BUILDING UTILITIES 3

MODULE 9
LIGHTING THEORIES
PHOTOMETRICS
The science of the measurement of light in terms of how the human eye perceives its
brightness to the source is known as photometry, which reveals differing sensitivity to
different wavelengths of visible light.

Photometric measurements are crucial in the quality control and development of any
lighting that is to be utilized in a human environment. This covers everything from
displays such as those found in automobile dashboards and televisions, to the LEDs
and generic lighting used in buildings.

In practical terms, photometrics shows whether a lighting plan meets

the quantitative lighting requirements for a project. Proper use of photometry can
improve the user experience in a space and provide data results that can lead to
more energy-efficient lighting, helping the property owner grasp where, how and
what’s necessary to do to lower costs.

In short, photometrics is a design, logistics and construction tool. To understand

essential photometrics principles, consider its seven main means of measuring data.
PHOTOMETRICS
Lumens: Lumen output, also known as brightness
or light output, is a measure of the total quantity of
visible light emitted by a light source per unit of
time, according to the eye’s perception of
wavelengths of light. The reference point is a
standard 100-watt incandescent light bulb producing
about 1,200 to 1,500 lumens.

Candela: Luminous intensity, measured in candela,

is the amount of light produced in a specific
direction. Graphically, this data is gathered into
polar-formatted charts that pinpoint light intensity at
each angle away from a zero-degree lamp axis. The
numeric information is also available in tabular form.
PHOTOMETRICS
Lux: Lux, also known as illuminance, is the
measurement of lumen output or luminous flux per
unit area. In the study of photometrics, it is used as
a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the
human eye, of light that hits a surface. A flux of
1,000 lumens, concentrated into an area of 1 square
meter, lights up that square meter with an
illuminance of 1,000 lux. However, the same
1,000 lumens, spread out over 10 square meters,
produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux.

Foot Candles: Illuminance, measured in foot

candles, measures the quantity of light on a surface.
Three factors determining illuminance include
intensity of the luminaire in the direction of the
surface, distance from the luminaire to the surface
and angle of incidence of the arriving light.

Candelas/meter2: Candelas/meter2 measures the

quantity of light that leaves a surface. This is what
the eye perceives. This means gauging luminance,
which reveals more about design quality and
comfort than illuminance alone.
PHOTOMETRICS
Cutoff: Cutoff refers to the angle between light’s
vertical axis (the nadir) and the sight line, where the
brightness of the source is no longer visible. The
cutoff angle is the primary factor for a lighting
designer to judge visual comfort. Deep cutoff optics
provide low brightness, adding visual clarity.

Beam Aiming, Beam Spread and Cone of Light: A

beam aiming diagram enables the architect or
lighting designer to ascertain the best distance from
which to locate and center the light source while the
beam spread measures the width of a light beam
from a light source. The number of a beam spread
refers to the angle at which a given area is lighted.
In other words, beam spread helps determine the
coverage area for illuminating an object or task and
knowing the beam spread helps the designer or
architect gauge the right volume and type of light
bulbs. A calculation of initial foot candle levels
according to certain beam diameters is known as a
cone of light.
PHOTOMETRICS
The science of the measurement of light in terms of how the human eye perceives its
brightness to the source is known as photometry, which reveals differing sensitivity to
different wavelengths of visible light.

Photometric measurements are crucial in the quality control and development of any
lighting that is to be utilized in a human environment. This covers everything from
displays such as those found in automobile dashboards and televisions, to the LEDs
and generic lighting used in buildings.

In practical terms, photometrics shows whether a lighting plan meets the

quantitative lighting requirements for a project. Proper use of photometry can
improve the user experience in a space and provide data results that can lead to
more energy-efficient lighting, helping the property owner grasp where, how and
what’s necessary to do to lower costs.

In short, photometrics is a design, logistics and construction tool. To understand

essential photometrics principles, consider its seven main means of measuring data.
PHOTOMETRICS
Defining the Average Observer
Photometry, is the calculation of visible light based on the reaction of a typical human eye.
Physical, physiological and psychological characteristics all affect the eye’s response and
these factors vary greatly from person to person. In addition to this, the human eye has
two types of cells which are functional for low light levels (rods) and high light levels
(cones). This means an average observer is difficult to define.
PHOTOMETRICS
Luminous flux – refers to the total
amount of light that a fixture emits,
adjusted for how the human eye
perceives the light. In other words, it’s
possible for a fixture to output a lot of
light, but light that is not easily perceived
by the human eye. Luminous flux controls
for this, effectively detailing how well a
fixture generates perceivable light.

Luminous intensity – refers to how much

light a fixture throws in a particular
direction, or angle. For example, it’s
possible for a light to output a great deal
of light, but not evenly, so it will appear
dimmer from certain angles.
PHOTOMETRICS
The Importance of Photometric Design
It may not be immediately clear just how different fixtures can be in terms of their luminous intensity. One line
of thought might be – “just crank up the wattage to overcome any dead spots.” Besides the obvious
problems of such an approach – namely, that burning extra watts costs money and runs the risk of putting
out too much light, which may be forbidden by local lighting ordinances – there can be dramatic differences
between fixtures in their lighting patterns.

Take, for example LED lighting. LED lighting is quickly replacing high pressure discharge lamps and metal
halides in larger scale applications like parking lot lighting. However, there is a significant difference between
LED and discharge lamp luminous intensity.

Whereas discharge lamps and metal halides produce radiant illumination, or illumination that travels in all
directions like a globe, LED fixtures produce strong directional illumination and do not emit in a radiant
pattern. This makes for additional challenges and additional benefits when installing LED fixtures, but most
importantly, it has a major effect on how photometric diagrams are produced when using LED technology.
COLOR PROPERTIES
Visible light waves consist of different wavelengths. The colour of visible light depends on
its wavelength. These wavelengths range from 700 nm at the red end of the spectrum to
400 nm at the violet end.

Visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves we can see. We see these waves as
the colours of the rainbow. Each colour has a different wavelength. Red has the longest
wavelength, and violet has the shortest wavelength. When all the waves are seen
together, they make white light.

For example, a red shirt looks red because the dye molecules in the fabric have absorbed
the wavelengths of light from the violet/blue end of the spectrum. Red light is the only
light that is reflected from the shirt. If only blue light is shone onto a red shirt, the shirt
would appear black, because the blue would be absorbed and there would be no red light
to be reflected.
COLOR PROPERTIES
Color Temperature–the Appearance of
Light:
The color temperature of a light source is a
numerical measurement of its color
appearance. It is based on the principle
that any object will emit light if it is heated
to a high enough temperature, and that the
color of that light will shift in a predictable
manner as the temperature is increased.
The system is based on the color changes
of a theoretical “blackbody radiator” as it is
heated from a cold black to a white hot
state.

With increased temperature, the

blackbody would shift gradually from red
to orange to yellow to white and finally, to
blue white light. A light source’s color
temperature, then, is the temperature,
measured in degrees kelvin, expressed in
kelvin (K), at which the color of the
blackbody would exactly match the color of
the light source.
COLOR PROPERTIES
Warm vs. Cool–the Psychology of Light:
Some people find it confusing that low color temperature light sources are called
“warm” while those with higher temperatures are referred to as “cool.” In fact, these
descriptions have nothing to do with the temperature of the blackbody radiator but
refer to the way color groups are perceived—the psychological impact of light.
Colors and light sources from the blue end of the spectrum are referred to as cool,
and those toward the red/orange/yellow side of the spectrum are described as warm.
LIGHT EXPOSURE
Passive lighting is any architectural element that
uses sunlight to light interiors without using
electronics such as solar panels. This includes both
techniques perfected before the invention of
electric light and approaches that make use of
modern materials and design knowledge.

The opposite is known as Active Lighting.

Solar Tube Lighting

DOWNSIDE OF LED LIGHTING
A con to using LED lighting is its ability to create
white light. Generally an LED lamp will create white
light using diodes of different colors that when all
illuminated together makes white light. In the past,
this has sometimes led to the color emitted by an
LED lamp to be a bit too blueish.

Additionally, as the LED lamp is used, sometimes

the LEDs themselves can begin to degrade in terms
of the color quality of the light produced. And in
lamps that are poorly designed, this can also lead to
flickering, loss of brightness, and unbalanced light.
DOWNSIDE OF LED LIGHTING
Nevertheless, the indiscriminate use of artificial light
has a number of other impacts, some with negative
effects on human health. In particular, exposure to
LED light with a blue peak in its emission
spectrum may have a harmful effect on our
health because the blue light suppresses the
production of melatonin, a hormone the body
starts to produce naturally in the afternoon, reaching
maximum levels during the hours of darkness.

Numerous studies have evaluated the health effects

of exposure to artificial light at night, in both
experimental animals and humans. Particularly in
the case of shift workers, researchers have
observed associations with conditions such as
diabetes, obesity and heart disease as well as an
increased risk of hormone-dependent malignancies
like breast and prostate cancer (Schernhammer et
al., 2001; Papantoniou et al., 2015).
THANK YOU!