Introduction to LED Lighting Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a relatively old technology, circa 1970, that has advanced from numeric displays and indicator lights to a range of new applications, including exit signs, accent lights, task lights, traffic lights, automobile lighting, signage, wall sconces, and outdoor lighting and downlighting. LEDs offer benefits such as small … Read more
Topic: Lighting
Lighting Commissioning Spring 2003 Among the most frequently overlooked elements of any lighting design project is how the lighting system will be controlled. This is true for many reasons; cost, design time, confusion over contract scope, aversion to perceived risk of implementing new technologies. When moving forward with the practice of lighting design, these issues … Read more
Introduction to Occupancy Sensors All lighting systems are operated with lighting controls, devices that switch lights on and off or devices that dim light output. The most common and basic lighting control is a simple on-off switch, which, when flipped, opens and closes the circuit, feeding or cutting off the electric current necessarily to operate … Read more
Color Temperature Color temperature, expressed on the Kelvin Scale (K), is the color appearance of the lamp itself and the light it produces. Imagine a block of steel that is steadily heated until it glows first orange, then yellow and so on until it becomes white hot. At any time during the heating, we could … Read more
Color Rendering Color rendering, expressed as a rating from 0 to 100 on the Color Rendering Index (CRI), describes how a light source makes the color of an object appear to human eyes and how well subtle variations in color shades are revealed. The higher the CRI rating is, the better its color rendering ability. … Read more
Track Lighting Track lighting is one of the most commonly used and misunderstood of the lighting system types. It is a powerful tool for a lighting designer but can also be rather confusing without an understanding of some basic track lighting principles. Because track lighting is very directional, track systems perform best as accent … Read more
Introduction In a typical commercial building, the cost of employing people outnumbers the cost of operating a lighting system by some 150 to one. Therefore, while even as high as a 50% reduction in lighting costs using energy-efficient lighting can have a positive impact on the bottom line, just a one percent increase in productivity … Read more
Dim and Dimmerby Eric Strandberg LC Dimmers today come in many styles and control many different types of loads. A typical building today may have a combination of line voltage and low voltage incandescent, fluorescent and even high intensity discharge loads. Proper matching of control system types to the load is very important. Not … Read more
Should I Turn Off Fluorescent Light When Leaving A Room? Short Answer: Turn them off if you will be gone for more than about 15 minutes. But… There are a few misconceptions about fluorescent lighting that keep too many people from turning lights off to save energy. The first misconception is that it … Read more
Lighting quality in a specific space is always the result of the blending of the architecture, light source(s), relation to the visual task, and the preferences and needs of the users. This makes it very hard to develop a single formula that will always create magnificent lighting in every space. The debate over creating a … Read more
