Human centric lighting

Posted by kbanks on Jun 18, 2012 in LED lighting | Comments Off

Did you know that carefully designed lighting can aid, and even correct, circadian rhythms in humans? We didn’t, until we read an interesting article in the most recent edition of Architectural SSL magazine.

Light levels are key in a human’s 24-hour internal clock, also known as circadian rhythms. Until 200 years ago, 90 percent of our waking time was spent outdoors. Now most of us spend 90 percent of our time indoors with electric lighting.

While we’re at work, our lighting is usually set to one light level with a constant correlated color temperature (CCT) – and this isn’t consistent with our circadian rhythms. Without regular and direct exposure to different levels of lighting, the circadian rhythm can be disrupted, which could lead to health issues.

Here’s where the “bright side” of LEDs comes into play. As opposed to fluorescent sources, the CCT of many LEDs can easily be adjusted. Such “tuning” could be done within our hospitals, homes and offices to match the CCT outside of the building throughout the day, which could help maintain our internal clock alignment – and increase productivity.

Is the future of lighting adjustable to match the outdoors? We’d love to hear your thoughts on these up-and-coming developments.