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IALD EA25: Forum Examines Future of Lighting Design

by | Oct 9, 2025 | News

Sam Korbel Lead his section in a SWOT Analysis at the IALD 25 Enlighten Americas

Business Owners Forum Examines the Future of Lighting Design

At the IALD Enlighten Americas, the Business Owner’s Forum—moderated by Andrea Hartranft, FIALD, CLD, President of the IALD—brought together firm principals, founders, and business owners for an open exchange on the state of lighting design. The session encouraged candid dialogue about the challenges and opportunities facing the profession, with each table conducting a SWOT analysis on a unique scenario.

Andrea divided participants into six groups and posed a range of provocative questions:
What if the lighting design profession no longer existed?
What if lighting design were required on every single project?

Business Owner’s Forum at IALD 25

Francesca Bastianini Leads her Group at the Business Owner’s Forumat IALD 25

Universal Demand for Quality Lighting Design

Your humble editor joined Table 6, which was assigned the scenario: Universal demand for quality in lighting design. In this imagined future, lighting design is indispensable—codified into building codes—and every significant project requires a Certified Lighting Designer.

Our table leader opened the discussion with humor, remarking, “This scenario is too good to be true.” From there, the table analyzed the idea through the SWOT framework.

Strengths

  • Greater public attention to the value of good lighting.

  • A higher bar set for professional standards.

  • Broader exposure to quality lighting across all project types.

  • Rapid growth and recognition of the profession.

Weaknesses

  • The potential commodization of lighting design as it becomes universal.

  • Lack of clear definitions for “good” versus “bad” lighting.

  • Insurance coverage may lag behind the expanded project scope.

Opportunities

  • Expansion of education and training programs for new designers.

  • Deeper expertise in controls, daylighting, and health-centered lighting.

  • Stronger qualification standards to maintain excellence and avoid commodization.

  • Potential for lighting-specific standards within LEED and WELL frameworks.

  • Improved lighting and product quality overall.

  • Creation of new guidelines and standardized best practices.

Threats

  • A shortage of qualified professionals to meet growing demand.

  • Other trades encroaching on lighting design responsibilities.

  • Lack of pricing structure could destabilize the profession.

  • Larger, AI-driven firms entering the field purely for profit, disregarding quality.

  • Less collaboration time as projects become more fast-paced.

Specialization and Professional Identity

One participant noted, “I don’t want to be a lighting doctor. I’m not qualified to prescribe lighting for health.” Another countered that specialization is the solution: just as there are designers who focus on landscape lighting, there could be experts dedicated to light and health.

Andrea’s Reflection

Andrea closed with a thought-provoking takeaway. She observed that opportunities arise whether the industry faces threat or prosperity:

“When we’re totally threatened, there’s so much opportunity. And when we’re not threatened at all, there is also opporutunity although we tend to protect what we have. It’s almost that ‘be careful what you wish for’ idea—but across the entire spectrum, opportunity is always there. We just have to see through the murk to find it.”

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