LIGHTING

THE VISIBLE LIGHT SPECTRUM: (Red) 780 nanometer to (Violet) 390 nanometer

LIGHT:
A form of energy, radiation of photon particles in the electromagnetic field travelling at the speed of
3,00,000 Km per sec. with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (approximately 780 nanometer
(7.80 x 10-7 m) to 390 nanometer (3.90 x 10-7 m), (25.4 million wavelengths in one meter is called
nanometer)).
Light simultaneously exhibits properties of both waves and particles – colour and intensity.
The white light contains seven colour spectrum.
Light waves get reflected, refracted and absorbed by the incident surfaces.
The effect of light and lighting on the human eyes are the important subjects to be studied for
building illumination.
HUMAN EYE:
 Eye has 100 million light sensitive optic nerves which transmit effect of radiation to brain to
identify light, darkness, colours and contrast.
 Eye is able to accommodate a wide range of illumination levels 1,00,000 to 0.1 Lux.
Direct and bright light can produce glare which creates discomfort to the eyes.
 Normal human binocular vision involves a field of view approximately defined as 60 Degree
upward from the line of sight, 70 Degree downward and 180 degree horizontally
 All the eye activities are divided into three categories
1. Light activity: conversation, walking, drinking, etc.
2. Medium eye activity: cooking, eating, etc.
3. Serious activities: reading, drafting, stiching, surgery, etc.

QUALITY OF LIGHT
1. Color temperature
 The colour variation is referred to as the colour temperature and is measured in degrees Kelvin.
 Visible colour spectrum is defined as shorter wavelength red 1800K and higher wavelength
violet 16,000K.
1
 It provides a cool or warm feeling - higher Kelvin temperatures (3600–5500 K) considered as
cool as blue-green colors (light from an overcast sky, welder’s torch) and lower color
temperatures (2700–3000 K) considered as warm as yellow-red colors (flame colour).
 A color temperature of 2700–3600 K is generally recommended for most indoor general and
task lighting.
 Average colour temperature of sunlight is 5500 K, flame of a candle around 1900K, tungsten
lamp 2800 K
 Mostly used in photography

Red ( 620 nanometer) violet(390 nm)

2. Color rendition:
 Color rendition refers to quality of light that measures a light source's ability to render colors the
same way sunlight does. Colour rendition of a source is measured as Color Rendition Index
(CRI), a 1–100 scale where top value (100) is given to natural daylight and 100-watt
incandescent bulb.
 A light source with a CRI of more than 80 is considered acceptable for indoor applications as
their natural color is not distorted.
 Some fluorescent tubes (Daylight) have very high CRI, sodium vapour lamps have very low CRI
QUANTITY OF LIGHT
Measurement of light
 Lumen: unit of measurement of intensity of light, defined as amount of light reaching one
square foot surface, at a distance of one foot from a flame of a standard candle. It is also known
as candela or a footcandle.
(For most home and office work, 30–50 footcandles (lumen) of illumination is sufficient. For
detailed work, 200 footcandles, at night, 5–20 footcandles may be sufficient, a 100-watt
incandescent lamp emits about 1750 lumens)
 Lux: In Metric system this unit is called as Lux. 1 Lumen = 10 Lux.
(On a clear sunny day, direct sunlight provides1,00,000 Lux, simultaneous interior near the
window 2,000 Lux, whereas required normal home lighting is 300 - 400 Lux which a normal 75
– 100 watt incandescent bulb can provide at a distance of 1 meter)
 Luminous flux: is the concept for the total quantity of light emitted per second by a light
source. It is designated by the symbol f. The unit is lumen (lm).
 Efficacy: The efficiency of a light source is defined as luminous efficacy: ratio of light produced
to energy consumed, measured as lumens per watt. Other than light heat also gets produced. The
efficacy of 40 Watt incandescent bulb is 12.6 lm/watt whereas same wattage of fluorescent tube
is more than 50 lm/watt. Better the efficacy more to save energy.

EFFECT OF LIGHT & LIGHTING IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Lighting: The science and art of creating visual environment by means of illuminating it by natural
or artificial sources.
Illumination: The distribution of light on a horizontal surface and the physical and psychological
characteristics of effect of light

SOURCES OF LIGHT:
 Most of the light sources are thermal (produces heat also). The colour temperature of sunlight is
average 6,000 K, incandescent light bulbs produces10% visible light and the remainder as
infrared
 Main two types of sources are:
1. natural source: the Sun is the source of daylight
2. Artificial sources: Gas lighting, candles, oil lamps, electrical energy, converting solar or bio-
energy, etc.