Illumination Engineering Design

Lighting Metrics
Illumination Engineering Design

Luminous Flux

Defined as the flow of light,

 and is measured in Luminous Flux
lumens. When a lamp
receives power in watts, the
lamp emits lumens (lm).
The measures of success of
doing this is called efficacy
and is measured in lumens
per watt (lm/W).
Power
Illumination Engineering Design

Lamp Efficacies
Efficacy
Lamp Type
(lumens/watt)
Tungsten Filament (incandescent) 7-18

Tungsten Halogen 12-26

Linear Fluorescent 45-104

Compact Fluorescent 33-75

Mercury (phosphor coat) 42-60

Metal Halide 65-120

High Pressure Sodium 50-150

Illumination Engineering Design

Illuminance

As luminous flux travels

outward from a source, it
ultimately impinges on Average
surfaces, where it is reflected, illumination of
transmitted, and/or absorbed. a surface is
Illuminance on a surface, E is luminous flux
per unit area
the density of luminous flux
incident on that surface. It is
measured in lumens per
square meter. Lux is equivalent
to lumen/m2 while foot-candle Area
for lumen/ft2.
Illumination Engineering Design

Luminous Intensity

Generally speaking, a light

source emits its luminous flux Light Intensity
in different directions and at
different intensities. The
visible radiant intensity in a
Light intensity is the
particular direction is called measure of light output in
luminous intensity (I). The unit a specified direction.
of measurement is the Unit: candela (cd)
candela (cd).
Illumination Engineering Design

Luminance

The luminance (L) is the

brightness of an illuminated
or luminous surface as
perceived by the human eye. Luminance
Unit of measurement is
candelas per square meter
(cd/m2). Illuminance
Illumination Engineering Design

Luminous Efficacy and Efficiency

Luminous Efficacy () indicates the efficiency with which

the electrical power consumed is converted into light. The
unit of measurement is lumens per watt (lm/W).
Luminaire Efficiency (also known as the light output ratio)
is an important criterion in gauging the energy efficiency
of a luminaire. This is the ratio between the luminous flux
emitted by the luminaire and the luminous flux of the
lamp (or lamps) installed in the luminaire.
Illumination Engineering Design

Laws for Point Sources of Light

• Inverse Square Law
To understand this law, consider a cone-shaped beam of
light coming from a small point source and hitting a
surface some distance away. Suppose that the luminous
flux within the cone is one lumen, and it strikes a surface
1-meter away, producing an illuminated area of 1 square
meter. By dividing the luminous flux by the area we can
find illuminance, which will be 1 lux.
Illumination Engineering Design

Laws for Point Sources of Light

• Inverse Square Law

The illuminance, E equals to the

E=I/9d2 ratio of the intensity of light
source, I and the distance
squared, d2.
Illumination Engineering Design

Laws for Point Sources of Light

• Inverse Square Law
Illumination Engineering Design

Laws for Point Sources of Light

• Cosine Law of Incidence
Lambert’s cosine law states that the illuminance falling on
any surface depends on the cosine of the light’s angle of
incidence, θ.
Illumination Engineering Design

Lambertian Emission and Reflection

A lambertian surface reflects or emits equal (isotropic)

luminance in every direction. For example, an evenly
illuminated diffuse flat surface such as a piece of paper is
approximately lambertian, because the reflected light is
the same in every direction from which you can see the
surface of the paper. However, it does not have isotropic
intensity, because the intensity varies according to the
cosine law.