Lighting Design Considerations discusses the methods and tools needed to produce integrated lighting applications that use advanced sources, luminaires and controls. This section reviews the lighting design process, including issues of lighting quality which includes lighting levels (quantity), and presents a series of guidelines for designing advanced lighting systems. This section also reviews advanced tools and computer programs to assist designers. The Applications Directory provides examples of lighting applications for various areas such as offices, and retail. These examples demonstrate how advanced technologies can be integrated to produce very efficient quality designs.

Lighting is for people so that they can see, and thus navigate and work at visual tasks. If reducing energy consumption were the only lighting design consideration, it would be a simple matter not to install any electric lighting at all for interior and night-occupied spaces. But obviously, there is a value to human vision and a desire to occupy visually comfortable spaces. The lighting designer must juggle multiple and sometimes competing criteria in order to achieve a successful lighting design.