LIGHTING

FUNDAMENTALS
Human Factors. Light and Health
Feb 2021

Lorna Flores
Quiz Answers
 A1
■ The colour appearance of a tungsten halogen lamp does not change when the lamp is
being dimmed down.

a) True
b) False
 A2
■ A Planckian radiator (black body) is heated from 3000K to 6500K.

Choose the correct statement from those listed below:

a) Its colour appearance does not change since this is an idealised object

b) Its colour appearance changes from warm to cold.

c) Its colour appearance changes from cold to warm.

 A3
• What colour temperature would you specify for the luminaires
installed in a well daylit space located in London that is typically
used during the day?

• 2700K
• 4000K
• 6500K
A4

■ In a theatre lighting project, two coloured spotlights of similar intensities – one

emitting red light and the other green light–are used to illuminate a costume that
appears yellow under midday daylight.
– What colour will the costume appear under the two spotlights?
YELLOW
– Would the colour of the costume change if the green spotlight failed suddenly?
YES, it will appeared RED
– Or would it change if a third spotlight of a similar intensity, but emitting blue
light, were added to the two initial spotlights (i.e. before the failure of the green
spotlight)?
No, it would appeared YELLOW
LIGHT & HEALTH

https://images.app.goo.gl/5ARMoJeSfjwFFK5n9
 ▪ Human factors in lighting is an area of study that helps to
identify the lighting conditions that ensure people’s
satisfaction

▪ Human factors in lighting has to cover the effects of lighting

on performance, comfort and health.

Adapted from Peter Boyce (2014)

Light + Human Factors

Human factors in lighting involves all aspects of the

interaction of people with lighting

https://images.app.goo.gl/M23F8VEjGdACwb5j8

https://images.app.goo.gl/1NvzEKXkV1Urt2b49

https://images.app.goo.gl/Q1eGy4Px1hG3YBeA8
Key definitions

■ Health is a state of complete physical, mental

and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.-WHO

■ Well-being is the state of feeling healthy and

happy.–Cambridge Dictionary

With these definitions, there is hardly any aspect of life that cannot be
said to influence health and well-being, lighting being just one
amongst many.*
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Light concerning health effects

▪ Light as optical radiation

▪ Light operating through the visual system.

▪ Light operating through the circadian system(NIF).

▪ Light as a purifier

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

 Light as optical radiation
▪ Covers ultra-violet, visible and infrared radiation
▪ Can cause tissue damage to the eye and the skin, both acute and chronic.
▪ Can generate vitamin D.
▪ Can be used in phototherapy for specific illnesses.

Phototherapy - positive
effects of light as optical
Photokeratitis Other conditions: radiation
A delayed inflammation of the Cataract
cornea of the eye, (welder’s flash) Chorio-retinal burns Vitamin D production - rickets
A photochemical reaction Photoretinitis Hyperbilirubinemia
Painful but temporary Thermal damage to eye Psoriasis
Action spectrum peaks at 270 nm Erythema and sunburn Photochemotherapy*
Skin aging and skin cancer
Skin burns

*Photochemotherapy is a type of ultraviolet radiation treatment (phototherapy) used

for severe skin diseases. Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Cataract

An opacity in the lens of the eye caused by a

photochemical reaction

Can be acute or chronic

For acute cataract, action spectrum peaks at 300

nm. Action spectrum for chronic cataract not known

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Chorio-retinal burns Photoretinitis

Rapid thermal damage to the Rapid photochemical damage to

retina the retina

Depends on radiant dose in Caused by short wavelength

visible and near infra-red and the visible radiation
area of retinal image
Aversion response offers some
Staring at the sun will do it protection

Protection by aversion reflex

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Erythema and sunburn

Delayed, short term photochemical

effect on the skin

Action spectrum peaks about 290 nm

Repeated exposure leads to tanning,

i.e., skin thickening

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Skin aging and skin cancer Skin burns

Frequent and prolonged exposure to Given enough irradiance,

ultra-violet radiation is associated with thermal burning of the skin
skin aging and an increased probability can occur
of skin cancer

https://images.app.goo.gl/TyY93rdVfxu21HXn9

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Threshold limit values

▪ To determine if a lighting condition has the

potential to cause tissue damage, threshold
limit values are published by various
national and international bodies (ACGIH,
IESNA, ICNIRP)

▪ Threshold limit values should not be

exceeded over normal periods of exposure

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Lighting designed for vision is rarely a radiation hazard in
buildings.

▪ IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) has system

for classifying light sources producing 500 lx at site or at 20 cm
(RP27)
▪ Exempt = No hazard
▪ No UV hazard for 8 hours exposure
▪ No retinal burn hazard within 10 s
▪ No photoretinitis hazard within 10,000 s
▪ No IR hazard within 1000 s

▪ Exempt: 85W tungsten halogen, 37W fluorescent for general lighting,

36W CFL

▪ The most likely situation for radiation hazard to occur is a task light fitted with a
tungsten halogen or CFL light source. This hazard can be easily avoided by
filtering out.
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Hazardous Light Sources
https://images.app.goo.gl/fjska34TL5hh4yFr9

▪ Some light sources are real hazards:

▪ Sun

▪ High power discharge lamps

▪ Fluorescent lamps used in sunbeds

▪ Some task lights

https://images.app.goo.gl/gmvmVzUdhiQacuVx9

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Hazard in practice
▪ Windows, luminaires and reflecting surfaces can
all change the amount and spectrum of radiation
received

▪ Distances are usually increased

Control of hazardous light sources

▪ Place light source in luminaire so it cannot be

seen

▪ Filter out hazardous part of spectrum

▪ Use indirect lighting

▪ Supply protection

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Summary: Assessment of photo-biological hazard
Light operating through the Visual System

▪ Eyestrain, headaches, migraine (sensitive to glare, flicker, stripped

patterns - Use high frequency control gear, avoid high contrast, large
area, regular patterns).

▪ Sick Building Syndrome: “poorly understood phenomenon where people

have a range of symptoms related to a certain building, most often a
workplace, and there is no specific identifiable cause.”
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sick-building-
syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Causes of eyestrain
▪ Physiological - overuse of muscles
controlling the eye

▪ Perceptual - conditions that make it

difficult to see what needs to be seen or
which cause distraction

Avoiding eyestrain
▪ Make tasks visually easy

▪ Follow authoritative guidance for lighting

▪ Features of lighting that cause visual

discomfort are well understood and easily
avoided
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Causes of migraine
▪ Migraineurs are much more sensitive to glare
and flicker than others

▪ Migraineurs are also sensitive to large area

striped patterns

▪ Believed to be caused by hyperexcitability in the

visual cortex

To minimize the risk of migraine:

▪ Use low modulation light sources

▪ Use high frequency control gear

▪ Avoid high contrast, large area, regular patterns Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Autism

▪ Autism is a neurological disorder

▪ Symptoms are repetitive activities, stereotyped

movements, and resistance to changes in the
environment and routine

▪ Repetitive behaviour occurs more frequently

under fluorescent lighting than incandescent*

▪ Autistics would probably benefit from the use of *From Fenton & Penney (1985)

high frequency control gear and the use of

dimming rather than switching controls

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Light as a purifier

▪ Ultra-violet radiation can kill many types of viruses,

bacteria, moulds and yeasts, e.g., tuberculosis,
dysentry,paratyphoid, e-coli.

▪ Ultra-violet radiation can be used to purify gases,

liquids and solids

▪ Most common use is for water treatment and for air

purification

▪ But care needs to be taken to avoid tissue damage

https://images.app.goo.gl/qN8Erh4ZvdB3j2wbA

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Light as a purifier. Applications

**From Philips UV-C disinfection website

Light operating through the circadian system

▪ The circadian system provides

timing of the sleep / wake cycle

▪ Exposure to a light / dark cycle

entrains the circadian system

▪ Signals from the visual system and

non-visual systems are not
separated but mingled.

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

 Light and the body clock

• Free-running system that regulates many

internal biological functions[2].

• Can be affected by different zeitgebers.

• The main environmental cue to synchronize

the circadian system is Light-Dark pattern[3].
Temperature

Based on: Woktysiak, A (March 25th, 2010) Designing Biologically

Efficient Illumination, (European Lamp Companies Federation).
Disruption of the circadian system. Sleep
Cardiovascular disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Circadian System
Stress
Health issues

Sleep disruption
Apnea
Narcolepsy
Mood Cognitive dysfunction[6] Physical injuries
Insomnia
Alertness
Span attention
Memmory disfunction
Falls
Concentration
Why is important…?

▪ It is certainly relevant for shift workers, those who cross time zones and those
with damaged circadian systems.

▪ Performance on cognitive tasks at night can be improved by suppressing

melatonin.

▪ Alertness in the morning can be improved by suppressing melatonin and

increasing cortisol.

▪ But is it relevant for those who are healthy and work by day and sleep at night?
Hormones and the circadian cycle

▪ “Light suppresses melatonin secretion in humans”-1980 by Lewy, Wehr

et al.

Bright artificial light suppressed nocturnal secretion of melatonin in six normal

human subjects. Room light of less intensity, which is sufficient to suppress
melatonin secretion in other mammals, failed to do so in humans
Hormones and the circadian cycle

▪ “Bright light resets the human circadian pacemaker independent of

the timing of the sleep-wake cycle”-1986 by Czeisler, Allan et al.

Exposure to bright light in the evening induced a 6-hour delay shift of her
circadian pacemaker, as indicated by recordings of body temperature and
cortisol secretion
Hormones and the circadian cycle

▪ “Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian

clock melatonin”-2002 by Berson, Dunn et al.

Shows that retinal ganglion cells innervating the SCN are intrinsically
photosensitive. Unlike other ganglion cells, they depolarized in response to
light even when all synaptic input from rods and cones was blocked.
Delayed sleep phase disorder

▪ Characterized by late sleep onset and late awakening

▪ Predominantly experienced by the young

▪ Exposure to 10,000 lx on waking will advance sleep phase

Advanced sleep phase disorder

▪ Characterized by early sleep onset and early awakening

▪ Predominantly experienced by the elderly

▪ Exposure to 10,000 lx in the evening will delay the sleep phase and may
improve sleep quality

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Seasonally affective disorder-SAD
▪ A recognized psychiatric condition occurring
regularly by season
▪ Both winter and summer SAD occur
▪ Winter SAD is more common
▪ Symptoms of winter SAD are depression, lack
of interest in activities, increased sleep,
increased irritability, and increased appetite

Treatment:
▪ Exposure to bright light is effective in alleviating
winter SAD
▪ Light can be by daylight or by light boxes,
providing 10,000 lx for 30 minutes
https://images.app.goo.gl/2SeRsNc7pPj4iXo97
▪ Side effects of light exposure can be
headaches and mania
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
Alzheimer’s disease

▪ A degenerative disease of the brain

▪ Leads to a fractured circadian rhythm with

activity and sleep occurring at all times of
night and day

▪ Enhancing the magnitude of the day /

night difference by providing bright light
during the day can restore the circadian
rhythm

▪ People with Alzheimer's disease have

reduced visual capability

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

Alzheimer’s disease

Van Someren et al 1997

People with Alzheimer’s disease should benefit from the same measures
as are used for people with partial sight:
▪ High contrast on salient detail
▪ Good glare control
▪ Keep it simple

Light at night and breast cancer

▪ It is hypothesized that exposure to light at night resulting in a suppression of
melatonin is linked to the incidence of breast cancer (Stevens, 1987)

▪ There is epidemiological support for the link between night shift work and
breast cancer (Hansen, 2001; Schernhammer et al, 2006)

▪ There is some evidence for the effect of melatonin suppression on tumour

growth (Blask et al, 2005)
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
What do we know?
▪ Our knowledge of the effects of light on health when considered as optical
radiation, and of light operating through the visual system is extensive. As a
result, lighting designed to current standards poses little hazard

■ Our knowledge of light operating through the circadian system is limited. More
knowledge is needed before we can confidently apply light for improving health via
this pathway

▪ How limited our knowledge of the circadian system is can be made evident by
considering:
▪ Fundamental questions
▪ Questions of efficiency

▪ Answers to questions in both areas are needed to ensure safe, efficient and
effective use of light in buildings for human health
Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.
What do we know?
Connections
▪ The suprachiasmatic nucleus is
connected to many other parts of
the brain. What effects do these
connections have?

Robustness

▪Is the circadian system robust or delicate?

▪If it is robust, the exact lighting conditions are unimportant

▪If it is delicate then the lighting conditions need to be carefully tuned

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

What do we know?
Efficiency relate to

▪ What is the spectral sensitivity?

▪ Spectral sensitivity based on single

wavelengths shows a peak at about 470
nm (Brainard et al, 2001. Thapan et al,
2001)
▪ Evidence for opponency with multiple
wavelengths (Figueiro et al, 2004)
▪ There is a model of phototransduction
(Rea et al, 2005)

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

What do we know?
Efficiency relate to

▪How much light is needed?

▪Bright light as used is often 1000s of lux.

This is done to guarantee an effect

▪Predicted percentage melatonin

suppression data indicates that 30 lx at the
eye for 30 minutes of white light is the
threshold (Figueiro et al, 2006)

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

What do we know?

▪ If this is correct it suggests that:

▪ Stray light in bedrooms and night

lights are not a problem for health

▪ Illuminances in commercial,
industrial and health buildings where
people work at night are sufficient to
suppress melatonin

▪ Until the consequences are clear, it

would be better to use light sources
with little short wavelength light in
such buildings at night

Adapted from Peter Boyce 10.1.13.

 Research

Mood Sleep disorders

Quality of life
[12] [9

2005

Aarts & Westerlaken[2005] measured daytime and evening conditions in

old people’s home to learn about the influence of light in their lives.
Results: Homes are poorly lit[8], lighting levels are not enough to
influence their biological rhythm
Activating cosy

Mood Sleep disorders

Quality of life
[12] [9
2015
2005

Kuijsters et. al[2015] tested 3 environments (cosy, activating & neutral) to

improve induced negative mood in old people
Results: it was found that cosy environment is more effective in calming
anxious elderly than neutral ambience. Demonstrated the potential of
light environment to produce positive moods in old people.
 Research

Mood Sleep disorders

Quality of life
[12] [9

2005 2015
2017

Düzgün & Durmaz [2017] to determine the effect of light therapy on sleep
problems and sleep quality of elderly people.
Results: Exposure to direct sunlight between 8 AM and 10 AM for 5
days seems to be effective in increasing the global sleep quality score.
The WELL Building Standard V2 TM 2021

“We aspire to advance healthy buildings for all. This has been our
mission since we launched WELL in 2014, but today we know a lot
more about how to achieve it. We've learned alongside our customers,
early adopters of the healthy buildings movement and brave pioneers
on the frontier of human-centered design. To create this new version of
WELL, we did a lot of research and a lot of listening…”
1. This is the first standard of its kind that focuses solely on the health
and wellness of building occupants.

2. WELL identifies 100 performance metrics, design strategies, and

policies that can be implemented by the owners, designers,
engineers, contractors, users and operators of a building.

3. WELL is based on a thorough review of the existing research on the

effects of spaces on individuals and has been advanced through a
thorough scientific and technical review.

4. In order to achieve the requirements of the WELL Building Standard,

the space must undergo a process that includes an on-site
assessment and performance testing by a third party.
The WELL Building Standard
Concepts and some typical enhancements

**https://v2.wellcertified.com/v/en/concepts
The WELL Building Standard. Pilot V2

“The WELL Light concept promotes exposure to light and aims to create lighting environments
that are optimal for visual, mental and biological health. ”
From https://v2.wellcertified.com/v/en/light
The WELL Building Standard. Pilot V2
1. Ensure Indoor Light Exposure
2. Promote Lighting Education

1. Levels for Visual Acuity

From https://v2.wellcertified.com/v/en/light/feature/8
The WELL Building Standard

L01

“Access to appropriate levels of light in indoor environments can be achieved through

building design, space layout and lighting design. Windows, atriums and skylights are
design features that can be utilized to increase daylight in a space. The interior layout of
the space also has an impact on the daylight exposure received by users; for example,
conference rooms can be added to the center of the floor plate so that regularly occupied
spaces have daylight exposure. Lighting strategies using electric lighting can be utilized
to achieve required light exposure.”
The WELL Building Standard

L02

“While developing a lighting strategy to accommodate the visual acuity of users, it is

critical to take into account the tasks conducted as well as the age of the users…Lighting
recommendations published by authorities provide a range of lighting levels for different
age groups and tasks.”
 The WELL Building Standard

USA Lighting Handbook

British light and lighting standard for indoor workplaces
Lighting of work places
Lighting standard for Buildings-Chinese standard
The WELL Building Standard

1. Lighting for the Circadian System

1. Control Solar Glare

2. Manage Glare from Electric Lighting

1. Implement Enhanced Daylight Plan

2. Implement Enhanced Daylight Simulation
3. Ensure Views

1. Manage Brightness

1. Ensure Color Rendering Quality

2. Manage Flicker

1. Enhanced Ocuppant Controllability

Case Study 2016. Cundall Office London
Case Study 2019. EDGE Technologies HQ Amsterdam

https://vimeo.com/348794282
Case Study 2019. EDGE Technologies HQ

“3000 sensors” “natural light changing

throughout the day”
Summary

▪ Lighting can have both positive and negative effects on health

▪ More research is needed on light and health
▪ Care should be taken to avoid over-generalization of specific results
▪ Applications should be chosen with an awareness of the risks
▪ The lighting of buildings has to consider both the visual and non-visual effects of
light exposure
▪ Daylight is the form of lighting tested by evolution
▪ Awareness of the impacts of light on human health may lead to more attention
being paid to the daylighting of buildings.