Jeff Gerwing, IALD, LC, IESNA, LEED AP, Associate, Lighting Design Practice Co-Leader, SmithGroup, Inc., Detroit

A Bright Future for LEDs

The domain of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was once relegated to calculator displays, where tiny dots of light were arranged dot matrix-style to form numbers. Today, hype about LEDs seems to be everywhere. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon: compact size, an extended life of 50,000 or more hours, no ambient temperature effect on output, no ultraviolet or infrared emission in the light—and most notably, they can be dimmed without color shift. Of course, there are disadvantages as well: heat-sinking requirements, problems with white LED color consistency and a higher cost compared to other light sources. A stunning debut When LEDs first hit the lighting market, the industry was mesmerized by their saturated color output. The benefits of vibrant color, programming flexibility and energy efficiency in creating colored light were obvious, and LEDs immediately found a natural fit in decorative accent applications. But can LEDs be applied beyond the realm of decorative applications? The answer is yes, and they have already begun to do so.