Healthcare Environments: Lighting & Controls

As we begin this year’s Light for Life Symposium, we’ll set the stage for two days of learning and collaboration focused on lighting and controls in healthcare environments. The Illuminating Engineering Society will welcome attendees with an overview of goals and objectives for the Symposium, then introduce a special guest from the American Society of Health Care Engineering.

From advancing technology to evolving education models and cross-disciplinary collaboration, lighting continues to evolve at a remarkable pace. This session explores the trends and innovations shaping the present—and future—of the lighting industry.

In this session we will review lighting principles that are key elements of successful lighting designs for healthcare facilities. We will review illuminance, illuminance, reflective properties, color metrics and visual perceptions, focusing on considerations in healthcare spaces. Application of these lighting fundamentals will focus on visual and physiological performance, emphasizing considerations for people with low vision and elders, for circadian support, and for color discernment.

Gensler’s “Trends in Healthcare” report presents a global perspective on how architecture can address systemic healthcare challenges through spatial innovation. It explores key drivers such as climate resilience, digital integration, and health equity, and highlights design strategies like decentralized service hubs and trauma-informed environments. The report emphasizes evidence-based design and adaptive reuse as essential tools for designers shaping inclusive, sustainable, and future-ready healthcare spaces.

Healthcare facilities demand lighting solutions that balance patient comfort, staff efficiency, and technical performance across diverse spaces. This session explores lighting and control strategies through three perspectives: patient experience, staff operations, and technical requirements. Attendees will learn how lighting design can support patient and staff experience and integrating with building systems for efficiency and code compliance. Drawing on real project examples, the course offers frameworks to evaluate design decisions, manage equipment and space constraints, and plan for long-term adaptability in healthcare environments.

This panel brings together lighting designers to discuss real-world applications of the strategies introduced in the presentation. Panelists will examine how different perspectives shape design priorities—from patient experience to facility operations—and share lessons from recent healthcare projects. Topics will include integration across space types, phased retrofits, and balancing complex technology with simplicity in the room. Attendees will gain practical insight into how collaborative decision-making leads to better outcomes for patients, staff, and facilities alike.

We’ll start Day 2 with a quick look back at the ideas and conversations that shaped Day 1, then turn our attention to the new topics and perspectives ahead.

Healthcare projects demand the expertise of a wide array of specialists—from architects and engineers to clinicians, consultants, and facilities staff—each contributing to the creation of safe, effective, and healing environments. Within this complex landscape, lighting design plays a uniquely integrative role, influencing patient experience, supporting staff functionality, and coordinating with advanced technologies. This seminar explores how lighting design shapes the psychological and artistic qualities of healthcare spaces while addressing critical issues of performance, sustainability, and maintenance. Drawing on decades of practice, Leslie North offers a peak into how a lighting designer balances aesthetics, functionality, innovation, and practicality in one of the most demanding design sectors.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of evidence-based design (EBD) and its pivotal role in shaping healthcare environments to enhance patient care, contribute to caregiver effectiveness, and foster overall well-being. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how EBD principles can be applied to create spaces that are informed by empirical research and best practices.

Attendees will learn about the latest research findings that support the integration of design elements with clinical outcomes. Topics covered will include the impact of physical environment on patient recovery, staff efficiency, and overall healthcare delivery

Natural light or artificial light…your body doesn’t know the difference. Learn how the body uses the light received through our eyes to control the processes we rely upon to function our best. Science knows that It’s not just about seeing…but let’s not forget that it is about seeing, too.

This session explores Trauma-Informed Design (TID) in healthcare through the lens of lighting—translating the SAMHSA principles of safety, trust, empowerment, and collaboration into real-world lighting strategies, products, and controls. Designers and manufacturers will discuss how lighting supports emotional regulation, behavioral health needs, circadian rhythms, and patient choice while navigating FGI risk levels, ligature safety, and operational realities. The panel will reveal how layered light, product innovation, and simple controls can create calmer, safer, more dignified healthcare environments.