No. 19 „Impact of Light on Human Beings"

ISBN 978-3-926193-60-5
48 pages
DIN A4

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Index

No. 19 „Impact of Light on Human Beings"

• Human evolution is shaped by light
  
• Biological rhythms
  
• Our internal clock
  
• Biologically effective light
  
• Biologically effective light indoors
  
• Light therapy
  
• Lighting design
  
• Lighting quality and energy efficiency
  
• Practical example: Dynamic office lighting
  
• Practical example: Dynamic industrial workplace lighting
  
• Practical example: Dynamic school lighting
  
• Practical example: Dynamic domestic lighting
  
• Lamp spectra
  
• Outlook: research intensifiying
  
• Glossary
  
• Standards, literature
  

Extract

Biologically effective light

Outdoors, at home or at work – light is essential for human life. Too little light can
cause a delayed reaction in our internal clock or make sleep/wake phases less
pronounced. In both instances, the effect on chronobiological rhythm is negative and
can cause health problems.

Combining daylight and artificial light

The brightness of daylight varies considerably, depending on geographical position,
weather, season and time of day. In Central Europe, most interiors could be illuminated
with natural light from around 8 a.m. through to 5 p.m. In the majority of cases, however,
the daylight admitted by windows does not reach deep into the room. In these cases,
biologically effective lighting can either be activated in addition to daylight
or steplessly regulated to compensate automatically for changes in daylight.

So daylight and artificial lighting should be used to complement one another – and not
compete – as sources of interior lighting. What is more, combining the two saves
energy and enhances lighting quality. Parameters of biologically effective light
Nature defines the parameters for biologically effective light:

• illuminance
  
• planarity
  
• direction of light
  
• colour temperature
  
• dynamism.