It was giving an example of a general principle, not suggesting that everything ought to dim lights specifically.

Other examples of similar principles might be:

• Taking a little extra care when designing a new building so that adaptive reuse is easier later. That doesn't mean adding up-front cost, but rather things like erring on the side of less specialization when deciding how to lay out the space.
• The way they used to print pretty patterns on the cotton sacks animal feed used to come in a century ago, because they knew farmers' wives would make feed sack dresses out of them.
• Laying out a new subdivision with its streets on a grid instead of curvy cul-de-sacs, so that it's easier to rebuild individual parcels to higher density or non-residential use in the future without having to raze the entire thing.
• Designing a piece of furniture with removable cushions instead of attached padding, so that they can be replaced when they wear out instead of having to reupholster the whole thing.