Light + Health

I recently had the opportunity to interview Mark D’Ambrosio, Senior Project Engineer – New Technology Strategy, Focal Point on the topic of how lighting fits into the WELL Building Standard. The interview informed an article I wrote for tED Magazine’s September 2019 issue. Here’s the transcript.

While the international lighting community does not yet know enough to prescribe a certain type of electric lighting to meet the specific needs of specific individuals, enough has been learned in the past few years “to make a difference in people’s lives,” the Lighting Research Center’s Dr. Mariana G. Figueiro said at the “Prescription Lighting” discussion panel convened at the National Lighting Bureau’s 7th Annual Lighting Forum.

Morgan Pattison, principal of SSLS, Inc., senior technical advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solid-State Lighting Program, and lead author of DOE’s Solid State Lighting R&D Plan, recently contributed an article to LD+A Magazine stating the majority of lighting/health research has been in laboratory conditions. For real progress to be made in developing best practices, more field research is needed.

Acuity Brands, Inc. has announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with CIRCADIAN ZircLight, Inc. The new business partnership includes licensing of CIRCADIAN ZircLight intellectual property, and a collaboration intended to accelerate commercialization within North America of CIRCADIAN’s Zirc branded technology through Acuity Brands’ portfolio of indoor luminaires.

In this week’s featured episode of NAILD’s Get a Grip on Lighting podcast, Dr. Jennifer Veitch talks about what we know about lighting’s effect on human well being.

The Illuminating Engineering Society recently published TM-18-18, which describes the mechanisms involved when optical radiation signals are converted into neural signals for vision and other body functions.

My monthly lighting column for ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR covers the WELL Building Standard, which aims to promote building design that supports human health and wellness.

For the September 2018 issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, I contributed a feature article about various research that is slowly building a case for circadian lighting, and may inform best practices.

In this week’s featured episode of NAILD’s Get a Grip on Lighting podcast, Clifford J. Yahnke, Ph.D, Director, Clinical Affairs at Indigo-Clean, talks about the potential benefits of visible light disinfection.