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Fluorescent lighting, for many, was considered sterile, and commercial. This is no longer the case. Fluorescent fixtures come in every imaginable shape, from a downlight that duplicates the look of incandescent to wall sconces to cove and pendant mounted fixtures. They can be a direct or indirect source, or both.

Fluorescent lamps have improved in many ways as well. The diameter of a standard fluorescent lamp was 1 1/2 inches only a few years ago. Today, the T-5 lamp's diameter is 5/8 inch, making fixture design a whole new ball game.

The color of fluorescent lamps has improved too. Incandescent is used as the gold standard of color, with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 100. Fluorescent lamps are now available with a CRI of 86 and better.

A 4 foot T-5 lamp uses 54 watts, and produces 5,000 initial lumens, giving it an efficacy of 92.6. Compare that to the old T-12 lamp, using 40 watts and producing 3,300 initial lumens. The efficacy of a T-12 was 68. We've come a long way!

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps have also made amazing changes. Once thought of as unusable in interior spaces because of poor color rendition, a new 150-watt metal halide lamp has a CRI of 85. The non-color corrected metal halide has a CRI of just 65 to 70. Now available in many wattages and fixture designs, metal halide takes its place beside fluorescent as an energy efficient choice. However restart still remains an issue.

In addition to these sources, fiber optic lighting has become a viable force in lighting design. There are many available housings and settings where fiber optics changed the way lighting is delivered to a space. The lamp source, ballast and housing can be remote and hidden, while the fiber can be behind glass block or woven through millwork to make a design where the lighting seems to float before your eyes. Color wheels and timers are available to change the lighting automatically.

Cold Cathode lighting, a close relative of neon, can be used to create coves without dark spots, as are sometimes found in other designs. Cold Cathode tubes come in a wide variety of colors, making them competitive with fluorescent lamps. They can be very efficient, making them an excellent choice, whether mounted exposed or concealed from view.

We cannot complete a discussion of energy efficient design without touching on control solutions. Occupancy sensors have been around for many years, but with recent advances in technology, they have become a very easy way to meet new stringent energy codes. In offices where the wall switch has an unobstructed view of the workspace, you can provide a passive infrared wall sensor, which can sense the presence of adequate daylight and keep the lights off when they are not necessary. Individual wall dimmers and dimming systems can lengthen lamp life and cut energy usage, while creating drama and varied atmosphere. Photocells, time clocks, building management system interface and light level switching ballasts are more of the many control choices available on the market today.

With all the new fixtures, lamps and control options on the market, your lighting design can be anything you want it to be. From traditional to high-tech to funky and anything in between, your design can have that beautiful, comfortable and pleasant atmosphere while being extremely energy efficient.