Why Develop the CLD
Practitioners should be the ones to define the architectural lighting profession. However, in the absence of an officially codified definition, a real risk existed that those outside the profession and others in the legislative or public spheres would seek to define it instead.
As a result, IALD initiated conversations with stakeholders from around the world within the lighting profession and industry to determine whether it would benefit the profession to create a certification that identified and assessed the unique abilities of architectural lighting designers. These conversations also involved stakeholders from related professions such as architecture and interior design.
Based on those discussions, IALD assembled an international Credentialing task force in 2010 to continue the conversation and determine the feasibility of a global certification. The Professional Lighting Designers' Association (PLDA) played an important role by providing representation on the taskforce. After extensive international research involving surveys, webinars, in-person interviews, and meetings, the task force decided that a pressing need existed for a globally recognized professional certification and set about developing one.