How does lights serve people in the workplace?

07 Jun

Leoh Ming Pei, the designer of the glass Louvre pyramid, once expressed his thoughts on architecture in an interview, “It's the light that's most important to a building, it's the sun's rays that bring the building to life."

The office space is undoubtedly the longest active place in the daily life of modern people. Therefore, in the modern office environment, the relationship between light and space, light and human relations are inseparable and cannot be ignored. The definition of lighting solution or control solution should not be limited to product overlays or feature lists, solutions that are close to the user are "systems with soul". So how does lights serve people in the workplace?

1. Improve employee productivity

Good lighting design and control systems promote interpersonal communication and motivation, which in turn improves the quality of work. Good lighting design requires us to provide low glare office lighting solutions.

(1) Glare control: basic illumination, uniformity, glare, is the basic element of lighting quality, of which glare is a very important factor to consider in the lighting design, it seriously affects people's visual comfort, which affects their working efficiency. This requires us to choose low glare lighting products. LED light products usually use reflectors, increase the luminous surface, add anti-glare microstructure and other professional ways to achieve low glare

(2) Curtain control and daylight management: Lighting design should consider both artificial light and natural light on the office environment.

The right amount of natural light can reduce visual fatigue, drowsiness, headaches, etc. Employees who sit near a window are able to enjoy daylight, and the corresponding employees are more productive; however, the negative effect is increased solar heat and natural glare from the building.

Now on the market the lighting and control system integrates a constant light control mode with heat, glare and energy saving, and the curtains are linked to a light-sensitive system that automatically closes/opens translucent and blackout curtains, effectively reducing the negative effects of natural light and increasing employee productivity.

(3) Biological clock rhythms, the initiation and reset of the individual's biological cycle is regulated by light stimuli.

Circadian Lighting follows the physiological rhythm of human evolution over time, i.e. the 24-hour biological clock in the human body. Artificial lighting that supports human health by reducing the impact of artificial light on the body's biological rhythms. It is a technical approach to achieve the biological effects of daylight in an artificially lit environment. This method of lighting mimics the cycle of natural light, changing color and intensity throughout the day.

For example: morning color temperature set to 5000K, illumination >500lx, synchronize body circadian rhythm, completely inhibit melatonin release. During the day, the color temperature 4000K enhances happiness by matching the color temperature. At lunchtime or at night, the color temperature of 3000K does not interfere with the release of melatonin and aids sleep.

(4) Scene mode, through the setting of various scenes, control artificial light and natural light, one-touch switch mode setting, make the space more reasonable use, work more efficient.

Conference rooms: take into account the influence of natural light, with joint control of curtains and lighting equipment, to achieve a variety of mode settings, such as: speech mode, video conference mode, general meeting mode, departure mode, etc.

Separate offices: the possibility of setting up a meeting mode, a working mode, a rest mode, etc..

Exhibition hall/front desk: welcome mode, daily office mode, group photo mode, one button leave mode in the evening.

2. Reducing operating costs

Lighting energy consumption accounts for about 1/3 of the energy consumption of modern office buildings, according to the analysis of typical project energy saving data, excellent lighting control system through the reasonable configuration, saving lighting electricity costs up to 60% or more, greatly reducing operating costs.

20-30% of the energy saving comes from "turn off or adjust the luminaire brightness when no one occupies"; 10-20% comes from the full use of natural light, the lighting equipment constant illumination adjustment; about 50% comes from different time period, different space reasonable illumination setting.

(1) Combining visual comfort and light efficiency

For office space, considering the visual comfort and energy saving, it is recommended to choose UGR<19, light efficiency>100lm/W or so of downlight and flat light.

(2) Lighting Control System

According to the WELL certification recommendations, all major workspace areas shall meet the following requirements.

A. Design sensors shall program all lighting except decorative luminaires to automatically dim to 20% or less (or turn off) when the relevant area is unoccupied.

B. All lighting, except decorative luminaires, is capable of and programmed to continuously adjust brightness according to daylight.

3. Enhancing the office experience and flexibility

The "human" feel in office space design is a key element to consider. According to the Global Workforce Survey: 87% of respondents with dedicated workstations spend two to four hours a day in other locations. A growing dislike of uniformity among workers is the main reason for this phenomenon, with 43 per cent of respondents believing that a more relaxed space helps to increase trust.

The new office demands of modern society pose new challenges to space structure and lighting systems. With the demise of functionally cured main spaces, modern office space structures and lighting systems must meet flexible requirements, with boundaries becoming blurred and changing flexibly with function. This not only facilitates the mobilization of the work initiative of those present, but also saves space.

Flexible lamps and lanterns such as rail spotlights, rail trays for space changes and flexible adjustments, will be increasingly preferred by new office space designs. Separate single-light lighting control, which can be individually dimmed to adjust illumination, suitable for different nature of work.

4. Integrating corporate culture to build employee trust

Moderate "automation" recommends the corresponding automated lighting solutions according to the customer's industry attributes and work habits, and the new technology in the office space becomes an element to enhance the customer's brand image. Modern office lighting is not necessarily the same light of a whole area, lighting design can be based on the interior design style, through lighting control, lighting design into every corner of the office space, the real office, people and light blend, so that the office space comes to life.

For example, front desk welcome mode setting, festival mode setting, restaurant party mode, lunch break mode automatic setting, automatic control of circadian rhythm lighting, high value lamps, comfortable glare-free lighting environment, giving employees a comfortable experience, can enhance the sense of belonging and happiness of employees and attract more talent.