Good light means good work

From the Qintai Theatre in Wuhan, China, to the lighting for Deal or No Deal in South Africa, Electronic Theatre Controls understands the connection between great lighting and dramatic success.

So when ETC built its 250,000-square-foot, $21 million building in Middleton in 2004, CEO and co-founder Fred Foster knew how to use light creatively to meet corporate goals for quality, innovation, and egalitarian management.

Approximately 600 barrels of white paint was just one smart way ETC gave its entire work force a cost-effective energy boost from light.

Norm Abrams of "This Old House" says, "Good light means good work." Good lighting is important in every workplace, from manufacturing to health care, from graphic designers to knowledge workers glued to computer screens.

We all need natural light to be energetic and healthy. One sunny day in a Wisconsin winter is all the reminder we need.

The right light inside and out

Our preferences for work light differ widely. Task lighting at the office or work station gives people flexibility, if they have the right kind of light.

The fluorescent and sodium vapor lights common in plants and offices emit only one wavelength of light, making it hard to see details and colors.

People need full-spectrum lighting to see clearly and avoid eye strain.

Peter Tan, design principal with Strang Inc., was the architect with whom Foster teamed up. Tan recommends every building owner require exterior glass that's "spectrally neutral," that doesn't color the light coming into a building. "It's draining if everyone looks a little green and unhealthy."

Sunlight is free

Indirect, diffuse light lets people work longer and easier than with direct light. The sectional diagram on Page 27 shows how Foster and Tan placed windows and skylights to energize the whole building. Natural light is visible from everywhere on the shop floor.

Foster took a cost-saving lesson from theatre lighting: good lighting can create a better effect than costly materials.

The biggest reflector in a building is its floor, so ETC installed polished, durable "dry shake" concrete to make the floor reflective.

Foster and Tan selected all major interior and exterior construction materials (including that white paint) for their reflective quality.

You can have too much light. Tan designs for "cool daylight," avoiding large south-facing windows that create costly heat load and glare.

North-facing windows are better for diffuse, comfortable light. Foster and Tan used vertical sun shading on the east and west to cope with seasonal sun angles.

The politics of light

Another goal Foster had for ETC's lighting was to reduce the "politics of light," the disruptive status-seeking for an office with a window.

At ETC, the cubicles are by the windows, managers have offices with sliding glass doors but no ceiling, and executives are on the interior of the building.

Tan helped design the building so every corner not only has full-height glass, but every single corner is a common, shared space, even in the manufacturing plant.

He's proud that in the machine shop, which is in a glass corner, productivity has soared.

The right light isn't an amenity; it's an operational necessity.

Clean, well-lighted places
Our next column will highlight how ETC's building supports a culture that's not so "rigid, so departmentalized, or so meeting-bound."

Derrick Van Mell is principal of Van Mell Associates, management consultants specializing in strategic facility decisions. Steve Steinhoff is executive director of the Neighborhood Design Center, helping communities become great places.