Module 2
Lighting Fundamentals
Module 2 – Lighting Fundamentals Philippine Efficient Lighting Market
Transformation Project (PELMATP)
Purpose of the Module
To describe the relationship of light and color and the
different source color characteristics
To discuss the basic principles involved in lighting and
how they meet the physiological and psychological
needs and responses of the people to the luminous
environment.
To enumerate the 5 lighting metrics, namely, luminous
flux, illuminance, luminous intensity, luminance and
luminous exitance.
To present important technical terms and terminologies
used in the lighting system.
Module 2 – Lighting Fundamentals Philippine Efficient Lighting Market
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Outline
Light and Color
Light and Color
Use of Light
Direction of Light
Source Color Characteristics
Quantity
Light, Vision and Perception
Lighting Metrics
Terminologies
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Light and Color
Light is defined as “visually evaluated radiant energy”
Light is a form of energy, transmitted by radiation, and
that it is energy to which the human eye is sensitive.
Newton (1600s): All heated bodies emit energetic
corpuscles, each having the same very high velocity and
a size dependent upon its color; postulated to travel in
straight lines and could be reflected and refracted.
Huygens (1670): Every point on an advancing wavefront
serves as a source of secondary wavelets, sent out
radially
Maxwell & Hertz (19th century): Showed that all radiant
energy consists of electromagnetic waves travelling at
the velocity of light.
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Light and Color
Best natural source of light is the sun
The visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
includes all wavelengths between 380 nm and 770 nm
Incandescent – tend to produce light with greater amounts
of power in the longer wavelength ends of the spectrum
(reds & oranges); accounts for warm appearance
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Light and Color
Ability To See Color
Subtractive primaries
– basis for the
development of all
manufactured paints
and dyes
Additive primaries –
what the eye uses in
the process of seeing
light and color
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Use of Light
Accessibility to electric light is almost taken for granted,
even in the most remote locations
Challenge is not only to provide light in an energy
efficient manner but to provide also a high quality of light.
Factors that can be controlled in the design of a lighting
system
• Direction
• Color
• Brightness (luminance)
• Quantity (illuminance)
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Direction
Directionality of the lighting can enhance and
emphasize an object’s perceived shape or form
Techniques used:
Key
Fill
Grazing
Wall washing
Silhouette
Uplight
Others
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Direction
Key Light
Single point source of light
Provides highlights and casts shadows providing contrast and
producing definite focus
Fill Lighting
Multi-directional or diffuse light
Reduces shadows on an object caused by the key light
If totally diffuse, creates a cloudy day feeling and minimizes
shadows, which may be desirable for certain tasks
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Direction
Grazing
Occurs when light strikes a surface at a sharp
angle, nearly parallel to a rough surface
Enhances any variations in surface depth,
revealing texture Grazing
Will also emphasize flaws and unevenness in
surfaces
Wall Washing
Occurs when light strikes a surface at a wide
angle
Provides even lighting on a vertical space,
increase luminance of wall surfaces, and extend Wall
the space. Washing
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Direction
Silhouette
Light source is used not to illuminate an object itself, but its
background
Applicable when one aims to reveal the outline of an object
against a brighter surface and to create separation between the
object and its background
Uplight
Places a light source below an object
Produces shadows that are reversed from how an object is
shadowed in daylight
Creates an eerie, unnatural effect because it replaces the more
familiar overhead orientation of the light source.
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Ideal Direction of the Lighting
Should be determined by the space function or tasks
Shadows at a work task may be irritating
Excessive concentration and constant readaptation of
the eye can cause visual fatigue and a loss in
performance or increase in accidents
Highlights and shadows must be used sparingly
depending on the task to prevent the introduction of
negative factors
Highlights and shadows, on the other hand, provides a
pleasant visual environment located away from the major
tasks
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Source Color Characteristics
Color is defined with a variety of metrics but
the 2 most common are:
Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
Color Rendering Index (CRI)
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Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
Represents the relative
whiteness of a light source,
whether the source appears
warm, cool or neutral
Measured in Kelvin (°K)
Acceptable range of CCTs
for indoor environments is
between 2500°K and 5000°K,
with the higher value
representing a cooler source
Often the first criterion
considered in the
development of a space’s
image
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Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
CCT of a lamp refers to the
absolute temperature of a
blackbody when its visible
radiation most closely
matches the color of the
lamp.
Major mood-setting element
of the space
Warm color helps to create
an intimate or cozy space
Cool color associated with a
business like environment
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Color Rendering Index (CRI)
CRI rating indicates how well an object’s colors are
rendered by a source.
It is a comparison of 8 specific test colors under an ideal
light source in question.
When color rendering is important, a source with a high
CRI (e.g. 3500°K fluorescent with a CRI of 85) should be
selected
If not important, a CRI in the mid 70s is less expensive
and may meet the client’s needs
If extremely important, a CRI in the 90s may be
recommended
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Quantity (Illuminance)
Quantity of light is commonly described in illuminance
levels because these are easy to measure
In order to effect a noticeable increase in light level, the
illuminance must be increased by a factor of about 2 to 1
Glare – result of excessive, uncontrolled light within the
field of view
The principal determinants are intensity, size of
background brightness, and position in the field of
view of the light sources
Luminance ratios of 5 to 1, 10 to 1, and 20 to 1 are often
used to provide highlights or for accent lighting
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Light, Vision and Perception
Light interacts with
surfaces and objects
in space and with the
human visual system,
affecting our
perception of visual
tasks
Visual perception
requires
a light source, the
stimulus
a modifier of the
light source
a receiver, the eye
a decoder, the
brain to analyze
the modifier
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The Eye and Vision
Cornea – transparent membrane that bends the light rays as they
enter the eye
Light rays travel through an opening in the iris called the pupil; the
size of the pupil controls the amount of light that enters the back
part of the eye
The light passes next through
the lens
The ciliary muscle changes the
thickness of lens to bring
image of the object in retina
The retina is the innermost
layer of the eye and contains
the light sensitive cells
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Lighting Metrics
Luminous Flux
Illuminance
Luminous Intensity
Luminance
Luminous Efficacy and
Efficiency
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Luminous Flux
Luminous
Flux
Defined as the flow of light, Φ
Measured in lumens
A lamp receives watts and
emits lumens. The measure of
success of doing this is called
efficacy and is measured in
lumens per watt (lm/W)
Power
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Lamp Efficacies
LAMP LUMENS LUMENS/WATT
100-W incandescent 1750 18
100-W tungsten halogen 1880 19
13-W compact fluorescent 900 69
32-W fluorescent 2950 92
175-W metal halide 14000 80
150-W high pressure sodium 16000 107
Source: IESNA Lighting Education: Fundamental Level
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Illuminance
As luminous flux travels
outward from a source, it
ultimately impinges on surfaces, ILLUMINANCE
where it is reflected,
transmitted, and/or absorbed Average illumination
of a surface is
Illuminance on a surface, E is luminous flux
the density of luminous flux per unit area.
incident on that surface
Measured in lumens per square
meter
Lumen/m2 is called a lux while
lumen/ft2 is called footcandle
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Typical Illuminance Levels
RECOMMENDED
RECOMMENDED
VISUAL ACTIVITES LEVEL IN
LEVEL IN LUX
FOOTCANDLE
Lighting for safety 5-20 0.5-2
Lobbies 100 10
Stairways 50 5
Reading #2 pencil 300 30
Reading #3 pencil 500 50
Inspection (Simple-Difficult) 300-5000 30-500
Handcrafts 300-1000 30-100
Fine Machine Work 3000 300
Source: IESNA Lighting Education: Fundamental Level
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Luminous Intensity
Generally speaking, a light source emits its luminous flux
(Φ) in different directions and at different intensities. The
visible radiant intensity in a particular direction is called
luminous intensity (I). The unit of measurement is the
candela (cd).
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Luminance
The luminance (L) is the brightness of an illuminated or
luminous surface as perceived by the human eye. Unit of
measurement is candelas per square meter (cd/m2).
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Luminous Efficacy and Efficiency
Luminous Efficacy (η). Luminous efficacy indicates the
efficiency with which the electrical power consumed is
converted into light. The unit of measurement is lumens
per watt (lm/W).
Luminaire Efficiency. Luminaire efficiency (also known
as the light output ratio) is an important criterion in
gauging the energy efficiency of a luminaire. This is the
ratio between the luminous flux emitted by the luminaire
and the luminous flux of the lamp (or lamps) installed in
the luminaire.
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Laws for Point Sources of Light
The following are used to calculate the
illuminance at a single point in a plane
Inverse Square Law
Cosine Law of Incidence
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Inverse Square Law
To understand this law, consider a cone-shaped beam of light
coming from a small point source and hitting a surface some
distance away. Suppose that the luminous flux within the cone is
one lumen, and that it strikes a surface 1-meter away, producing an
illuminated area of 1 square meter. By dividing the luminous flux by
the area we can find the illuminance, which will be 1 lux.
The illuminance E
equals the intensity of
the light source (I),
divided by the
distance squared (d2 ).
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Cosine Law of Incidence
If the surface is turned so that the rays hit it at an angle,
the illuminated area will increase in size and the
illuminance will drop accordingly. The ratio of the original
illuminated area to the new area is equal to the cosine of
the angle through which the surface has been moved.
Therefore the illuminance will fall by the factor of the
cosine of angle. This is where Lamberts Second Law
comes in, the Cosine Law of illuminance.
If a surface is illuminated to 100 lux and is twisted
through an angle of 60 degrees then the illuminance will
fall to half or 50 lux, because the cosine of 60 degrees is
½.
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The Effect upon the Illuminance when
hitting a Different-Angled Surface
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Lighting Terminologies and Basic Units
Quantity Quantity is a Symbol Unit in SI Definition of Unit
Measure of
Luminous Intensity Ability of source to produce I Candela (cd) Approximately equal to the
(Candlepower) light in a given direction luminous intensity produced by
a standard candle
Luminous Flux Total amount of light Ø Lumen (lm) Luminous flux emitted in a solid
angle of 1 steradian by a 1
candela uniform point source
Illuminance Amount of light received on E Lux (lx) One lumen equally distributed
(illumination) a unit area of surface over one unit area of surface
(density)
Luminous exitance Density of light reflected or M Lm/m2 A surface reflecting or emitting
transmitted from a surface 1 lumen per unit area
Luminance Intensity of light per unit L Cd/m2 A surface reflecting or emitting
(brightness) area reflected or light at the rate of 1 candela per
transmitted from a surface unit of project area
1 meter (m) = 3.28 ft; 1 cd/m2 = 3.14 lm/m2
1 m2 = (3.28 ft)2 = 10.76 ft2; 1 cd/in2 = 452 lm/ft2; 1fc = 10.76 lux
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Lamp Families and Some Common Lamps Types
* Although shown in this figure, these lamps are not considered
efficient energy-saving lamps
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