In 2011, Philips will continue to strengthen the popularization and promotion of office lighting knowledge

A health survey conducted by the Ministry of Health shows that 82% of office workers often experience headaches, fatigue, and even nausea in the office, while 12% of office workers experience symptoms of physical discomfort every day, including dry eyes, headaches, drowsiness, and mood swings. The issue of "white-collar sub-health" related to the office environment is increasingly receiving attention from all sectors of society. At the same time, office space is gradually becoming part of the corporate strategic structure, receiving more and more attention from senior corporate executives. Among the many elements that influence the office environment, lighting is not very eye-catching, but in fact it plays a very important role. Comfortable lighting is like wonderful music, subtly improving people's physical and mental health.

　　As a leader in the global lighting industry, Philips has always been committed to providing people with healthier, more comfortable, and energy-efficient lighting solutions through meaningful innovation. Since 2009, Philips has launched a series of activities worldwide themed around office lighting, and for the first time held "Working·People·Light" (hereinafter referred to as WPL) seminars in London, New York, and Shanghai, respectively. It is worth mentioning that the 2010 WPL covered four locations in India, London, New York, and Shanghai, attracting more than 300 industry elites from around the world, including renowned architects, designers, real estate developers, human resources experts, psychologists, and other leading figures from different industries, who engaged in heated discussions centered on the three key words: "Office", "People", and "Light".

　　Today, China, as a vibrant emerging market, has attracted worldwide attention and also holds tremendous potential in office lighting. However, during the WPL discussion at the Shanghai stop, the guests generally believed that, limited by national conditions and the level of development, the current emphasis on lighting in commercial real estate is still not high, and there is also a lack of specialized talent in the lighting field. Judging from the discussion and feedback results, in China, whether at the individual or societal level, promoting China's office lighting requires a process of awareness cultivation from scratch.

Of course, with the rise of collaborative office and mobile office work styles, the office environment needs to change accordingly. Offices are moving from fixed, single, and enclosed environments to open, flexible, and diverse ones, with greater emphasis on human interaction. More and more companies are choosing advanced, energy-efficient, and humanized office lighting.

For a long time, Philips lighting systems have not only been successfully applied to world-class landmark buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, but also adopted in the office environments of many multinational companies. For example, Interface is the world's largest carpet manufacturer, and its Taicang R&D Center has a clear goal for its office—a zero-carbon building, with lighting standards meeting LEED Gold requirements. To this end, Philips Lighting provided a lighting application combining high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures with LED fixtures, together with daylight sensing and infrared motion sensing control systems, achieving a perfect balance between energy saving and comfort. Another successful case is the full LED lighting adoption of Philips Shanghai Innovation Park Building 2B. This project is a renovation of an old factory, transforming it into office space while keeping the building structure unchanged. How to make lighting interesting and varied, how to coordinate with the high-ceiling interior space, and how to utilize natural lighting from the top of the factory became problems that had to be addressed and solved in the project. Eventually, the designers selected and customized ring-shaped circular fixtures for the open office space, using Philips LED PAR30 light sources as basic lighting, with desk lamps added at workstations as supplementary lighting. The mezzanine office area adopted LED T8 suspended fixtures, balancing illuminance and uniformity on work surfaces. The pantry and other rest areas fully utilized colors to make the space more lively. The office space broke free from the dullness of traditional lighting, becoming dynamic and creative; combined with various types of LED light sources, the lighting power density of the entire building fully meets the LEED Gold certification standard.

Following the success of last year's WPL event, Philips will continue to strengthen the popularization and promotion of office lighting knowledge in 2011.

In May and June, themed seminars titled "Office·People·Light" will be held in Beijing and Shenzhen respectively. Through discussions with industry experts and media friends, we hope to spark more creative ideas in the field of office lighting. At the same time, we plan to cooperate with professional research institutions within the year to conduct surveys on the topic of office environment among white-collar workers in several first-tier cities, and subsequently release related white papers, thereby building a more objective and scientific platform to raise attention to office lighting from all sectors of society.