Sustainability and well-being. Light seeks new markets

"While it is true that a lighting design can make people feel better, and this is now also proven from a biological point of view, the opposite is equally true, that a bad lighting design does not make people feel good. So we need to be aware of the fact that, when approaching a lighting project, a series of factors must be taken into account, which are not only technological or consumption factors, but also and above all those dedicated to transmitting a feeling of space and improving people's well-being.

Carlo Urbinati, President of Assoluce, summarises in this way the research path that unites many Italian lighting companies today and the leitmotif of the many speeches planned at the first Euroluce Lighting Forum, the two days of talks and meetings on the future of light and its use scheduled yesterday and today at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, in the spaces of Euroluce, the biennial exhibition dedicated to the sector's novelties, with 306 exhibiting companies, 45% of which come from abroad.

It is a very dynamic sector, one of the most international in Italian design, with over 80% of its overall turnover (2.3 billion in 2024 according to FederlegnoArredo data) generated abroad, against an average of 53% for the furnishing system as a whole. But it is also a very fragmented sector, with more than 1,200 companies, mainly small and very small, employing almost 10,500 people and often struggling to address key foreign markets, such as the United States and China, where regulations and certifications different from those in Europe are in force, a real obstacle to exporting and often a cost burden.

It is therefore clear that competition is played out above all on the quality and innovation of the products, which, as Urbinati explains, do not end with the application of technologies, but increasingly have to do with key issues such as sustainability and the effects of the use of light on the health of man and the planet, whether they are decorative lights (lamps or lighting solutions for homes or hotels), or technical lights for public and commercial spaces or workplaces. Themes that are being addressed by the many companies exhibiting at the Salone these days.

"Sustainability is a growth driver on which we have been working with greater attention for some years now, meaning by sustainability both the use of materials, trying to use as little recycled and recyclable material as possible, and the use of ecological production processes, as well as the quality of light, which must be efficient and manageable, so as to reduce energy consumption without compromising performance, but also comfortable for man," explains Giovanni Bolzan, director of Linea Light Group.