There's clearly a tension in terminal lighting design between creating an inspiring atmosphere that will excite travelers about visiting a city, encouraging them to take time to stop at airport retail shops, and helping them see their way through unfamiliar surroundings-and all this must be done while saving money on the airport's lighting energy bill. Airports present a unique lighting design challenge. Over the past 10 years, this area of facility development has evolved into a specialized niche of design expertise and product solutions. The following are some of the lighting trends that will greatly affect airport facility management and design into the next century. The demand for energy-efficient lighting will surge.
Budget constraints demand cost reductions.
Not only do they save energy, but also they deliver aesthetic benefits for new and retrofitted terminal buildings that were inconceivable just 10 or 15 years ago. Space lighting energy usage in the new Vancouver international terminal building came in at 0.8 watts per square foot, a savings of up to 40 percent over the 1.4 measured in the older terminal. These savings can be accomplished by using modern lighting fixtures that feature high levels of efficiency and deliver maximum illumination for each energy dollar spent. Further savings can be delivered on the maintenance budget by ensuring all lamps wear evenly over their lifetime. This can be accomplished through sophisticated 24-hour management systems that actually cycle alternate groups of luminaires on and off as required, keeping lamp replacement costs to a minimum.