10 bright ideas for multifamily developments
This trend is bringing the need for more and more quality places to live. A major boom over the last few years has been in multifamily developments. While clearly people need a place to call home, there is also competition to lure in these new residents.
Professional speakers have been talking about amenities needed in the workplace to attract top talent. I can’t help but think that the same holds true when choosing a community in which to live.
My expertise is in lighting. While I admit that I probably look up (at lighting) more than the average person, trends are changing and people are getting more educated. The following is a list of 10 simple things that can be incorporated into a multifamily community to help brighten the image. All of these ideas can be easily designed into a brand new development or used as a retrofit to spruce up an older community.
Great retailers and restaurants have been using light as a way of luring customers in for years. Attract someone’s attention, and they will follow the light.
1. Out with the old: Slowly but surely, fluorescent lamps will stop being produced. Just as higher wattage incandescent lamps are no longer available, the same will soon be the fate of the CFL. Start considering LED now.
2. No time for recess: Recessed lighting has made a big comeback versus track lighting, but nothing says “dated” like recessed cans with a big Par lamp screwed inside. Two options say “updated” and “green” while also being economical. LED trims are available to insert easily into a can while looking clean and classy.
Dimmable and stylish, the building owner and designer can create a beautiful look and offer a green solution that will save their tenant electricity costs and create a maintenance-free area for many years. Many of these products are also wet-listed, so they can also be used to brighten a shower as I have done in my own home.
3. Skim the surface: Along the same line as recessed cans, surface mounted LED trims come in various trim colors and may reduce construction costs as they can snap onto a J-box without the use of a recessed can. Vandal-proof and functional, these mighty units can really pack a lumen punch.
Also wet-listed, I’ve used these in showers and exterior hallways. The labor to install a J-box is less than installing a can, so this is definitely something to consider. Surface-mount LED trims are also a great retrofit item.
4. Sort your closet: Recessed or surface mount LED trims are the new “clouds” for closets. Select a high CRI and your tenant will appreciate being able to see their clothes and know if they are retrieving navy or black (always embarrassing to find out you have two different color socks on). Modern, stylish, efficient and maintenance-free.
5. Counter strike: Under-the-counter lighting is available for kitchens in several LED versions.
6. Mix it up: While there will always be a selection of traditional light fixtures for chandeliers, sconces, pendants and bath bars, current trends include a vintage look with Edison lamps, modern chic, glam and transitional. Multiple pendants hung over kitchen islands and coordinating fixtures that blend together but aren’t exactly the same is also popular.
7. Lead the way: Stairwells … every multifamily building has them. Every building needs a minimum lit path of egress. LED stairwell fixtures that have a built in sensor can be used that will automatically keep the light level at a minimum level and brighten up to full power when someone enters the stairwell.
This translates into maintaining emergency codes while saving energy and maintenance. Unlike fluorescent lamps, turning the LED off and on will not affect the life of the fixture so sensors make sense and can save money.
8. Premium parking: As noted with stairwells, parking garage lighting is usually on 24/7/365. By using an LED fixture, such as a vapor tight designed for parking garages, the energy saved annually is significant over traditional HID sources. Sensors are also available which will dim even further when no one is in the area.
Your maintenance staff will appreciate not having to change lamps and noisy ballasts for years to come, and your tenants will appreciate the security of bright, even lighting. Not all fixtures are created equal, so do your homework.
9. Light the path: Site lighting and pedestrian lighting in LED can do more than save electricity and maintenance. A good fixture will illuminate the desired areas brightly and evenly with a cutoff where you need it.
Of course, sensors are available so you do not need a timer, but did you know that active deterrents for security could also be used through LED lighting? Systems are available with 360-degree high definition cameras for recording and monitoring as well as audio and strobing capabilities to get someone’s attention in an area.
There is even a phone app that uses GPS so residents and guests have a “virtual security guard” to walk them to and from their car instead of alone. By activating a panic button in the app, the lighting system notifies security of the exact location where the alert originated.
Site lighting can be set to strobe or send an audio message thus increasing the likelihood that a perpetrator will know help is on the way and abandon their criminal activity. As a former police officer, I can’t stress enough how important security is at multifamily properties.
10. Get in shape: What’s in your fitness and weight room? Greenish fluorescent or energizing LED? Why not energize your residents and lower energy use at the same time? By now you know sensors go hand in hand with LED. No one present? Dimmed lighting.
Source: exclusive.multibriefs.com
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