LIGHTING DESIGN

BUILDING UTILITIES 3
Module 2 Lecture 6

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DESIGN ISSUES
• Not a fashion problem – not an issue of selecting
the most stylish current luminaire or the most
efficacious lamp
• Problem is about vision – helping end users to see
comfortably and effectively
– Seeing tasks well and offering sufficient comfort and
pleasantness that people stay long enough to perform
the tasks expected of them in a reasonable timeframe,
not necessarily “work”, but living situations

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WHAT IS LIGHTING DESIGN
 A lighting design considers:
 The architecture of the entire space
 Specific task needs for different rooms
 Placement of basic furniture, special decorative accessories
 Overall color of the room

Different types of lighting can create different moods, add beauty to the
home, and increase safety awareness.

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 INVENTORY OF
EXISTING/PLANNED
CONDITIONS

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PARAMETER - SPACE DIMENSIONS
INVENTORY SIGNIFICANCE
 Lengths  Size of space has an impact on
 Widths lighting issues
 Heights  Quantitative lighting aspects
influenced by space geometry
 Allows for initial cost estimates
 Ceiling heights influence
general lighting approaches –
direct, indirect, semi-indirect ,
direct-indirect

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PARAMETER – SPATIAL FORM
INVENTORY SIGNIFICANCE
 Rectilinear  Geometry of space affects
 Curvilinear lighting techniques
 Pie-shaped  Quantitative lighting aspects,
 Amorphous such as efficiency, influenced
by space shape and geometry
 Subjective aspects, such as
spatial comprehension, are
also influenced by spatial form,
e.g., long, narrow spaces with
low ceiling promote a sense
enclosure or confinement,
particularly when downlit, with
no wall lighting.
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PARAMETER – SPACE ACTIVITIES
INVENTORY
• Primary (may be several)
• Secondary (may be several)
• Infrequent but critically
important
SIGNIFICANCE
• Understanding activities can
greatly help the lighting
designer develop more
appropriate lighting criteria
• Simply addressing the space
as such and lighting it
accordingly will result in serious
under-lighting
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PARAMETER – VISUAL TASKS
INVENTORY
 Prioritize by importance
 Prioritize by time spent on each
SIGNIFICANCE
 Specifics about the kinds of
activities, their priorities, and
duration of such tasks in the
planned spaces should be
anticipated
 Simply addressing the space
as such and lighting it
accordingly will result in serious
under-lighting
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PARAMETER – OCCUPANTS’ AGES BY GROUP
INVENTORY SIGNIFICANCE
 20-40 YO  Older people need 2 to 3x as
 40-60 YO much as younger people to
 60 or more YO perform a task to the same
degree of accuracy and
timeliness.
 Aging eyes are also more
sensitive to glare than young
eyes. General lighting and task
lighting may elicit complaints of
glare depending on the age of
population, degree of optical
control, and on the optical
distribution of light.
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PARAMETER – FURNISHINGS
INVENTORY SIGNIFICANCE
 Low and open  Furniture configuration create
 Low and closed shadows that can result in
complaints of too little light, e.g.,
 High and open tall workstation partitions > 5ft and
 High and closed low ceilings < 8ft along with bins
and shelves combine to reduce
lighting effectiveness and
introduce strong shadowing
 Furnishing configurations also
influence subjective impressions,
e.g., greater density of
workstations and taller partitions
introduce a sense of confinement

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PARAMETER – SURFACE FINISHES
INVENTORY
 Degree of gloss
 Colors
 Light Reflectance Value (LRV)
SIGNIFICANCE
• Surface finishes affect both quantitative
and subjective aspects of light
• High reflectance (LRVs of 90% for
ceilings, 50% for walls, 20% for floors)
greatly improve lighting efficiency and
overall brightness impressions.
• Surface reflectance influence transient
adaptation as users switch views between
paper tasks, computer tasks, and
background views. Low-reflectance
surfaces are likely to create adaptation
problems during the day.
• The gloss (degree of specularity or
matteness) of surfaces will help in
assessing glare (more gloss = more
glare).
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PARAMETER – LIGHTING
INVENTORY SIGNIFICANCE
 Illuminance  Related lectures in Module 3
 Luminance
 Luminaire types, layouts and
lamping
 Daylighting

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DESIGN GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH
SPATIAL FACTORS

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GOAL – PLEASANTNESS
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Lighting hardware scale and
shape
 Lighting hardware styling
 Lighting hardware spacing
 Luminance
SIGNIFICANCE
 Scale and shape determine the visual
impact of the lighting hardware in the
context of the architecture
 Styling determines how well the
lighting hardware fits with the
arch’l/interiors style
 Spacing, while based on quantitative
needs, determines how lighting
modulates with arch’l/interiors
elements and features
 Luminance patterns, intensities, and
uniformities/non-uniformities
determine how the room’s features
look
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GOAL – SPATIAL DEFINITION
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Wall lighting
 Ceiling lighting hardware styling
 Architecture feature lighting
SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting walls can delineate or
clarify room shape
 Lighting ceiling can delineate or
clarify height and/or ceiling
configuration
 Lighting such features as floor
or ceiling apertures or
bulkheads can clarify these
features
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GOAL – SPATIAL ORDER
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting layout  Lighting hardware layouts can
 Luminance patterning enhance the
architectural/interiors patterning
 Luminance patterns can
delineate the
architectural/interiors patterning

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GOAL – CIRCULATION
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Luminance intensity  Intense luminance creates
visual attraction

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DESIGN GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH
KEY SYSTEMS FACTORS

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GOAL – FLEXIBILITY
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Movable lighting hardware
 Consistent lighting throughout
 Addressable lighting hardware
SIGNIFICANCE
 Affects reconfiguration of
spaces and tasks
 Affects reconfiguration of
spaces, user comfort, and
affects power budget
 Affects reconfiguration of
lighting intensities to address
reconfiguration of spaces and
tasks
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GOAL – CONTROLS
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Automatic control  Affects functionality, energy
 Manual control use based on occupancy,
 Addressable lighting control daylighting, load shedding, time
of day, and in-service lamp life
 Affects functionality and energy
use based on user input
 Affects functionality and energy
use based on pre-programmed
space/use configurations and
functions

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GOAL – ACOUSTICS
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting hardware size and  Affects sound reflections
construction  Affects noise impact
 Lighting hardware ballasts  Affects noise impact
and/or transformers
 Lamps and controls

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GOAL – HVAC
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting layout and wattage  Affects cooling load
 Lamping requirements
 Details  Affects air distribution (e.g.,
fluorescent lamps affected by
cold air)
 Affects lamp/ballast operational
life (e.g., concentrated heat in
details can affect lamp and
ballast/transformer operation
and life

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GOAL – CEILING SYSTEMS
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting layout  Affects ceiling and above-
 Luminaire trim ceiling infrastructure integration
 Luminaire distribution  Affects ceiling integration; may
impact flange type for trim
 Affects ceiling type and finish

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GOAL – MAINTENANCE
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Lighting layout  Affects access for cleaning, re-
 Cleaning lamping and re-ballasting
 Replacement of lamps  Affects efficiency and
 Finish sustainability
 Affects durability and/or ability
to hide fingerprinting, dirt,
smudges, etc.

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 DESIGN GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH
PSYCHOLOGICAL & PHYSIOLOGICAL
FACTORS

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GOAL – SENSORY RESPONSES
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Aural  Affects actual or perceived
 Thermal noise level
 Visual  Affects perceived ambient
temperature
 Affects glare

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GOAL – HIERARCHIES & FOCALS
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Surface lighting
 Architectural feature lighting
 Object feature lighting
SIGNIFICANCE
 Affects visual attraction/spatial
hierarchy and/or perceived
spatial delineation/configuration
 Affects visual attraction and
visual interest
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GOAL – SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Clarity  Affects perception of details,
 Spaciousness features, objects, people
 Preference  Affects perceived spatial volume
 Relaxation  Affects users’ evaluation of space
 Intimacy  Affects users’ perception of work
atmosphere
 Affects users’ perception of social
atmosphere

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GOAL – COLOR
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Color of light
 Color of surface
 Color rendering
 Color temperature
  Affects color perception and
Spectral power of distribution
SIGNIFICANCE
 Affects subjective impressions
and perceived color and distance
 Affects subjective impressions
and perceived distance
vibrancy
 Affects color of light and
preference
 Affects color perception and
vibrancy
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GOAL – DAYLIGHTING
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 View  Affects eyestrain and motivation
 Health  Affects circadian rhythm
 Luminance  Affects glare, task visibility,
 Illuminance transient adaptation
 Sustainability  Affects task visibility
 Affects energy use and in-service
lamp life

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GOAL – NIGHT LIGHTING
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Illuminance  Affects ability to detect hazards
 Health and/or perpetrators
 Spectral power distribution  Affects circadian rhythm
 Affects visual acuity and ability to
discriminate colors

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GOAL – HEALTH
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Illuminance  Affects circadian rhythm
 Spectral power distribution  Affects exposure
 Spectral power intensity

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DESIGN GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH
TASK FACTORS

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GOAL – VISUAL TASKS
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Contrast  Affects illuminance, luminance
 Color and visibility
 Size  Affects spectral power distribution
and visibility
 Affects illuminance

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GOAL – LUMINANCE
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Work surface  Affects adaptation and visibility
 Wall lighting and brightness perception
 Ceiling lighting  Affects transient adaptation,
 Daylighting adaptation, and visibility and
brightness perception
 Affects transient adaptation and
brightness perception
 Affects transient adaptation,
adaptation, visibility, glare and
brightness perception

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GOAL – SURFACE REFLECTANCE
LIGHTING ASPECT
 Degree of gloss or specularity
 Light Reflectance Values
 Color
SIGNIFICANCE
 Affects glare and brightness
perception
 Affects brightness perception and
inter-reflection efficiency
 Affects spectral power distribution
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GOAL – SURFACE TRANSMITTANCE
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Diffusion  Affects source imaging, glare and
 Transmittance brightness perception
 Color  Affects brightness perception and
glare
 Affects spectral power distribution

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GOAL – ILLUMINANCE
LIGHTING ASPECT SIGNIFICANCE
 Speed/accuracy  Affects illuminance
 Users’ ages  Affects illuminance and
 Visual tasks luminance
 Affects illuminance and
luminance

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LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT
Forms of Lighting for Internal Areas

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BASIC TYPES OF LIGHTING
 Light performs these four basic functions: decorative,
accent, task and ambient – the well-integrated layering of
the four within a space will create a unified design.

 A good lighting plan combines all four types to light an

area according to function and style.

 There are three elements within a space that need lighting

– art, architecture and people

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Ambient lighting 
 Provides an area with overall
illumination. Also known as general
lighting, it radiates a comfortable level
of brightness without glare and allows
you to see and walk about safely.
 In some spaces such as laundry
rooms, the ambient lighting also
serves as the primary source of task
lighting.
 It can be accomplished with
chandeliers, ceiling or wall-mounted
fixtures, recessed or track lights and
with lanterns mounted on the outside
of the home.
 Having a central source of ambient
light in all rooms is fundamental to a
good lighting plan.

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Task lighting 
 helps people perform specific tasks,
such as reading, grooming, preparing
and cooking food, doing homework,
working on hobbies, playing games
and balancing their checkbook.
 It can be provided by recessed and
track lighting, pendant lighting and
under-cabinet lighting, as well as by
portable floor and desk lamps.
 Task lighting should be free of
distracting glare and shadows and
should be bright enough to prevent
eye strain.

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Accent (Focal) lighting 
 adds drama to a room by creating visual
interest. As part of an interior design
scheme, it is used to draw the eye to
houseplants, paintings, sculptures and
other prized possessions.
 It can also be used to highlight the
texture of a brick or stone wall, window
treatments or outdoor landscaping.
 To be effective, accent lighting requires
at least three times as much light on the
focal point as the general lighting
surrounding it.
 Accent lighting is usually provided by
recessed and track lighting or wall-
mounted picture lights.

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Decorative lighting
 Its primary purpose is ornament to the space,
and it plays an extremely important role in
interior design and themed environments.
 Decorative lighting includes chandeliers,
sconces, lanterns, pendants, lamps, ceiling
surface lights, and other traditional lighting
types that are mostly decorative in nature.

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The Layered Approach to
Lighting Design

Begin by thinking in layers

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Layer 1 – The Ambient or
General Lighting Layer
 Generally, the relatively uniform lighting of the space
 Tends to establish the mood
 Includes uniform downlighting, indirect lighting (uplighting
and wall washing), and some special techniques, but can
also be the decorative lighting
 Called “general lighting” if at task levels (300 – 500 lx or
more)
 Called “ambient lighting” if lower than task levels

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Layer 2 – The Task Layer

 Generally, limited to “task lighting” of the HORIZONTAL

WORK SURFACE at work locations
 Tends to help create drama
 Usually produces 500 lx or more within a small area

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Layer 3 – The Display or Focal Layer

 Generally, limited to “accent lighting” and similar effects,

primarily through VERTICAL AND OTHER NON-
HORIZONTAL SURFACE ILLUMINATION
 Tends to help create drama, with greater drama the result
of greater contrast between brightness created by Focal
Lighting and Ambient Lighting
 Usually involves key displays at 1000 lx or more

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Layer 4 – The Decorative or
Traditional Layer
 In general, adds the decorative luminaires called for by the
architecture/interior design style, period, motif
 Is usually expected to contribute to the ambient illumination.
In many designs, the decorative lighting will BE the ambient
lighting
 Usually reduces contrast (drama)

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GEOMETRY OF LIGHTING
ARRANGEMENT

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 The spacing between light fittings and
between light fittings and the walls
depends on the height of the room
(see Figures 1 to 4).

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 The preferred incidence at which light
strikes objects and wall areas is
between 30O (optimum) and 40O (see
Figures 5 to 9).

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 The shading angle of downward
lighting lies between 30O (wide-angle
lighting, adequate glare control) and
50O (narrow-angle lighting, high glare
control), and between 30O and 40O in
the case of louvered lighting.

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LIGHTING DESIGN STRATEGIES

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 Direct symmetrical lighting is
preferred for all general
illumination of work rooms,
meeting rooms, rooms in public
use and circulation zones.
 The required level of illumination
can be achieved with relatively
little electrical power
 When designing a lighting
system, an angle of illumination
between 70O and 90O should be
tried first.

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 Downlights (wall floods, louver
lighting) can provide uniform wall
illumination, while the effect on the
rest of the room is that of direct
lighting.
 Wall floods on a power supply rail
can also give uniform wall
illumination over the required area,
depending on the separation
between the wall and the lamp; up
to 500lx can be achieved.
 Fluorescent lamps and halogen
filament lamps can also be used

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 Wall floods for ceiling installation
can be sited to provide low room
light or illumination of one wall.
 Fluorescent lamps and halogen
filament lamps can also be used.

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 Downlighting with directed spotlights
using a regular arrangement of
lamps on the ceiling and swiveling
reflectors can give different lighting
levels in the room
 Halogen filament lamps are most
suitable, particularly those with low-
voltage bulbs.

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 Indirect lighting can give an impression
of a bright room free of glare even at
low lighting levels, although the room
must be sufficiently high and careful
ceiling design is needed to give the
required luminance.
 Energy consumption in this form of
lighting is up to three times higher than
for direct lighting, so combinations are
often used (70% direct, 30% indirect),
provided the room height is adequate
(height is equal or more than 3.0m).
 Fluorescent lamps are usually used in
direct/indirect lighting, but they may
also be combined with filament lamps.

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 Ceiling and floor floods are
employed to illuminate ceiling and
floor surfaces.
 They usually use halogen filament
lamps or fluorescent lamps,
although high pressure discharge
lamps are also a possibility.

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 Wall lights are principally used for
decorative wall lighting and can also
incorporate special effects (e.g.,
using colored filters or prisms).
 To a limited extent, they can also be
used for the illumination of ceilings
or floors.

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 Wall floodlights and spotlights on power supply rails are particularly useful in sale room,
exhibitions, museums, and galleries.
 With wall floodlights, typical requirements are for vertical illumination levels of 50lx, 150lx or
300lx.
 Filament and fluorescent lamps are usually preferred; for spotlights, the basic light emission
angles 10O (spot), 30O (highlight), and 90O (flood).
 The angle of the light cone can be varied by passing the light through the lenses (sculptured
lenses, Fresnel lenses), and the spectrum of the light can be varied using UV and IR filters
and color filters.
 Shading can be arranged by means of louvers and anti-glare flaps.
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