We’ve been asked this questions a few times so I thought it might be good to address it in this blog. There are many differences between residential and commercial outdoor lighting, but we’ll hit just the major differences here.
First, let’s look at the residential project. The home environment is usually pretty laid back with little traffic, and not much ambient lighting around the property. At a residential property, we expect input from only one or two decision makers who have an idea of what they want when it comes to outdoor lighting. Most of these decision makers are a little older and don’t have a lot of young children running around on a regular basis. While there are generally no ADA requirements at a private residence (we’ll look at when there are ADA concerns later), we may encounter POA restrictions in a particular neighborhood limiting the lumen output, number of fixtures, or direction of the light that must be taken into consideration. When designing for a residence we can use lower light levels to create a more hospitable, warmer and more welcoming atmosphere in the area since we rarely have to compete with a lot of parking lot lighting and such. As there is little foot traffic, and probably not a lot of young children using the outdoor spaces, we can probably avoid using fixtures that are “industrial strength” and therefore more expensive – though such fixtures are indeed available for residential use. Unless restricted by neighborhood policy, we also don’t often have to worry about putting a certain number of foot candles of light on an area to conform to regulations, which is quite common on commercial properties.
The purely commercial setting is where we have a public building of some kind, or maybe an entry to a development. Here we need to look at everything we just laid out above, but we also have a few other things to think about. Usually a commercial property wants to draw attention; property managers and owners want people to really see the space at night and so we have to design with that goal in mind. We may need to really kick up the intensity of the light or look at adding some color to the scheme to make their building POP in the darkness. If it’s the entry to a development the lighting has to be warm enough to say “Welcome!” while also demanding attention. The location has to made safe for public use, including highlighting elevation changes, providing quality lighting for entries and exits and parking areas, and eliminating dark holes to create a safe and secure feeling for the users.
We also work with the commercial property that is also a residential property: the apartment or condominium complex. On this type of property, we need to meet all of the commercial property guidelines for common areas, while also making the residents feel welcome — not like they’re living in an industrial space. This can be a pretty tricky task, to say the least. Safety guidelines and laws must always be adhered to on all commercial properties. All of the walkways, stairs, and public access areas must be well lit without glare (not over lit); the entry must grab attention; and all of the lighting must be able to stand up to the constant battering and wear and tear that high traffic areas are prone to experience.
There are a lot of differences between residential and commercial outdoor lighting projects, but really each project is addressed individually to accommodate its unique requirements, while also creating beauty with proper illumination.
