve people. Offices support productive work. Schools support learning. Hospitals support recovery. Homes support comfort and wellbeing. In every one of these environments, people represent by far the greatest value.

If lighting can contribute, even modestly, to better sleep, greater alertness, improved mood or enhanced performance, its value far exceeds the cost of the energy it consumes.

Expanding the Value of Lighting

For many years, we have primarily explained the value of lighting in terms of visibility, aesthetics and energy efficiency.

Those remain essential. Good light builds upon them rather than replacing them. Good light must first allow us to see comfortably, create attractive spaces and use energy responsibly. It adds another dimension: supporting the people who spend almost 90 percent of their lives indoors.

Good light should not be reduced to a single metric or technology. It is not simply about melanopic quantities or dynamic lighting systems. It is about designing indoor environments that work in harmony with human biology.

Daylight, electric lighting, architecture, controls and user behavior all contribute to that objective. Ultimately, good light is about creating indoor environments that support health, wellbeing and human performance.

From Lighting Infrastructure to Human Value

For all these reasons, I am optimistic about the future of our industry.

Our scientific understanding continues to evolve, and we should always distinguish between established evidence and promising new research. Independent dialogue between scientists, lighting professionals and industry will remain essential to translate new knowledge into lighting solutions that create real value for people.

Good light offers the opportunity to redefine the role of lighting: from infrastructure that helps us see to an environmental factor that actively supports health, wellbeing and human performance.

It opens the door to a new generation of lighting solutions, products and services.

By creating greater value for people, good light benefits society and provides new opportunities for our industry while laying the foundation for sustainable and profitable growth.

The next chapter of lighting will therefore not be defined by efficiency alone. It will increasingly be defined by what light can do for people.

About Jan Denneman

Jan Denneman is a physicist, lighting expert and international speaker with more than 45 years of international experience in the lighting industry. He held senior leadership positions at Philips Lighting (now Signify) and served as Chairman of both the Global Lighting Association and LightingEurope.

He is the founder and Chairman of the Good Light Group, an independent international non-profit organization that promotes healthy indoor lighting through science, education and collaboration.

His work focuses on increasing awareness of the effects of light on the circadian system and its impact on sleep, daytime alertness, mood, health and wellbeing. Through the Good Light Group, publications and international speaking engagements, he translates scientific knowledge into practical guidance for people and organizations.

His mission is to change the way we think about light and make the right light at the right time a natural part of a healthy lifestyle.

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