The utility of a lighting design program usually depends on the training, experience, and judgment of the user.
Powerful as it may be, lighting design software (like any tool) has its limitations. The result is a better design in less time with greater assurance. This makes your computer or workstation a video tool, allowing you to see how a proposed lighting design will look when the lighting equipment is installed. Today's modern programs can take you on a virtual 3-D color tour of the lighted space. In the old days, designers used rudimentary programs to do only the complex calculating functions rapidly. Not what it used to beĮvolution is the key word when it comes to lighting design programs. Now that we've looked at the characteristics of today's lighting design market and explored a few ways you can apply lighting design software, let's take a look at the software itself. Lighting programs that feature day lighting modules are very useful on these projects.
So architects rely on skylights and clerestory windows to maximize daylight in the interior spaces. To make the most of solar-generated electricity, these buildings must be as energy-efficient as possible. The increasing use of electric power-generating photovoltaic panels in buildings is another factor to consider. Each design must include a return-on-investment (ROI) evaluation. With a lighting design program, you can prepare several designs using different lamp/system combinations to determine variances in performance and economics. Most manufacturing facilities have their own spatial conditions and task requirements. The industrial plant lighting market is also ripe with opportunities. In this market, the right lighting design software program can help turn a proposal into a sale. This is especially true for fluorescent and metal-halide applications. Providing high-efficiency, high-quality fixtures, and lighting controls for complete relighting efforts translates into big business for contractors today. In some cases, they even failed to provide adequate lighting. Though previous retrofits may have saved some energy dollars, many have also caused a diminished visual environment. Not only are many lighting installations becoming more complex, several are coming into the second and third generation of retrofits. However, to fully appreciate the advantages such software can provide, it's important to understand some of the challenges modern lighting installations present. They can calculate lighting levels easier, faster, and more accurately handle repetitive layouts keep track of fixture counts determine the electrical loads on feeders or branch circuits and take you on a virtual tour through your design. Today's lighting design software programs are powerful tools that can solve a variety of problems. Businesses can no longer afford to miss out on the savings an energy-efficient lighting design affords them, so it's no wonder more and more electrical and lighting design professionals are looking to software for help. Why? When you consider that today's state and federal energy requirements often define a maximum lighting power density for different types of new facilities, it seems energy-efficient lighting design has become a requirement for squeezing out the best value for every dollar spent on lighting. As lighting installations in office buildings and other facilities continue to become more complex, designers must address ambient, task, and security illumination solutions separately.