Executive Summary

• Alan Jackson, intelligent lighting evangelist and business development specialist at Helvar, outlines why a specifier must care about tenant wellbeing for commercial real estate
• As connected buildings and AI continue to evolve, the temptation is that more technology automatically creates more value – but that is not always the case
• Frameworks such as WELL, BREEAM, and LEED recognise that the experience of occupants is becoming just as important as the performance of the building itself

 

For decades, commercial lighting was judged by a single question: how much energy does it save?

Today, that question is no longer enough.

Energy efficiency is the baseline. The real driver of commercial real estate value is the occupant experience. JLL research confirms that green-certified office assets command rental premiums ranging from 7.1% to 11.6% globally, while properties lacking these experiential and sustainable practices face a “brown discount”, leading to lower rental income and reduced sales prices. For the electrical specifier, this changes everything. Clients are actively chasing these rental premiums, and delivering them requires open, data-rich control systems that go far beyond simple illumination.

Occupant experience is becoming the new measure of building performance

The workplace has fundamentally changed. People no longer come to the office simply because they have to. They choose whether the workplace is worth the journey. That means every aspect of the built environment matters: lighting, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, space utilisation, and ease of using the building. Together, these elements define how occupants experience a building every day.

Why should a specifier care about tenant wellbeing? Because when a client asks for a smart, data-rich building and the specifier installs a rigid, proprietary system, the specifier takes the blame. You need to deliver high-end tenant experiences without trapping your clients in a closed ecosystem.

The best intelligent buildings are often the least noticeable

As connected buildings and AI continue to evolve, it’s tempting to assume that more technology automatically creates more value. It doesn’t. Complexity is not the same as intelligence.

The most successful intelligent buildings are the ones where technology quietly removes friction. Achieving rigorous building certifications like WELL, LEED, NABERS, or BREEAM is incredibly difficult if you use a closed-loop lighting system that refuses to share data with the HVAC or building management system. Frameworks like these heavily weight Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), which demands the automated integration of lighting, thermal, and acoustic controls. Building your network on open standards ensures the interoperability required to hit these certification targets without creating operational headaches for the end user.

From building data to business intelligence

Because a lighting grid covers every square metre of a workspace, it is the most logical network for gathering operational insight. But data without context is just noise.

Electrical specifiers add massive value to a project when they specify systems that turn raw data into actual business intelligence. For example, a facility manager might assume they need more space, only to have the lighting network’s occupancy sensors reveal that 40% of their meeting rooms sit empty despite constant calendar bookings. By relying on open standards like DALI, you give the client the exact data they need to right-size their real estate, reduce HVAC loads, and see when maintenance is actually required. You stop installing lights and start installing the nervous system of the building.

EPBD is accelerating a new era of building performance

The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) represents far more than another compliance requirement. Buildings must demonstrate that they operate efficiently throughout their lifetime, not simply perform well at handover.

This requires connected systems, actionable operational data, and buildings that continuously adapt. This is where a product-centric approach fails. Dropping off a control box at handover leaves the electrical contractor holding the liability if the client cannot figure out how to use the system. Achieving long-term EPBD compliance requires a partner who educates and supports the project for the life of the building. Lighting has a central role to play in that transformation.

From energy efficiency to occupant experience

Reducing energy consumption is no longer the finish line for intelligent lighting. Today, the electrical specifier is being asked to deliver complex outcomes like improved space utilisation and enhanced occupant wellbeing.

Modern lighting systems help organisations reduce operating costs, improve space utilisation, enhance occupant wellbeing, support ESG and EPBD objectives, simplify facilities management, and future-proof assets through open, interoperable technologies.

Frameworks such as WELL, BREEAM, and LEED recognise that the experience of occupants is becoming just as important as the performance of the building itself.

Conclusion

For decades, our industry measured success by how efficiently buildings consumed energy. Over the next decade, we will increasingly measure success by the quality of the occupant experience they deliver. The organisations that succeed will be those that understand these two objectives are not competing priorities, they are complementary.

Because buildings that support health, wellbeing, comfort, productivity, and sustainability also become buildings that protect long-term asset value. The future of commercial buildings is not about adding more technology. It is about creating buildings that understand the people inside them. When you specify open, adaptable systems, you do more than light a space. You ensure the building remains valuable, compliant, and comfortable long after the project handover.

About the author: Alan Jackson is a leading authority figure within the lighting industry because of his broad knowledge in intelligent lighting and networked buildings, and years of management and leadership experience. Alan’s interest and passion is people, the environment, wellbeing, lighting, technology, and choice.

With over 25 years of experience in the lighting industry Alan is a true specialist in the application and impact of intelligent lighting, and has been involved in many of the worlds landmark projects.

Editor’s note: This article initially appeared in the first issue of The Grid, powered by Electrical Insight. Read the full magazine here. 

Picture credit: Helvar