Light + Health

The increasing popularity of LED technology has raised concerns about retinal damage via a mechanism known as blue-light hazard. Research conducted by the Lighting Research Center demonstrated in a majority of cases LED lighting does not present a greater risk of blue-light hazard than traditional sources such as incandescent.

The Lighting Research Center has expanded its Lighting Patterns for Healthy Buildings website to include designs for the healthcare environment. The website provides lighting patterns, utilizing circadian stimulus (CS) as the primary design component, for three distinct healthcare environments and the needs of their respective end-users: the shiftwork environment, the NICU, and patient rooms.

Among the changes taking place in healthcare is a trend in hospitals toward designing larger, single-patient suites that consist of a bedroom and bathroom, rather than the traditional shared rooms. A recently completed DOE-funded R&D project carried out by Philips Lighting Research North America sought to redefine lighting for healthcare patient suites by developing an innovative LED lighting system that not only was 40% more energy-efficient than traditional fluorescent incumbent technologies, but also met all of the visual and non-visual needs of patients, caregivers, and visitors while improving the overall patient experience.

Solemma is working with sleep scientists at the Alertness CRC in Australian to develop circadian lighting design software geared to architects and lighting professionals. Called ALFA, the software will be demonstrated as a prototype at DIVA Day 2017 on October 27 at the University of California – Berkeley.

The Lighting Research Center has released a new version of its free, open-access circadian stimulus (CS) calculator to help lighting professionals select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for circadian-effective light exposure in architectural spaces. The new calculator provides additional functions not included in the original version, including the ability to [...]

Lumenique’s Kevin Willmorth recently published a blog post questioning the use of the term “humancentric lighting” and raising concerns about how it is being marketed and applied. Without mincing words, his post begins: I do not use, like, or support, the term “Human-Centric Lighting” or HCL, and the marketing of it. Nor am I convinced [...]

In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced guidelines encouraging restrictions on the spectral properties of outdoor and roadway lighting, based on CSAPH Report 2-A-16 from their Council on Science and Public Health. The Illuminating Engineering Society recently completed a review of the report and guidelines and issued Position Statement PS-09-17, joining with the International [...]

A new study from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found that office workers who receive a robust dose of circadian-effective light in the morning, from electric lighting or daylight, experience better sleep and lower levels of depression and stress, than those who spend their mornings in dim or low light levels. [...]

I wrote this news piece for the May issue of tED Magazine. Reprinted with permission. The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently released a circadian stimulus (CS) calculator. Based on the CS metric, this tool can aid lighting professionals to select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for [...]