LED systems could benefit individuals, employers and environment

Exciting advances in lighting technologies will deliver a better future if we apply them intelligently, remembering what we already know about delivering good lighting quality. Over fifteen years of laboratory and field research that has led us to conclude that better office lighting delivers benefits to individuals, their employers, and the environment. We now ask how we might apply this knowledge to the development of LED lighting systems. Our past research focused on the benefits of individual workstation control over light levels. LED lighting systems offer the potential to add individual or automatic color tuning of light source spectrum. We have begun to study these effects on office occupants, finding that there is a broad range of preferred light source spectra and a desire to have this feature. Adding innovative features will enhance the attractiveness of LED technology, speeding uptake and achieving sustainability sooner.Peer reviewed: NoNRC publication: Ye