By JEFFREY I. L. MILLER
J. Miller & Associates, Ltd.

When we first started our business in Seattle 14 years ago, my visits to architects might end with an incredulous "You expect to make a living here doing what? Well, good luck."

The very idea that a lighting consultant might add value to projects was like believing in some pseudo science. Besides, when a "special" project demanded it, you could always call New York and someone expensive would come here.

Since Seattle didn't seem ready, we went out of state to find work.

Today, the local market is quite different. The demand for specialty lighting services is broader here than ever before.

Designers are regularly retained for a wide range of projects, and even electrical engineers find their participation acceptable. The practice of lighting design has surely grown up, along with the larger design community.

What happened to cause this shift?

To a large degree, the answer lies in the increased demands on everyone involved in the building arts and sciences. More knowledge and skill, purveyed at ever faster digital speeds, is today's theme. As with other traditionally small professional services, this may be a case of whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger. As creative and intellectual demands have expanded over the last five years, so too has the role of the architectural lighting design professional in the Northwest. And as the lighting consultant's role has expanded, so has the client's expectation of a sophisticated work product.

The PC revolution, which created the ability to analyze, model and produce designs more quickly, also created a client base for us that demands this over-caffeinated service.

Lighting consultants have increasingly relied on visualization tools to communicate their vision of this most ephemeral of building design specialties. In a business climate where success can hinge on perception, leading-edge design cannot proceed without the endorsement of the project owners. Advanced software allows designers to create accurate and convincing presentations of design concepts.

The range of electronic tools required to do the analysis, documentation and presentation of state-of-the-art lighting designs can be daunting to even the seasoned professional. Lighting design tools can include the standard design and analysis utilities, such as Lumen Micro. They have become almost ubiquitous, with high levels of market saturation. You can be certain that there is a computer on every practitioner's desk.

These are used increasingly not only for lighting analysis, but also to coordinate drawing sets with architects, electrical engineers, interior designers and other specialties involved with the modern building process.

Designers can now receive drawings electronically, utilizing FTP electronic transfer of CADD-based documents, add their layers of information, document the alterations and return the updated versions, all without ever touching paper. Consultants now find that well designed presentations can make a big difference in the understanding of the design.

Of course this higher visibility brings with it the need for still more investment in electronic professionals just to operate this desktop publishing component. If it leads to better design it's a good thing. Beyond improved graphic presentations lie improvements in predictive ability.

3D visualizations previously available only from large mainframes are now possible from modeling programs, such as Lightscape, which are designed for desktop machines. While this too requires further investment in hardware, software and wetware, the results prove to be worth it in the short run and will be standard operating procedure in the near future.

The rise of the need for lighting professionals is also, in part, a technological phenomenon. First, the energy crunch begat energy codes, which begat lighting technologies of great complexity. Lighting fixtures and lighting control equipment now command a larger share of the capital costs of new construction, and in turn can add perceived value to a completed project. This has gotten the attention of building owners and has caused them to recognize, in a very practical way, the value of the expertise lighting consultants can bring to their projects.

In the past, the development of lighting systems were left to a casual committee of architects and engineers, contractors and salesmen, who tossed it around to fit other agendas. Quality suffered, and owners continued to pay for this inattention. Today, when a project's lighting needs are resident in the lighting consultant's office, the lighting design meets the program, is buildable within the constraints of the energy code, comes in under budget and in the right hands, is handled with vision and grace.

With shifts in the economy, our city can now make claim to a world-class architectural community. Attracted by the quality of life in Seattle, talented people have come from all over to work here. Many of our architect clients export their talent out of state and overseas.

Increasingly, we are seeing a more aggressive marketing of Seattle-based services to the global community, bringing more exotic clients to the Northwest. Working overseas has had its effect on the design community, creating demand for new skills in diplomacy, international building code, construction method, and product base expertise, etc. All of this defines the lighting expert today.

Note should be made here of success of the Lighting Design Lab which has helped place good lighting practice at the center of national activities. In a few weeks the Lab will be host to the first NCQLP (National Council on Qualifications for Lighting Professions) exam.

This initial certification exam establishes the foundational standard qualification goals for lighting professionals on a national basis, and promotes responsible lighting design.

Making investments in technology that add value to our clients, that promote better lighting designs and more responsible energy use, and that advance the craft of lighting design will be more and more common into the future.

Inspired design is only the beginning.

Jeffrey Miller is president of J. Miller & Associates, Ltd. Lighting Designers and Consultants, Seattle.

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Copyright © 1997 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.