Lighting Experts Challenge Conventional Thinking at Lightovation Panel

DALLAS — One of the recurring themes at Lightovation is education.

While decorative fixtures often capture the spotlight at this show, the quality of the light itself can have an even greater impact on how a space looks, feels, and functions. That message came through clearly during a panel discussion titled “What Great Lighting Looks Like Now,” which offered attendees a preview of the educational sessions planned for September’s Arc Light Summit at Dallas Market Center.

Moderated by Webster Marsh, Director of Education and Programming for ArchLIGHT Summit, the session featured four respected lighting professionals who approached the subject from very different perspectives:

• Craig A. Bernecker, Director of the MFA Lighting Design Program and Professor of Lighting Design at Parsons School of Design
• Jason Livingston, LC, IES, IALD, Principal of Studio T+L, LLC
• Julia M. Gordon, IALD, CLD, IES, Senior Lighting Designer at Schuler Shook
• Leigh Gice, Product Marketing Director for WAC Group

Together, they delivered a powerful reminder that great lighting involves far more than selecting attractive fixtures.

Beyond CRI: Understanding TM-30

Jason Livingston opened the program with a discussion of TM-30, the color evaluation methodology developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society.

While many lighting professionals are familiar with CRI, Jason explained that TM-30 provides a much deeper understanding of how light sources render color. More importantly, he argued that designers can now deliberately choose whether to prioritize color fidelity, color preference, or color vividness.

For hospitality environments, restaurants, and many residential spaces, the “best” lighting may not always be the source with the highest fidelity score.

Instead, slight color enhancements can make food, finishes, and people appear more appealing.

Jason focused on a newer IES publication, LP-30, which helps designers incorporate TM-30 into everyday practice. His presentation demonstrated how color quality can become an intentional design decision rather than simply a specification checkbox.

Why Angles Matter

Leigh Gice and Julia M. Gordon shifted the discussion from color quality to visual perception with a presentation appropriately titled Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.

Their presentation explored a simple concept that is often overlooked: where light comes from can be just as important as how much light is delivered.

The pair emphasized that every successful lighting design begins with understanding the purpose of the space. Before selecting fixtures or determining light levels, designers must first consider how the environment will be used and who will occupy it. Whether the project is a restaurant, airport, casino, retail environment, or residence, the lighting should support the activities taking place within that space.

They discussed common design mistakes, including glare, excessive contrast, poor fixture placement, and inadequate dimming.

One of the strongest messages from their presentation was the importance of layered lighting. Effective spaces combine ambient, task, and accent lighting to create visual comfort while directing attention where it is needed.

Leigh repeatedly returned to a topic familiar to many lighting professionals.

“Dimming, dimming, dimming,” she said, noting that dimming systems are often among the first items cut from project budgets despite their importance to the final user experience.

Their Arc Light Summit session will take a hands-on approach, allowing participants to physically experience how changing light angles and distributions affect perception.

Are Footcandles Enough?

Craig Bernecker challenged one of the lighting industry’s most established metrics: illuminance.

For decades, lighting professionals have relied on footcandles and lux to determine recommended light levels. Craig argued that while illuminance remains important, it may not tell the complete story.

Using examples and audience polling, he demonstrated that people often perceive spaces as brighter even when measured light levels are lower.

The difference, he explained, comes from how people experience light within a space rather than simply how much light falls on a horizontal surface.

Craig introduced attendees to the concept of Mean Room Surface Exitance (MRSE), a metric that evaluates the amount of light reflected from room surfaces back into the space. While illuminance measures the light arriving at a surface, exitance measures the light leaving that surface. Since occupants see reflected light rather than incident light, Craig argued that exitance may provide a more accurate indication of how bright a room actually appears.

Drawing on research studies and classroom demonstrations, he showed that perceived brightness often correlates more strongly with room surface exitance than with traditional footcandle measurements. In other words, two rooms can have identical illuminance levels yet feel dramatically different to occupants based on how light is distributed across walls, ceilings, and other surfaces.

Craig suggested that future lighting recommendations may eventually include both illuminance and Mean Room Surface Exitance. Illuminance ensures there is enough light to perform visual tasks, while exitance helps designers understand the overall visual experience of the space.

For many attendees, the discussion offered a fresh way to think about brightness and reinforced the idea that great lighting design involves much more than simply hitting a target footcandle level.

A Valuable Conversation 

As the discussion moved into the Q&A session, the conversation turned toward a challenge facing much of the residential decorative market.

Many consumers focus on the appearance of the fixture itself—whether it is brass, black, bronze, or nickel—while giving far less attention to the quality of the light being produced.

The panel agreed that education remains the key.

A beautiful fixture can lose much of its impact if poor lighting quality diminishes finishes, artwork, food, furnishings, or even people’s appearance.

Conversely, excellent lighting can elevate every design element within a room.

That is precisely why programs like ArchLIGHT Summit matter.

The residential and decorative segments continue to become more sophisticated. Controls, color quality, dimming, tunable lighting, and human-centered design are increasingly part of the conversation. As a result, designers, showrooms, manufacturers, and sales representatives need a deeper understanding of lighting itself—not just the products that deliver it.

This preview session offered just a glimpse of what attendees can expect at ArchLIGHT Summit this September. The conference promises a deeper exploration of the science, art, and practical application of lighting design.

And for an industry that continues to evolve rapidly, that education may be more valuable than ever.

Go Deeper: Lightovation Sets the Tone for 2026 with Year Over Year Growth and Design-Forward Programming