In an industry that’s often juggling countless lighting specs, product sheets, and design layouts, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. When every project feels like its own bespoke tapestry—heavily formatted documents in InDesign, PDFs scattered across multiple drives, and a hodgepodge of templates unique to each firm—the result is a huge time sink. Designers and specifiers end up spending more hours tweaking formatting than actually focusing on what matters: the lighting design itself.
At Sourcery, we’re built around an ethos of breaking down these barriers, and lighting deliverables are a perfect target for that disruption. The big question is: how do we pivot from today’s formatting-heavy workflows to a future where data flows as seamlessly as a favorite playlist?
Picture the difference between a 20-page specification document that’s painstakingly arranged in a layout tool versus a dynamic, data-rich format that’s essentially “plug-and-play.” The former might look polished, but it’s costly—both in time and in the inevitable human intervention needed when files have to be merged, updated, or re-formatted for new tools. The latter, while perhaps less visually “designed,” can be the key that unlocks a simpler process.
With standardized data formats, you set the stage for easy automation. Machine learning and AI—like the systems driving platforms we all know from Autodesk or Procore—thrive on consistency. Instead of wrestling with bespoke formatting, these advanced tools can quickly read, interpret, and leverage standardized information. No more long email chains. No more frantic calls to the graphic design team to adjust a product sheet at the eleventh hour. Automation isn’t just about making life easier—it’s about freeing professionals to do high-value work, not busywork.
We’re not alone in this movement. The construction tech world is humming with conversations about open data standards and interoperability. For example, Autodesk champions the use of Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), providing a common language that lets digital tools talk to each other without human translators. Procore’s ecosystem encourages standardizing inputs so that project data can be crunched, analyzed, and reported without the endless back-and-forth.
In the lighting world, the Global Lighting Data Format (GLDF) is fast becoming a beacon. By embracing GLDF—an emerging data specification format designed to be manufacturer-agnostic—designers and specifiers can reduce manual intervention. Imagine lighting data that just flows into your project management platform or specification tool without hours spent reformatting. With GLDF, product details, photometric data, and metadata all have a home in one consistent, machine-readable structure. That’s the holy grail: a universal language that makes sure no matter which tool you or your collaborators use, you’re singing off the same sheet of music.
Sourcery’s platform, inspired by social content networks like Pinterest and project management dashboards, is built to slip right into this emerging ecosystem of simplicity and standardization. Rather than forcing you to wade through multiple websites, deal with local agents, or decipher a maze of uniquely formatted PDFs, Sourcery operates on the principle that specs should be consistent, easy to find, and ready to feed directly into automation workflows.
By normalizing the data and centralizing product discovery, Sourcery helps turn the corner from messy formatting to structured information. Want to feed your project data into an AI-driven analysis tool that suggests more efficient fixtures or better energy-saving solutions? That’s a breeze when your data is already “clean.” Want to share specs across multiple stakeholders—contractors, architects, owners—without losing clarity or wrestling with conversions? With standardized formats, that’s baked in.
At the end of the day, this shift isn’t just about making life easier for AI or data-crunching algorithms. It’s about respecting the value of your time and your creative energy. If we can stop reinventing the wheel for every new lighting project, we can dedicate more effort to thoughtful design, innovative solutions, and a richer selection of lighting products. Instead of spending hours on formatting, we can move the ball forward on what really matters: delivering standout lighting solutions that shine in the built environment.
Standardization is key. By uniting around formats like GLDF and embracing data-forward workflows, we as an industry can become more nimble, more creative, and more collaborative. With Sourcery and the broader ecosystem of interoperable tools at our fingertips, the future of lighting specifications will be less about wrestling with documents and more about orchestrating brilliant, data-driven experiences—no formatting gymnastics required.