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MAY 2021
LIGHTING JOURNAL
Light, Seen course, would be simply to install floodlights mounted on the buildings, shining down into the square. ‘But then, when you look up at the buildings you would be, to some extent, blinded, or at least your view would be obscured, by the very bright light source from the floodlights. ‘Likewise, if you put them in the open area, if you’ve got visible LEDs, they will become the focal point. So we would propose using light guides, with much lower luminance than the emitting sources in this sort of space, on low-mounted columns,’ Nic said. Light guides in this context provide an alternative form of control. There aren’t any very bright sources and they provide increased visual comfort, a uniform, non-pixelated light surface and the LEDs are not visible, he argued. ‘They are actually facing sideways; their output is then redirected to the target area evenly across the light guide. This is referred to as extraction, and the size of the light guide material is matched by the features that provide the extraction, so that it is even across the full width,’ Nic added. Light guides simply provide another bit of kit in the lighting designer’s toolbox for enhancing visual comfort beyond the use of indirect lighting and/or diffusers, both of which have their place but also their limitations, all of which Nic ran through. ‘In conclusion, light guides are a relatively new tool for use with LEDs. In particular situations they provide lighting with visual comfort more effectively and more efficiently than previous technologies that were geared around visual comfort,’ he argued.
LIGHT, ART AND THE UNIVERSE
The BEGA Lighting Light, Scene event, held in February, was led by Russell Mills, national business manager at BEGA, and was on the more discursive subject of ‘Light has inspired art, religion and science; it holds the secrets of the universe’. Russell opened with a video illustrating how differing levels of light pollution can affect night skies. ‘It is quite staggering the effect that we can have on what we can see by the lighting practices that we adopt,’ he pointed out. He then cantered through how light has affected and inspired religion, art, culture, our emotions and experiences, as well as science; how light has shaped our perception of the world, how light has throughout the ages been venerated as divine; how light ‘sculpts’ the spaces it touches. We need light, too, of course to maintain our health and organs, yet we use much more than just our eyes to perceive light; we interpret light through our senses and sensations, our contracts in perception. ‘We all have same image, but we have different versions of it because of our mind’s interpretation of www.theilp.org.uk
what we see,’ Russell highlighted. He cited optical illusions such as the ‘Koffka Ring’ and Adelson’s ‘Corrugated Plaid’ to illustrate how our brains often fill in perceptual gaps. He then discussed the impact of light in the environment and its effect on urbanisation and, more negatively, the over-use of blue light at night and light pollution, citing research arguing that just one in 50 of us experiences nights free of light pollution, and only 10% of people have seen the Milky Way for real rather than from photographs. Equally, in the US it is estimated as much as $1.7bn bleeds directly into the night-time sky every year, he said. ‘When spaces for buildings are over-lit in competition with each other, it can lead to a confusing scene. Buildings drenched in excessive light to attract attention, such as historic buildings, landmarks and skyscrapers. Light clutter refers to excessive light coming from groups of bright and confusing sources. The increased clutter contributes to light pollution, such as urban skyglow, glare and light trespass,’ Russell emphasised. Legislators and politicians were trying to find a way, with Russell highlighting the fact the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 makes light nuisance subject to the same criminal law as noise and smells. But this was also something the industry needed to be leading on. ‘To help us achieve the best lighting practice we should always control the brightness, shield luminaires, use luminaires with efficient optics, limit uplighting, minimise blue light emissions for environmental reasons, and we should use lighting controls. Also always aim light fixtures accurately,’ said Russell. At this point the event became more interactive, with Russell talking through various paper schemes attendees had submitted prior to the event to address how to minimise glare on a range of different scenes/areas, including a modern façade, a garden, a barbecue area, and a main building exterior. ‘Darkness should be respected. We don’t want to shed light everywhere; we want to use darkness to interplay with light. We should provide light only where it is required, and selectively illuminate paths that link the visual location,’ Russell said. The conversation then flowed through how the direction of light influences movement and atmosphere, the role of uplighting, silhouette lighting, shadow lighting, wash lighting, mirroring (often via water), and cross lighting, among others. ‘Lighting is like an art form and, like all artists, you need the correct tools to implement your vision. When selecting products, we should always consider the impact
on the environment, and the luminaire’s efficiency. We should consider if maintenance is possible; the sustainability of the luminaire and the full cost of ownership,’ said Russell. ‘As a manufacturer of both exterior and interior lighting, you’d probably imagine that we would be encouraging you to specify and install more lighting. But we’re not. We believe that you should use better-quality luminaires and you should light better,’ he added.
FIND OUT MORE
The videos of both the TRT and BEGA Light, Seen events are publicly available on the ILP website at, https://theilp.org.uk/project/light-seen/ For Telensa’s Light, Seen event, you can register to view it through its own website: info.telensa. com/business-case-for-street-lightswith-controls-0
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
If your organisation is an ILP Premier member it is very easy to get involved in Light, Seen. First, you’ll need to decide on a topic. Your content can be commercially biased but must include an element of learning/CPD/ knowledge-sharing, and must not include any material that is negative towards other organisations. Each event normally runs for about 30 minutes, split between the presentation and the question/chat time. Registration will be handled by the ILP, and data shared with you where permission is given by the attendee. There is a minimum lead time of three weeks from agreeing a session to delivery of the event. The sessions are free to attend and all are welcome. Creativity and interaction are very much encouraged. If you want to find out more, simply drop the ILP team a line, to Jess Gallacher, at email: jess@theilp.org.uk