As hardware prices drop and margins continue to shrink, the lighting industry’s breakthrough won’t come from “brighter lamps,” but from building a smarter ecosystem. Light As A Service (LaaS) transforms light into a form of connection, an experience, and a sustainable business model.
From Product Logic to Platform Logic
After four major transitions—Incandescent → LED → Smart → AIoT—companies that remain stuck in the “sell devices, sell one-off projects” mindset will be increasingly marginalized. Future competition won’t be about individual products but ecosystems:
Hardware as the entry point, platform as the core, and scenarios as the value output.
A Three-in-One Model: Hardware + Platform + Scenarios
Hardware: Functions as data entry and execution nodes; every luminaire becomes a measurable “node asset.”
Platform: Uses algorithms to learn metrics like mEDI, CS, and Pst LM, enabling lighting to evolve from passive control to self-learning.
Scenarios: Deliver standardized, verifiable experience outcomes across offices, healthcare, education, hospitality, and more.
Light as a Service (LaaS): From Selling Devices to Selling Experiences
By integrating hardware deployment + platform subscription + data insights, companies build long-term relationships: one contract, continuous optimization, annual revenue.
Lighting companies shift from project-based cash flow to subscription-based cash flow, while clients shift from procurement costs to measurable operational investments.
From Jan Denneman / LpR #111
The Value Shift in the 3-30-300 Model
In the 3-30-300 model, a building’s energy costs account for roughly 3, rent accounts for 30, while the value of human productivity accounts for 300. What lighting truly amplifies is the “300” dimension — health and performance.
When light improves alertness, focus, and mood, LaaS transforms lighting from a cost into an investment.
Action Guidelines
- Rebuild the business model: Shift to selling lighting performance and circadian health indices.
- Establish a lighting recipe library: Validate scenario templates through data — replicable and licensable.
- Create compounding value through data: Each project contributes algorithms and reports, forming a defensible knowledge moat.
- Collaborative development: Build an ecosystem with universities, hospitals, and BMS/LMS platforms.
Vision
When light becomes an infrastructure that can be subscribed to, measured, and continuously optimized, lighting companies will evolve from manufacturers into health operators for spaces and cities.
Use light to create connection; use connection to define value.
