The “Lifeless” Office

With almost 4 decades in commercial lighting, I remain stunned by a staggering misconception when it comes to office lighting. We function as if the office itself needs light… it does not.

It does just fine by itself at night and yet we continue to “light buildings” instead of enhancing the environment for better human performance and productivity, the very reason it was built.

Human Beings however are dependent on light; Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally.

There is an old phrase worth remembering. “Light brings life…”

Our earth and everything alive on it is completely dependent on our sun for life and that includes us. Yet it is ironic when we list what is crucial for human beings to survive, we always stop at the air, water, and food, which do not exist without sunlight and its dynamic changing patterns.

Yet when denied natural light for longer periods of time, we become unable to function in a useful or productive manner, and our health and wellness begin to suffer at the same time.

Even today, something as simple as disrupted sleep cycles can throw our human body “curve balls” and cause overall health and wellness issues as we are completely reliant upon aspects of natural light.

At a minimum, these are inconvenient and are known to affect human performance, and likely become even more serious over time.

Yet the commercial lighting world seems more concerned with the goals of efficiency, substantiality, and aesthetics as primary within a space with little emphasis on the owner’s and employee’s needs beyond enough light to perform a given task.

Again, mostly “building driven outcomes” not business and personnel outcomes.

I want to be clear these are worthy goals, but where is the critical piece? Where is the prize, the crowning achievement? Where is the lighting applied to make human beings more efficient, effective, and productive?

I have been told that is not a primary function of the lighting system… That the function of the lighting system is to provide a quantity of useful and efficient light, and the managing of personnel is left to ownership. Indeed, it is.

This statement by itself is not wrong but instead incredibly “shortsighted.”

Is lighting not an investment primarily made to ensure the safety and productivity of the employees? And yet, to what extent have we as an industry moved forward in the fulfillment of the human and business needs within these spaces? More skylights and windows with little of the workspaces receiving equal or adequate amounts in the mid-size to smaller office spaces.

Unfortunately, in most cases, we leave the typical office space a “virtual desert” when it could be flourishing with natural vibrancy, productivity, and higher general health and wellness of personnel which naturally drives the business goals faster and further at a minimum.

What is the value of the right idea at the right time? Most would say priceless.

Many business owners will quickly acknowledge the success of their company is in the hands of those they employ. Yet the business goal of attracting the best and brightest is both costly and difficult to retain as well in today’s competitive workforce.

Perhaps getting the best from your staff and creating a more desirable workplace would be an ideal start… The bulk of businesses have less than perfect lighting, to begin with.

Most are using “what was there” from years ago with little to no control (on/off) in most areas. Most are older fluorescent fixtures that typically are not well-maintained and struggle to produce proper levels of light. It is common for some lighting fixtures to not work at all and are simply tolerated remaining in that state indefinitely…

Even a typical “updated” lighting system is either LED tube replacements for fluorescents or even LED fixtures both of which normally feature only On or Off control.

There is a better way, where the lighting can be everything you wanted it to be including more than you ever expected… GENISYS can breathe new life into your office lighting and make positive impacts you never expected.

Who we are and why GENISYS is unique?

GENISYS PoE Lighting traces its roots to 1993 when our parent company, Innovative Lighting was one of only a handful of LED Lighting Manufacturers in the world… pioneering the development of colored LED lighting products for marine pleasure craft and truck and trailer lighting.

Just 6 years later we are at the forefront of LED lighting once again this time building white light LED commercial lighting fixtures well ahead of the big lighting companies who would take years to catch up. In the process, we were garnering business awards and became recognized as pioneers of LED lighting.

We had no idea we would lead the third wave of the LED Lighting evolution as well… Power over Ethernet or PoE Lighting. We date our conceptual work to 2008 as we were already building LED fixtures without LED drivers and using low voltage cabling to drive them. In 2012 we are designing, manufacturing, and deploying PoE Lighting Systems.

GENISYS PoE Lighting remains true to its original goal, by enhancing business environments, delivering high value to employees, with an incredibly efficient effective lighting system, and creating greater personal satisfaction, productivity, and health and wellness benefits while putting you in control.

We welcome your questions and comments and are happy to share additional information.

Contact: Wendell Strong, GENISYS PoE Lighting Manager wstrong@genisyslighting.com  515.783.5712

This content is the exclusive property of GENISYS PoE Lighting and Innovative Lighting and may not be used without our express permission.

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