Research

In May 2018, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) released a cautionary report evaluating potential energy savings for LED horticultural lighting. The LRC found that energy savings is possible with LED, but one should evaluate products based on application efficiency rather than simple luminaire efficacy. In short, rather than generalizing about energy efficiency, the lesson seems to be that some LED products save energy compared to some traditional products, depending on the product and the application.

The 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), produced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), was recently updated to include additional energy end uses to include lighting and other equipment commonly found in homes.

In 2017, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute published a study showing that office workers who receive a robust dose of circadian-effective light experience better sleep, and lower levels of depression and stress, than those who spend their days in dim or low light levels.

A new LRC study investigated the effectiveness of Apple’s Night Shift screen setting for lessening the impacts of nighttime iPad use on melatonin suppression, a marker of the circadian system. The study found changing screen color alone is insufficient for limiting the impact of portable electronic devices used at night, and that screen brightness should also be reduced.

The Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) 2018 Research Symposium, themed, “Light and Human Health,” will be held April 8-10, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta and SimTigrate Design Lab in Atlanta, GA. Registration is now open.

In this republication of a recent Postings, SSL Program Manager Jim Brodrick discusses developments in how to measure and express the color qualities of light.

A 2016 study at the London School of Economics and Political Science proposes that the way urban spaces are lighted reinforces inequality by providing visual cues to class segregation. Check out this video to learn more.

CLTC recently collaborated with the Emerging Technologies group at Pacific Gas & Electric Company to evaluate linear LED lamps in a variety of luminaire applications, as well as identify cross-compatibility issues of select products.

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.