Assisting with an office build inside a steel building. For construction speed reasons, the customer is weighing options to use a drop ceiling under the wood floor trusses. They prefer the look of can lights, but with the lighting needs, it will be a lot of wiring. Are there any options your customers have liked that provide good light, yet a bit different than typical 2x4 coffers?
The building is technically residential, but they are looking to zone to commercial later so sticking to commercial code, which is no NM.
There are many different requirements for commercial lighting that wouldn't appear in residential lighting. Considerations for min lighting level throughout the space, egress lighting (that can include path of egress if in a larger more open area that may only be divided by cubical or shelfing like a warehouse), even energy codes coming into play with dimming and occupancy controls.
Consideration of a light dispersion area will dictate the quantity of lights to meet the various other requirements, such as shadowing in between fixtures at the vision level (library or school at the desk level vs a level for shelve view as in a store) A lot of codes just related to lighting levels only may need to be complied with depending on occupancies. for instance NFPA1901, NFPA 1900, NFPA 731, NFPA 286, NFPA 265, NFPA 72, NFPA 99, NFPA 5000, NFPA 73, NFPA 101, in addition to any energy codes from a local/state code, among others, (not all may apply in any given installation but any could have an impact). It's no longer just simple "we'll throw in x number of fixtures and call it a day".
Have used the flat panel LED that would look like just a typical tile until the light was on, No shadows and good lighting levels, and dimmable. Have seen more decorative lights that hang down off the ceiling area from stock level found in big box to one off custom made in a lighting shop that give a luxury look, that either supplement or act as sole lighting.
I think no matter how you light a larger commercial area there will be a significant amount of wire, whether it is traditional category 1 or a category 3 and POE.
