Lighting for net zero

A new paper published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), has explored the world of lighting in our journey to hit net zero targets.

This paper outlines progress and priorities for lighting with a focus on efficiency, circularity and daylighting as we transition our buildings to net zero and beyond.

Key findings

Our headline recommendations for lighting to continue to be a successful part of the net zero pathway include:

More empirical research on how the successful rollout of low energy lighting has impacted energy use in homes and business buildings
Consideration to the extension of building regulation requirements for lighting controls in our buildings for both homes and offices
Setting a trajectory for building regulations to address embodied carbon emissions including those from lighting.
Lighting manufacturing and markets needing to be designed for circularity
The planning process to emphasise the benefits of daylight
The development of a building daylight indicator to allow for an early comparison between buildings and the consideration of daylight against other aspects of sustainability.