WAC Lighting understands the importance of landscape design, utilizing the power of light to make a lasting impression. The company caters to landscape lighting suppliers, architects and contractors, crafting products and tools tailored to industry demands.
“CCT color temperature adjustability empowers you to effortlessly shift the color temperature of your luminaires, seamlessly transitioning from warm white to cool white with a simple switch,” said Harry Moshos, executive director, business development, WAC Lighting, Modern Forms and Schonbek Worldwide Lighting.
With WAC luminaires, modifying the color temperature doesn’t require replacing the entire fixture, adding to the products’ convenience and flexibility, especially if the client opts for a different color temperature after the fixtures have already been ordered for the project.
Moshos also mentioned WAC’s new landscape lighting system, Colorscaping, which is highly applicable to hospitality applications. Colorscaping upgrades landscape lighting into a true tunable white system with more than 18 million color combinations to choose from, all controlled locally or through a smart app.
WAC designed Colorscaping to provide these features but with ease-of-use and the contractor in mind. For example, Colorscaping uses a proprietary PLC (Power Line Communication) system that allows the contractor to install it using a single cable without the need for a secondary communication cable.
Not only does this simplify the installation process, but it makes it easy to retrofit Colorscaping into an existing landscape lighting system.
“Hoteliers can now enjoy the flexibility of adjusting their landscape lighting systems to the colors of their brand standards or, for instance, to the color of the local sports team that has the hotel at maximum occupancy for a few days, all from the comfort of local or smart controls,” he said.
Although beautiful to experience, Moshos believes the number-one reason why landscape lighting design is so important in hospitality is for safety and wellness, as guests entrust hotel owners and operators to provide adequate lighting for safety when navigating their properties.
“Outdoor lighting is just as important as indoor lighting,” he said. “ For example, well-placed path and area lights can guide your guests safely down a path without compromising the beauty of your landscape. Most hoteliers gravitate towards ultra-bright cool white wall packs or flood lights that shower light onto a space. Sure, both fixtures get the job done, but flood lights waste energy by providing an overabundance of lighting in areas not needed. In a well-designed landscape, the absence of light in some areas is essential because it helps draw attention away from more important details.”
On the wellness side, lighting can affect your mood significantly. Moshos referenced some studies on how human mood and behavior can be influenced through light.
“Humans tend to associate daytime with cool, bright light and evenings with warmer tones of light, emulating the naturally occurring color temperatures throughout the day from sunlight,” he said. “Studies show that cooler color temperatures are associated with times of peak physical activity, and warmer color temperatures are associated with winding down time.”
As for some trends, Moshos said he’s seeing a surge in landscape lighting for coastal regions.
“Coastal environments encompass islands and beachside properties and areas within a 50-mile radius of the coast, where corrosive salt air carried by the wind poses a threat,” he said. “When specifying landscape lighting for such environments, opting for brass fixtures is crucial. Unlike aluminum or steel, brass fixtures resist pitting and maintain durability, ensuring longevity even in harsh coastal conditions.”
The future of landscaping design is leaning toward the solar lighting category, Moshos said, albeit a tough category for commercial applications as the variance of sunlight can influence power levels throughout the day and year with seasonality, and commercial applications prefer a product that always works reliably with no service interruption.
“We’re looking into how we can develop a product that incorporates the energy efficiency of solar power, but also with the reliability of a hardwired system,” he said.
