The right lighting for the office

Light plays a central role in the design of office spaces, as the right lighting promotes and increases the work performance and creativity of employees. In companies with high quality design and equipment, productivity increases by up to 36 percent. In addition, the right lighting not only creates the conditions for better vision, but also greater satisfaction at work. Because employees want bright rooms and therefore good lighting. Ergonomic lighting can prevent headaches, eye problems, nervousness and symptoms of fatigue. Light that is too bright or too dark, i.e. generally poor lighting conditions, can in the worst case be the cause of sick building syndrome. Sick building syndrome, or SBS for short, describes non-specific illnesses and symptoms that can occur after a long stay in a building. In addition, obsessive and poor posture can occur if the lighting in the office is not right, which in turn can trigger problems in the shoulder, neck and arm area.

"A survey commissioned by Union Investment showed that light, lighting and bright rooms are particularly important to employees in the office."
Simply work better with good light
- Visual performance is influenced by improved visual conditions that take place at the desk, during presentations and in conversations. Because concentration is increased.
- Pleasant lighting brings emotional quality to the workplace and also provides additional motivation.
Light for older employees is particularly important.
The need for light increases with age. This includes, on the one hand, higher levels of lighting and, on the other hand, careful consideration of the increased sensitivity to glare that comes with age.

Room-related lighting
This is called room-related lighting with uniform light throughout the entire room. This concept is used if the arrangement of the workstations has not yet been determined or if all employees in the room should remain flexible with the arrangement of the workstations at all times. Room-related lighting is usually implemented with direct/indirect pendant lights or large-area lights in and on the ceiling. If the location of a workplace has not yet been determined when planning a new office space, room-related instead of workplace-related lighting must be planned for indoor workplaces according to the DIN standard EN 12464-1.

Workplace-related lighting
The concept of workplace-related lighting focuses, as the name suggests, on the workplace. In this case, the aim is to illuminate the work areas with at least 500 lux. The remaining part of the room, minus an edge zone of 0.5 meters, is illuminated with at least 300 lux. Workplace-related lighting makes particular sense when different workstations in the room are assigned different visual tasks and therefore require individual lighting levels. This means that work islands can also be easily separated from each other. Direct-beam surface-mounted lights, pendant lights or floor lamps with direct/indirect light distribution are suitable as workplace lighting.

Conclusion
In conclusion, light plays a key role when it comes to the health and well-being of employees. In offices, the optimal lighting solution creates perfect conditions for employee performance and productivity. Proper lighting reduces the likelihood of errors, supports visual performance and increases workplace satisfaction.