Beyond Fixtures - Building a Sustainable Future in Lighting With Coronet
Since LED came to the fore, Lighting has been the low-hanging fruit of the sustainable building movement.
When I shifted to the architectural side of the lighting industry one of the first things I noticed was how lighting could dramatically improve the sustainability of most modern buildings, simply through the efficiency of LEDs as a light source. While the old guard of the industry hemmed and hawed and endlessly debated the value of incandescent light bulbs, it was becoming clear to everyone else that LED was the future and that we were going to deliver light much more efficiently. I wrote on the subject, spoke at the USGBC and with the Broadway Green Alliance. I believed then as I do now that lighting can be a driving force for a more sustainable future. But as LED technology has gotten ever more efficient, most of the industry has been comfortable resting on their laurels. As efficacies of 130 lumens per watt have become typical for linear form factors, driving toward the goal of 200 lumens per watt, energy codes have become tighter in response. In short, many feel lighting is already doing its part when it comes to the sustainable building story.
That’s why Coronet’s announcements this month on their sustainability efforts are so profound and inspiring.
LS1 with STFU acoustical baffle option. Acoustic material is made of 90% recycled water bottles.
Sustainability Is More Than LED
When in comes to sustainability most corporations inside and outside the lighting industry pay lip-service. And of course, they sell LED products, of course they are green! But Coronet has taken concrete steps to making every aspect of their business more sustainable from operations to manufactured product.
“In 2019, we completed the process of becoming a certified CarbonNeutral® company in accordance with The Carbon Neutral Protocol. Our emissions are offset to net zero through these projects which are validated and verified by independent, third party standards:
Mississippi Valley Reforestation, USA ASR; Acre Amazonian Rainforest Conservation Project, Brazil, VCS + CCB; Darkwoods Forest Conservation, Canada, VCS.”
Carbon neutrality is one step, but the materiality of the fixtures themselves is critical.
90% of the aluminum used in Coronet Fixtures is recycled, with the goal of moving to 95% by 2021.
100% of the boxing materials Coronet uses to ship products is recycled.
Finally, Coronet is currently installing solar panels along the roof of it’s 200,000 square foot design and manufacturing facility in Totowa, NJ. These panels are expected to produce 100% of Coronet’s electrical service.
Lastly, for sustainability efforts to “stick” we need to think globally. Which is why Coronet has secured an annual investment to protect 10,000 acres of the Amazon Rainforest.
I already loved working with the Coronet team, now I can say I’m truly proud to do so. If you’re a designer with an eye toward sustainability (as all designers should be) or your client’s values are aligned with global sustainability, Coronet should be your first thought.
Onward we go.
