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25
Bright morning light cuts stress in office workers
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The subjects who received sufficient light – either daylight or artificial – to stimulate their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, were able to fall asleep more quickly at bedtime, and experienced better quality sleep.
Office workers who receive bright light in the morning have better sleep and lower levels of stress than those who receive low light levels, scientists have discovered.
The subjects who received sufficient light – either daylight or artificial – to stimulate their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, were able to fall asleep more quickly at bedtime, and experienced better quality sleep. They also reported lower levels of stress and depression.
The finding was consistent during both summer and winter. The scientists, working at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York state, recorded each subject’s daily circadian stimulus or CS, the calculated effectiveness of light’s impact on the circadian system. It ranges from 0.1, the threshold for circadian system activation, to 0.7, the response saturation.
The team, led by Dr. Mariana Figueiro, found that office workers receiving a morning CS of at least 0.3, regardless of source, had stronger circadian rhythms, than those receiving a morning CS of 0.15 or less.
At bedtime, participants receiving low CS lay in bed for approximately 45 minutes before they could actually fall asleep, which can lead to reduced sleep duration for those with a fixed wake time.
The study included 109 participants at five office buildings across America. Each study participant wore a Daysimeter, a research tool developed by the LRC in 2004, and used in frequent studies to measure the amount of CS a person actually receives, along with their activity patterns. Each participant was asked to wear the Daysimeter as a pendant for seven consecutive days during data collection periods in winter, between December and February, and again in summer, between late May and August. Data collection was conducted between 2014 and 2016.
‘Our study shows that exposure to high CS during the day, particularly in the morning, is associated with better overall sleep quality and mood scores than exposure to low CS,’ Figueiro told Lux. ‘The present results are a first step toward promoting the adoption of new, more meaningful metrics for field research, providing new ways to measure and quantify circadian-effective light.’
‘We are supporting this type of research so we can learn more about the connections between lighting and health,’ said Bryan Steverson with GSA. ‘The data from this research will help support our efforts in developing new lighting practices that can optimize health benefits for federal employees working in our federal buildings.’
The results will be seized on by proponents of so-called human-centric lighting, in which artificial lighting levels and colour are manipulated during the day to better harmonise with our natural circadian rhythms.
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‘The moon, unlike the sun, lets you look at her, it seems she wants to be looked at’, commented Paolo Di Trapani, CEO of CoeLux, who is behind the latest innovation.
CoeLux Moon aims to create a comforting and relaxing ambience and less light is used to produce the final effect than the original sunlight CoeLux uses.
CoeLux’s artificial skylights have rocked the industry due to their convincing reproduction of sunlight. Now the company has launched a new version that aims to be just as successful at recreating the night sky.
CoeLux Moon is being launched at Euroluce 2017, which is currently taking place in Milan.
‘The moon, unlike the sun, lets you look at her, it seems she wants to be looked at,’ commented Paolo Di Trapani, CEO of CoeLux, who is behind the latest innovation.
CoeLux chose last year’s LuxLive to launch the second generation of the CoeLux daylight range, which is comprised of smaller less costly fittings.
‘By rebuilding the physical mechanisms that happen in the atmosphere we have ended up with a product that allows people to feel the same as they do when they look up at the real sky.’ Di Trapani continued.
CoeLux Moon aims to create a comforting and relaxing ambience and less light is used to produce the final effect than the original sunlight CoeLux uses.
The potential health benefits that might be derived from using CoeLux are still being investigating by the company.
CoeLux claims to have psychological and physiological data on the capacity of people to relax and feel calmer when using CoeLux and it might even possibly be used to improve post-operation recovery times in hospitals.
‘We have evidence from the psychological ward at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, that people who have a room on the sunny east side recovered 20 to 30 percent faster from operations than those on the west side of the building,’ Di Trapani told Lux Magazine.
It will be interesting to see if CoeLux Moon has the same effect on wellbeing as the company’s original skylight.
Watch the orginal CoeLux in action here:
coelux · coelux moon · led lighting · led moon · led panels · led skylight · led sunlight · lux · Novel Energy Lighting
13
80% of UK school kids ‘at flicker risk’ from old lights
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Professor Wilkins says it’s ‘plain enough’ that bad flicker from magnetic ballasts in schools can impair learning. A switch to high frequency gear, or LED luminaires, would fix the problem.
Because of the way magnetic ballasts manipulate the 50 Hz sinusoidal waveform of the input voltage, they deliver a light output that flickers at 100 Hz. This frequency is in the danger zone of harmful flicker, which could impair learning.
‘Unfortunately 80 per cent of our schools are still lit with lighting that flickers at 100 hertz’, he told a Lux conference on lighting fixture design in London this month. ‘It causes headaches and its causes anxiety. It’s there all the time. Whether it impairs their learning, seems to me to be plain enough.’
Although people can only directly perceive fluctuations at frequencies up to about 70 Hz, human vision is adversely affected by light fluctuations up to 200 Hz. Visual performance is especially degraded by flicker in the 100 Hz to 200 Hz range and in general, younger people are likely to perceive lower level and higher frequency flicker than older observers.
Professor Arnold Wilkins says that 100 Hz is present all the time under magnetic ballasted fluorescent fittings in schools. ‘Whether it impairs their learning, seems to me to be plain enough’ he told the Lighting Fixture Design Conference in London.
‘100 hertz should be avoided.’ The solution is to upgrade to high frequency control gear for fluorescent or LED. ‘It’s a simple as that.’
Flicker at 100 Hz is prevalent in older fluorescent light fittings with magnetic ballasts which were popularly installed in schools before the introduction of high-frequency electronic control gear and LED panels. Typically, magnetically ballasted fluorescent luminaires will exhibit flicker of between 10 and 20 per cent of output, and a ‘compact flicker degree’, or CFD, of over 20 per cent. Prolonged exposure leads to eyestrain, headaches and anxiety.
Professor Wilkins has a number of high profile awards to his name, including the Leon Gaster Memorial Award, the Walsh Weston Memorial Award and the Owen Aves Medal and has been made a honorary fellow of the College of Optometry.
LED Ceiling panels are available from Novel Energy Lighting. We stock multiple quality brands, such as Thorn, Ansell, Philips, and MEGE:
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27
LED helps to make RAF more environmentally friendly
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The concrete cold-war era Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) under which the RAF’s Typhoon fighters are stored received a thoughtful LED make-over.
Senior project manager at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Jim Ellistone, in the high visibility jacket , helped to deliver a project that was both efficient and sustainable.
Despite facing severe budget restraints, a project has been delivered that is both energy efficient and sustainable and the RAF’s decision to use LED lighting, for one of first times on a new project, played an important role.
The building has been so well received within the defence community that it has been awarded the Ministry of Defence’s prestigious Sanctuary Award for Sustainability.
RAF Lossiemouth often bears the brunt of the West’s increasingly fractious relationship with Russia, with RAF Typhoon fighters being dispatched from the base on a regular basis to intercept Russian aircraft, which often play cat and mouse with Britain’s air defences. This means the base is constantly in use.
Sustainability was put at the heart of the project and energy efficiency was key. The new building and the refurbishment of the older buildings also had to be completed in a robust fashion, so as to ensure long, low-cost use.
In order achieve these aims, LED was quickly considered and pitched.
‘There were a number compelling reasons to change the lighting in the older facilities, principally because the buildings involved are used by the squadron 24 hours a day. But like any project that involves spending public money, it had to be justified,’ commented senior project manager at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Jim Ellistone , who worked on the project.
The new building would have a number of uses, requiring different levels of lighting. Besides the executive and administrative offices, the new headquarters building would provide a state of the art secure facility that would be used to plan and brief complex flying operations.
The building would also accommodates the Squadron’s engineering and logistics facilities and the Survival Equipment Section, which maintains all of the high tech equipment worn by Typhoon pilots during flight.
‘Everyone involved in the process quickly recognised the benefits of new lighting, the figures showed that, due to energy savings, the project would pay for itself in just over four years,’ Ellistone added.
In defence projects, the cheapest capital option is often used, due to the budget constraints that the MoD is placed under by the government of the day, however the benefits of LED were quickly provable to authorities.
‘This was an easy change to sell and was, in many ways, like pushing on an open door. The benefits of LED are now well established and we knew that a case for the technology had to be put forward at the first planning stage,’ Ellistone commented.
The highly intricate work that RAF engineers have to carry out on the Typhoon fighters, which are some of the RAF’s newest and most agile aircraft, means that excellent light quality is required. Such is the 24-hour nature of the base, repairs could be needed any time during the the day and night.
The aircraft are stored under concrete Cold War era Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS), which had not been internally upgraded since the days of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Energy efficient LEDs, offering the necessary light levels were installed as replacements to older models. LEDs were also used in the lines on the base’s concrete floor, which the aircraft use as guidance when they pull forward.
‘We had to be careful when specifying fixtures for the HAS, when the jet engines run in the hangers, fumes come from the wings and rise upwards,’ Ellistone said of the work. ‘We had to make sure, in these circumstances that the lights did not melt.’
The main squadron headquarters were delivered a month early, with a saving on the original tender target price of more than £1 million.
In reviewing the project on completion, the Combined Project Delivery Team came to the conclusion that a ‘real and deep sustainability gain’ was made by ‘stepping back’ to look at the fundamentals of what they were being asked to do.
This project is an example of reasoned arguments being used to build up a case for change and then, in timely fashion, a sustainable solution being agreed and delivered on time and within budget.
Visit www.novelenergylighting.com to explore our range of office and warehouse LED lighting, or call us today: 0208-540-8287
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Scientist who discovered human centric lighting shares tips with Lux. PLUS: Lighting based indoor positioning set to revolutionise US stores. AND: Health fears makes city think twice about LED. Lux Today 24 January 2017
human centric lighting · led office lighting · led panels · led tubes · lifi · light positioning · Novel Energy Lighting
14
School installs experimental lighting to improve grades
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An experimental human centric lighting scheme has been installed at Lindeborgskolan school in Malmo, Sweden, aimed at improving pupil performance.
The human centric system replaced a fluorescent lighting scheme, a change which pupils claim has improved their concentration, making them feel more alert throughout the school day.
The automatically changing light variation includes a period of intense rather blue light in the morning, to wake the pupils up, and a warmer light during other parts of the day.
Teachers are able to change the colour intensity of the lighting to create a calming or a stimulating atmosphere when necessary. The human centric scheme has also eradicated flicker.
The new lighting was funded by the Department of Internal Services in the hope of bringing Swedish schools firmly into the twenty first century.
You can find out more about the Malmo project by watching the video above. You can also learn more about the debate surrounding human centric lighting by reading our article: Are we experimenting on school children?
changing colour temeprature · controllable lighting · human centric lighting · led panels · led tubes · Novel Energy Lighting · school led · school lighting
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| Critics of the lit environment in the nation’s commercial workplaces say the sector lacks creativity |
A THIRD of Britain’s office workers hate their lighting, a study by the respected pollsters Ipsos has discovered.
Some 32 per cent of white-collar employees told the researchers that they were unhappy with the light intensity, with only a fifth were able to alter the light level.
The results are sure to bolster critics of the lit environment in the nation’s commercial workplaces, who have slammed the sector for a lack of creativity. Top lighting designer Paul Nulty, founder of Nulty+, tweeted: ‘Bad lighting effects workplace productivity. Who’d have thought!?’
UK offices still have a preponderance of so-called Category 2 lights – recessed, deeply-louvred fittings designed to minimise reflections on computer screens – which deliver a gloomy environment.
The study of over 12,000 workers across 17 countries showed that the UK workers are the least satisfied with their office ambience. The study appeared to add weight to the argument that local lighting control boosts employee engagement and satisfaction, as the biggest issue was a lack of control. Only 39 per cent of respondents say they can adjust the temperature, while a mere 21 per cent can alter the lighting.
The so-called Category 2 light fixture has long dominated the UK’s offices, but its deep louvres are no longer necessary to prevent reflections on computer screens. Picture: Andrew Malone
‘This could be seriously affecting the concentration, productivity and engagement levels of workers, with the study showing that a lack of flexibility and control over the physical work environment correlates with a lack of engagement’, the study said. In contrast, highly engaged employees are those that have the most flexibility over how and where they work.
The situation in the UK is likely to be influenced by the country’s dominance of open-plan design, with 49 per cent of workers based in this kind of space due to its cost-saving benefits. However, this can limit employees’ individual control over their environment.
Christine Congdon, director of Global Research Communication told Lux: ‘Our research has consistently shown that the most engaged workers are those who have autonomy over how and where they work, whether adjusting the temperature, lighting, or workspace to suit their needs. ‘When people feel like they have choice and control over various aspects of their physical work environment, it leads to greater satisfaction overall.
‘Everybody is different and personal preference will depend on an individual’s natural physiology, their mood on a particular day and the task they are working on. To cater to these constantly changing needs, employers should pay more attention to providing a range of working environments, including the ability to adjust workspace basics as required.’
The study was commissioned by office furniture manufacturer Steelcase.
Visit us at www.novelenergylighting.com to explore our range of office lighting products, including LED panels and LED tubes. Call us to discuss your needs: 0208-540-8287, or drop us an email: sales@novelenergylighting.com
Main picture copyright Ripton Scott 2016
commercial lighting · led panels · led tubes · Novel Energy Lighting · office compliant lighting · office led · office lighting · productivity lighting
8
Two-minute explainer: Lighting for the partially sighted
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| Lighting can do a lot to assist partially sighted people. |
The Equality Act 2010 is intended to protect partially sighted people from unfair treatment in employment and when accessing public services. But what more can be done with light to make life a little more equable for those with disabilities? In particular, how can light be best utilised to benefit partially sighted people?
Colour Contrast
- Use colour to highlight differences between objects and surfaces, making it easier to negotiate a complex space. For example, in a white-tiled bathroom have the bathroom furniture in a different colour.
- Use different colours to highlight circulation routes from functional space (retail spaces, open-plan offices etc).
- Paint door frames a different colour to the doors and walls.
- Consider a different colour for door handles.
- Ensure that railings on stairs are a different colour to the walls, likewise the banisters.
- It is important to be able to pick out the edge of steps so use a contrasting strip or nosing.
- Glass doors and windows need to be visible, so consider the use of brightly coloured designs where vertical glazing is accessible to passers-by.
Lighting
- Increase light levels in areas such as stairs and level changes in areas like the kitchen and the bathrooms. There may be an aesthetic challenge in achieving this, but new low-energy LED sources can deliver high light levels from relatively small fixtures.
- Introduce additional light fixtures in areas where spatial definition is important.
- Make sure that light is in the places where it needs to be. Use the efficiency of localised lighting to assist in visual tasks, especially in places like kitchens and at work stations.
- Make the best use of natural light, but be aware of the potential problems that an over-bright blind can cause by ‘bleaching’ the rest of the surroundings.
- Make sure that any exterior lighting acts as a ‘way-marker’ as well as providing illumination. A line of light points can be more helpful than an illuminated pathway.
- Use light as a defining element in areas of the building where there are objects or furniture that protrude into circulation routes.
- Consider the impact of emergency lighting should the normal electrical supply fail. Escape lighting should assist in finding the route to safety for everyone.
The Equality Act 2010 requires employers to provide individual lighting provision to any employee requiring it.
Anyone registered as blind or partially-sighted automatically meets the Equality Act’s definition of a disabled person. Anyone with a sight loss that has a ‘substantial and long-term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ may qualify for registration. In these circumstances, the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 must be met.
Credit: John Bullock, Lux
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Elephants are causing serious headaches for farmers in India. |
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| Elephants have now started coming out of the forest throughout the year instead of only during harvest seasons. |
LED lighting is being inventively utilised in East India to prevent rampaging elephants from trampling farmer’s crops.
For months farmers in Odisha have been battling to prevent elephants from raiding vegetables, fruits and paddy. Miles of trenches and solar fencing have all failed to prevent the incursions, but now a newly installed low cost lighting system is showing signs of success.
Flashing LED lights suspended on bamboo poles have been installed at sixty metre intervals across forty-five acres of crops. The lights were placed so they would be at the elephant’s eye level, while being visible from a long distance.
Despite the fields being full of tomatoes, pumpkins and bananas, the elephants have opted to keep their distance from the illuminated crops.
‘The light system has been designed based on our field experience with elephants and their habits,’ Biswajit Mohanty, project director at the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) told The Hindu newspaper.
‘We knew that the elephants would be scared of flashing lights instead of fixed and powerful lights. We developed this design using low power LED bulbs used as strobes.’
The LED system was also used during the lucrative Indian mango season, which runs from April to June.
Hopefully the lights will be popular with farmers so that they can sleep peacefully instead of chasing elephants all night.
Biswajit Mohanty – The Wildlife Protection Society of India
‘I used to incur huge losses due to elephant herds entering my orchards and attacking mango trees,’ Odisha farmer Jugal Kishore Nayak told The Hindu. ‘But this year, the lighting system has kept the elephants at bay.’
The WPSI now plans to develop a prototype self-contained lighting unit, with an in-built solar charger, which will make the fixtures easier to maintain.
‘Hopefully the lights will be popular with farmers so that they can sleep peacefully instead of chasing elephants all night,’ Biswajit Mohanty concluded.
The Indian farmer’s elephant problem is much more serious than a few ravenous mammals stealing fruit and vegetables. Odisha has lost more than 700 elephants and 700 people during man-elephant conflicts since 2004. During the same period, elephants trampled ready-to-harvest crops across 90,000 acres of land.
The experiment assumes extra significance as elephants have now started coming out of the forest throughout the year instead of only during harvest seasons.
Visit www.novelenergylighting.com to purchase you elephant deterrent lighting today, or call Andy on 0208-540-8287 to discuss pachyderm prevention measures!
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28
Government invests £5 million to help keep the lights on
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Sainsbury’s is one of a number of companies to bid for an Electricity Demand Reduction grant, as Whitehall eyes ways to keep the lights on in winter.
The Government is investing nearly £5 million to encourage leading UK firms such as Sainsbury’s, to install energy efficient lighting.
The money is part of an attempt by Whitehall to reduce peak time energy levels as fears rise that the National Grid will not be able to cope with electricity demands this winter, leading to nationwide blackouts.
A string of leading companies, including British Gas, Sainsbury’s, Sony and BAE Systems, have bid for funding in the second auction of the Electricity Demand Reduction (EDR) pilot.
Plumbing firm Wolseley UK received an EDR grant of £100k and is using the money to kit out its distribution centre with upgraded LED lighting.
The company claims that the new fixtures will reduce its electricity demand by 236,000 kWh, which is enough energy to power more than 300 homes.
Wolseley worked closely with Cloudfm on the maintenance work, a partnership that has also led to Wolseley’s head office in Leamington Spa being awarded a BREEAM “Excellent” rating.
The scheme works by encouraging consumers to provide capacity in the form of megawatts to help the UK meet its energy efficiency targets and reduce pressure on the National Grid. The pilot also reduces the energy bills of those involved.
The Government had originally allotted £6 million to the pilot, but a lack of uptake meant that not all the money was allocated.
This is the second time that an EDR auction has failed to reach its target, the first, held last year, saw only £1.28m out of a total of £10 million being snapped up.
edr · electricity demand reduction · energy reduction · LED downlights · LED lamps · led lighting · led panels · LED retrofit · led tubes · Novel Energy Lighting
