The Art & Science Behind Beautiful Kitchens: Evidence-Based Lighting That Performs
Recorded On: 05/28/2026
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About this Course and Tool
The IES offers Educational Webinars throughout the year, purposefully spanning a broad range of topics and speaker expertise.
Description: Most American homes are significantly underlit, and building codes offer little meaningful guidance—sometimes requiring as little as a single light in a kitchen. While energy standards mandate efficient LEDs, they rarely address which products to use or how to place them effectively, leading to widespread lighting mistakes.
Drawing on more than a decade of research and work with the Illuminating Engineering Society and the National Kitchen & Bath Association, architect Doug Walter shares practical, real-world strategies for residential lighting using today’s technologies. Illustrated with award-winning kitchens from across the U.S., this session explores how layered lighting—combined with daylight, thoughtful placement, and emerging products—can dramatically improve both light quality and energy performance.
Attendees will learn how to specify effective lighting for any ceiling height, budget, or scope of remodel, guided by NKBA Guidelines and IES Recommended Practices. Featuring real-world case studies, lessons learned (including a few hard-earned mistakes), and simple tools for helping clients choose the right light before installation, this session is both informative and engaging.
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LockedDoug Walter
Architect
Doug Walter, AIA, CMKBD, is a Denver-based architect with 46 years of experience specializing in residential remodeling, with a nationally recognized focus on lighting and daylighting. His work integrates lighting, accessibility, historic preservation, and kitchen and bath design, and has earned more than 160 local and national awards, including Kitchen & Bath Design Industry Awards at KBIS in 2022 and 2023.
Doug is a frequent speaker and highly rated presenter at major conferences including AIA, IBS, Lightfair, and seven recent Kitchen & Bath Industry Shows (KBIS), where he is known for practical, evidence-based lighting education. He has also served as a judge for numerous local and national design competitions, including the NKBA Design & Industry Awards (2025).
A long-time subject matter expert for NKBA, NAHB, and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), Doug has authored more than a dozen original research articles on residential lighting and has taught scores of seminars and webinars on the topic for NKBA. He has served on multiple NKBA national working groups, including development of the Lighting Badge curriculum and the 2022 Kitchen & Bath Design Guidelines, and is currently contributing to the 2026 update.
Doug also serves on two IES technical committees—Residential Lighting, and Lighting for Seniors and the Low Vision Community—where he helped author the consumer guide Lighting Your Way to Better Vision and edit ANSI/IES RP-28-25 Recommended Practice: Lighting and the Visual Environment for Older Adults and the Visually Impaired.