Eindhoven, The Netherlands – Philips Lighting (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, has helped to transform the Czech Republic headquarters of energy company innogy (IGY ETR), by installing an LED lighting system tuned to support the circadian rhythms of innogy’s office staff, including stimulating their energy levels at set times in the day. Employees enjoy a comfortable bright light, similar to natural daylight, to start their day and after lunch. This helps to stimulate energy levels, enhance workplace comfort and vision, supporting a sense of wellbeing and performance. The stimulus from the “human centric lighting” fixtures is likened to a strong cup of coffee.
In November 2017, innogy completed a deep renovation of 10,000 square meters of office space at its Czech Republic headquarters at Limuzská, Prague. The company went from a traditional closed office environment to open plan and seized the opportunity to create a best-in-class work environment to enhance the comfort, wellbeing and productivity of its 550 office employees. Lighting played a key part of the renovation which involved a new restaurant, furniture, healthy food, kitchens and creativity spaces.
Philips Lighting installed a networked lighting system consisting of approximately 2,000 Philips LED luminaires. These include 860 Philips PowerBalance tunable white ceiling fixtures and 96 Philips LuxSpace tunable white downlights, programmed to provide different light settings at various times of the day. The subtle differences in the color temperature and intensity of the lighting also supports eye comfort and may be personalized by employees to suit specific tasks. While the emphasis of the lighting system is on enhancing employee comfort, it is also helping to improve operational efficiency through remote monitoring and maintenance.
Two thumbs up from employees
“We wanted to create an outstanding environment for our employees. At the beginning of the day the office lights mimic natural daylight, providing a useful energy boost. The light levels decrease until after lunch when we give another boost to help staff over the post-lunch energy dip. Nearly 80% of employees surveyed described the new lighting as better or much better than the previous fluorescent tube lighting, while 60% agreed that it contributed to a place in which they wanted to work,” said Tomáš Michna, senior manager for facility and services at innogy Czech Republic.
“We’ve taken our knowledge of how light physiologically benefits people from successful projects in hospitals and schools and applied it to the offices space. We know that exposure to a certain comfortable bright light setting for one-hour can provide a mild energy stimulus similar to a cup of coffee and supports wakefulness,” said Jiří Tourek, Country Manager Czech Republic at, Philips Lighting. ‘’Similarly, other light settings can aid relaxation or help people to wind down before lunch or going home.”
While the lighting is designed to complement people’s natural circadian rhythms, employees at innogy may, at any time, override the light settings, tailoring the light to their needs or specific work tasks, using a wall-mounted Philips Antumbra Dynalite control. This touch-button control enables control of lighting and blinds, allowing workers to personalize their immediate environment to suit their preferences.
Workplace satisfaction is good for business
High workplace satisfaction positively correlates with high employee engagement. Independent research reveals that workplace satisfaction makes good business sense as disengaged employees cost organizations an average of USD 3,400 a year for every USD 10,000 in annual salary. The lighting at Limuzská, which 56% of employees found to be easy on the eyes, also contributed to employees rating an improvement in their performance following the renovation.
Saving energy by delivering light when and where it’s needed
The installation includes approximately 150 sensors that detect human presence and switch the lights off in a room or area when it is vacated, saving electricity. This combination of energy-efficient LED lighting and controls has enabled innogy to reduce electricity used for lighting by around 50% compared to its previous fluorescent lighting.
Project summary:
Project details: innogy’s Limuzská site comprises three buildings housing 550 employees and is one of the largest human centric lighting implementations in Europe.
Technology used: The lighting system comprises a Philips lighting management and Philips Dynalite control system with control of integrated blinds (daylight harvesting) and Philips Antumbra wall mounted controls. Luminaires used: 860 Philips PowerBalance tunable white; 96 Philips LuxSpace tunable white downlights; 74 Philips TrueLine luminaires; 600 Philips GreenSpace downlights; approximately 250 Philips CoreLine downlights and approximately 100 Modular luminaires (Modular SL Mini Poly and Modular Smart Lotis). The installation is supported by a five-year Philips LifeCycle Essential support and maintenance services contract.
Bright Light Setting: Exposure to a light setting of 5,000 kelvins at 780 lux for 1-4 hours can stimulate alertness and energy levels in the human body.
Lighting design: The lighting design was by Philips Lighting. Installation was undertaken between April 2016 and April 2017. Consultancy and project management was through EDIFICE construction and consulting, s.r.o. The general contractor was BAK stavební společnost, a.s. and the installer was COBAP s.r.o.
The survey of employees at Limuzská was conducted in June 2017 and had 242 respondents.
