French CITADEL project looks at LED lighting in buildings

Currently the field of lighting is in the midst of a technological revolution, unique in its history, with the advent of new generations of systems based on LEDs. Significant progress achieved by semiconductor specialists has led to robust and compact light sources, offering attractive control capabilities. In laboratory conditions, white LEDs reach luminous efficacies greater than those of most lamps used in lighting, and, above all, they exhibit far greater life expectancy. LEDs are therefore considered, as they well should be, as a major component in future solutions for interior and exterior lighting.

Despite all these advantages enthusiastically put forward by the semiconductor industry, it is commonly reported that the use of LEDs in buildings is slowed down by a certain number of complicated problems. The requirements for successful building integration are very specific and often unrecognized by LED makers. Several constraints occur in building applications: visual comfort, performance sustainability over time, real-life expectancy, total cost assessment, and compliance with building standards and codes.

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This article was published in the April 2009 issue of LEDs Magazine.

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