One of the most exciting and interesting aspects of architecture is lighting design, and emerging technologies are creating an ever expanding horizon of design possibilities. This is a flexible 'light sheet' that provides high quality lighting while eliminating many of the constraints and challenges traditional lighting options impose. This new medium for lighting combines the mechanical, electrical and light source together into a flexible sheet of light, inviting designs that can be fluid, thin and minimal in both design and material choices, all with incredible energy efficiency.
These 'light sheets' have characteristics more like other materials, such as being flexible and being able to be cut to size, while delivering high quality light and efficiency utilizing a highly dense pattern of low power LEDs on a thin plastic substrate called Polyethelene Terephthalate, or PET. PET is a common thermoplastic polymer and is often used to create clothing (polyester) and food packaging like the bottles used for water and other drinks. This material and the mechanical, electrical and LED source act together to create a flexible sheet of light that operates so efficiently and cool that no additional heat sink or secondary thermal extraction is required.
Author: Sam Rodell
Sam has practiced as an award winning architect for forty years, and has also built many of his clients' projects. He is licensed throughout most of the western USA and Canada, and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) which expedites registration in other states and provinces. He was the first Certified Passive House Consultant architect in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.