BENYA’S ART & SCIENCE
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Line of Light By JAMES R. BENYA, PE, FIES, FIALD
Every lighting design specification has its Type “A”, Type “B” and other different luminaires on down the line in the fixture schedule to “Type X’ and sometimes beyond. Type “A” is usually the luminaire used the most and that establishes the overall character of the lighting in the majority of spaces, while other Types light the smaller and support spaces. Type “X” is usually the exit signs1. Choosing Type “A” is a major milestone on most projects. Because of its quantity and prominence, it is usually the keynote of the lighting design for most commercial, institutional, government, and industrial projects. Not only will it affect the project’s energy code compliance and cost budget, but Type A will also affect the appearance, cost and complexity of other major building systems, especially ceilings. The Type A choice typically plays the most prominent role that lighting itself can in making an architectural quality statement. On major, well-funded projects, Type A has often been used to set the style and tone for the interior architecture and design, because, after all, lighting is usually very bright and prominent. The most common uses of this kind of fixture schedule nomenclature and the importance of Type “A” are in
offices, schools, libraries, laboratories, hospitals, government, and retail buildings. For over 80 years, lighting manufacturers have competed ferociously to produce appealing, energyefficient, easy-to-maintain, competitively-priced general lighting systems. In the last 50 years, the ubiquitous 2’ x 4’ recessed box troffer has evolved in every way imaginable, from dozens of different plastic lens types to honeycomb louvers, parabolic louvers, indirect baskets, direct baskets, and most recently, edge lit flat panels. Their evolution was based on the demands of architects, interior designers, and especially, electrical engineers and lighting designers seeking the best possible lighting system for visual comfort, visual performance, or just plain good looks meeting what is almost always a tight budget. For instance, the parabolic troffer, mainstay lighting for almost 40 years in the marketplace, was invented to reduce reflected glare on computer screens, but because of its upscale appearance and style, became the dominant type “A” lighting system for over 25 years. Then there is Type “C” (or some other letter later in the alphabet). It is typically an important luminaire that is used in the better spaces in the building like main lobbies, galleries, executive suites and large meeting rooms. Often, the Type “C” provides the general and/or accent lighting, allowing for a few choice chandeliers or table lamps to add the “jewelry” of lighting to the project. In the history of architectural lighting, Edison Price is perhaps one of the most important innovators in the design and use of recessed downlights and track lights in architectural lighting. At a time when incandescent lamps could easily consume 250 watts or more and fluorescent lighting was large, heavy, and needed a lot of volume, Price and the lighting designers and architects with whom he worked showed the world the magic of very well-designed lighting. Thus evolved the standard pattern of using point source lighting for a building’s better-finished spaces. The key reason, of course, is drama. The contrast between darkened ceilings and highlighted finished floors, good furniture and artwork are hallmarks of a space that commands attention and respect. No one could have anticipated the revolution that LED technology would create for the Type “C” choices. Their dramatic impact is first in the small size and weight. Luminaires having small apertures, small or non-existent boxes
1 There is no rule or code that says you have to use this “type A” nomenclature on lighting plans. For many reasons lighting specifiers have used other versions, like Type A1 to suggest variations of the same thing, or like types A for incandescent and types F for fluorescent. You can use whatever you want, as long as it is consistent and clear.
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designing lighting