Every client and every room requires different lighting. Things like natural light availability, activities the space is used for, the décor, and furnishings present, and general personal preference are important factors when making lighting decisions for a space.

Using one type of light at a singular intensity would feel flat and contribute to a space lacking depth.

By adding layers of light, a space can become both visually interesting and functional. Lighting can provide general illumination, highlight a prized possession, brighten a work surface, and help elevate the space to feel more luxurious.

With dynamic layered lighting, each fixture’s color temperature and intensity can be shifted.

If a homeowner is hosting a dinner party, they might want the lights above the kitchen island to be brighter, other areas to be warm and dim, and their artwork to shine.

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Ben Bard, VP of Luxury Residential at Lutron, recently chatted with CE Pro about the best practices and results that layered lighting provides.

“Lutron acquired Ketra in 2018 and since then we’ve really been focused on improving the quality of light in people’s homes, and we’ve developed a portfolio of architectural lighting solutions with many form factors to help designers and dealers execute lighting in the home,” Bard explains.

Lutron Describes 3 Basic Types of Layered Lighting

According to the Coopersburg, Pa.-based company, there are three basic kinds of lighting: ambient, accent, and task.

Consider ambient lighting the base layer, providing general illumination.

Task lighting is meant to illuminate surfaces or areas for a particular activity, and accent lighting highlights areas of interest, providing the finishing touches.

A centralized system, like HomeWorks from Lutron, allows the user to calibrate the lighting to create different moods and hierarchies in the space. That’s whether it’s enabling the lights to sync to natural daylight or having presets for entertaining or relaxing.

“In improving that quality of light, Lutron looks at quality of light in maybe a different way that many people do,” Bard adds.

“Lutron defines [it] as replicating the light that is produced by a black-body or a heat-emitting source like the sun, firelight, that sort of thing.”

And what is common about that light?

“One, it’s dynamic – you know the sun changes color temperature throughout the day. It has a wide range of color temperature and a broad spectrum of ability to render color in different environments, to make colors pop, etc.,” he says.

“So it’s more than you can read in a spec sheet, it’s more than just CRI, and Lutron focuses on all those aspects and we’re really trying to bring that dynamic quality of light to the homes.”

To hear much more from Bard’s perspective, watch the full interview with CE Pro above.

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