It could be that the recession will be the catalyst for alternative thinking when it comes to energy use. Certainly, in the US corporate leaders are increasingly taking note of this issue with regard to natural light.

Between 20 and 50 percent of total energy consumed within homes and offices is due to lighting. In addition to this there are significant health benefits to having a well lit and ventilated building.

Mary Carroll, a senior project manager at Francis Cauffman Architect, claims that the next generation of buildings will have to address the size of the office floor plate. “If you’re trying to get more daylight to penetrate through the space, you’re going to have longer, narrower floor plates than maybe you would have had 10 years ago. Nobody does perimeter offices anymore because they want the light to come through.”

With the economy in its current state of flux, this initiative will certainly find its way factoring into analysts’ assessments of the overall soundness of companies and their operations.

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