The Role Lighting Can Play in Meeting Sustainability Commitments
Commercial, real estate, industrial, and residential projects alike are leaning into sustainability initiatives that often pursue net-zero building goals.
While these projects leverage sustainable building materials, high-efficiency HVAC systems, and renewable energy sources to lower carbon footprints, electrification is a major factor that can improve building performance.
What Is a Net-Zero Building?
A net-zero building is designed to produce only as much energy as it consumes over a given period. There are specific factors that help achieve this balance:
- Energy-efficient materials, appliances, and construction processes that reduce energy demand and strengthen the building envelope
- Leveraging renewable sources for energy generation, like solar panels, geothermal heating, and wind turbines
- Advanced building controls that reduce energy use with automatic adjustments and shut-offs, especially during off-hours
- Sustainable design practices that take a “circle-of-life” approach, using recyclable materials that stay out of dumps
As a building’s energy demands decrease, it becomes more cost-effective to operate and better-positioned to achieve net-zero status through renewable energy systems.
Lighting can be a major factor in reducing energy use and contributing to net-zero building goals – but before we understand how it can help with achieving energy efficiency goals, let’s explore how traditional lighting has had an opposite effect on energy consumption.
Lighting Has Historically Consumed Significant Energy in Homes and Buildings
The US Energy Information Administration conducts surveys of electricity consumption from residential, commercial, and facility lighting installations in the US.
- In 2020, lighting accounted for 6% (81 billion kilowatt-hours [kWh]) of electricity consumption in U.S. homes.
- In 2018, lighting accounted for 17% (208 billion kWh) of electricity consumption by U.S. commercial buildings.
- In 2018, lighting accounted for 6% (53 billion kWh) of total electricity use at U.S. manufacturing facilities.
As a reminder, a kilowatt-hour is the energy needed to run a single 1,000-watt appliance for one hour. The 208 billion kWh consumption by U.S. commercial buildings is enough to power 20 million homes for an entire year!
While advances in LED technology have dramatically improved lighting efficiency in the past few years, these numbers demonstrate there is more work to be done – and the various benefits of high-efficiency lighting can play a pivotal role in achieving net-zero energy goals.
1. Reducing Operational Carbon Emissions
Lowering kilowatt-hours of electricity usage directly translates into a smaller carbon footprint. Many energy generation sources remain carbon-intensive, but lighting is one substantial way to make a difference. High-efficiency lighting contributes to decarbonization by:
- Decreasing electricity consumption
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Minimizing peak demand requirements
- Supporting corporate sustainability initiatives
LED lighting uses 80% less energy than conventional incandescent bulbs, and lasts up to 20 times longer – and both benefits are major impacts to reducing carbon emissions.
Continued lighting advancements are making it even easier to achieve significant energy reductions—such as Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, which allows for more power in a smaller package so LED lighting fixtures can do more with less.
Dive Deeper: Using GaN for Sustainability Gains
2. Decreasing the Size of Renewable Systems
A challenge with achieving net-zero performance is generating enough renewable energy to offset building consumption. The International Energy Agency released a report stating that the world must double the rate of transition to renewable energy to have any chance of achieving net zero carbon by 2050 – and as a result, net-zero buildings often require larger renewable systems.
On a smaller scale for buildings and homes, this logic still applies. By reducing lighting loads, building owners may be able to:
- Install fewer solar panels
- Reduce battery storage requirements
- Lower renewable infrastructure costs
- Improve overall project economics
Often, the lowest-cost energy solution is one that never needs to be generated in the first place.
Dive Deeper: The True Cost of Low-Cost Lighting
3. Using Advanced Controls to Increase Savings
Today’s high-efficiency lighting systems deliver reductions beyond the fixture performance alone. Smart controls that automate and program lighting usage go a long way in lowering energy consumption:
- Occupancy and vacancy sensing: Lighting systems can turn on when they sense people entering a space, and turn off when there is no movement detected. Think of restrooms where the lights automatically turn on when you open the door.
- Daylight harvesting: Lights will turn off or dim when they sense enough sunlight is available to illuminate a space.
- Scheduling/timers: Lighting can be set to automatically turn on or off at specific times of the day – or days of the week – eliminating the risk of lights being left on in unused rooms or after hours.
- Task tuning: This lighting control strategy refines light levels to the exact needs of a space or user, reducing eye strain, energy use, and overly bright lighting.
- Networked lighting controls: Fixtures, sensors, and controllers can be linked using intelligent, interconnected lighting systems across a building or campus. With centralized management, automated scheduling, and special features like daylight harvesting, they optimize energy consumption.
Smart, demand-driven lighting optimizes operational savings while driving down energy consumption.. In many cases, these upgrades also qualify for major utility rebates.
Dive Deeper: Three Commercial Lighting Trends
4. Supporting ESG Goals and Green Building Certifications
Whether satisfying investor, regulator, or customer demands for sustainability gains, lighting is an effective way to achieve measurable progress. Efficient lighting improvements provide demonstrable results that support:
- ESG Reporting
- Sustainability disclosures
- Corporate carbon reduction goals
- Energy benchmarking programs
- Green building certifications
- LEED certification
- WELL Building Standard
- Living Building Challenge
Earn credits related to energy performance and make it easier to measure and verify energy reductions and other efficiency gains related to occupant comfort and building function.
Lighting Is Driving the Future of Sustainable Construction
Net-zero building adoption is only growing, and advancements in lighting technology are helping every building system reduce its energy demand and carbon emissions.
The right high-efficiency lighting solutions deliver a practical, cost-effective, and scalable tool for designers, developers, facility managers, and building owners pursuing net-zero building goals.
In addition, as the built environment trends toward decarbonization, lighting needs to be considered not just as an isolated part of the electrical system, but as a strategic component of the structure’s overall sustainability story.
FAQs About High-Efficiency Lighting and Net-Zero Buildings
How does lighting contribute to net-zero building performance?
Lighting contributes by reducing overall building energy consumption, which lowers carbon emissions and decreases the amount of renewable energy needed to offset building operations.
Can LED lighting alone help a building achieve net-zero status?
LED lighting alone is unlikely to achieve net-zero performance, but it is an important component of a broader strategy that includes efficient HVAC systems, building envelope improvements, renewable energy, and advanced controls.
What lighting controls provide the greatest energy savings?
Occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting systems, scheduling controls, task tuning, and networked lighting controls often deliver substantial energy reductions beyond fixture efficiency improvements.
Why is lighting important for ESG and sustainability initiatives?
Lighting upgrades produce measurable reductions in energy use and carbon emissions, making them valuable tools for demonstrating progress toward ESG goals, sustainability targets, and environmental reporting requirements.
How can developers incorporate lighting into net-zero building design?
Developers can specify high-efficacy fixtures, integrate advanced controls, optimize daylight utilization, reduce unnecessary lighting loads, and select systems designed for long-term energy performance and operational efficiency.