NRC-IRC imagines the future of solid-state lighting in offices (MAGAZINE)

The effects of office lighting on occupants’ perception, performance and satisfaction, as well as on energy efficiency, have been examined for over 30 years by the lighting sub-program at the Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) of the National Research Council (NRC) Canada. The promise of LED technology brings together these two strands. Market acceptance of LED technology will require that it be trusted as healthful and safe. The initial cost premium will mean that the new systems need to offer features that users value, if LEDs are to displace the incumbent fluorescent technology.

NRC-IRC began in 2008 to investigate LED technologies with two overlapping activities: the development of new ideas for office lighting with LEDs, and laboratory experiments addressing how people would use and respond to the color-tuning capabilities of solid-state lighting (SSL) systems. This article gives a sample of the activities in this project, and additional information can be found at www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/projects/irc/solid-state.html.

++++++

This article was published in the April/May 2011 issue of LEDs Magazine. To read the full version of this article, please visit our magazine page, where you can download FREE electronic PDF versions of all issues of LEDs Magazine. you can also request a print copy of LEDs Magazine (available by paid subscription) and sign up for our free weekly email newsletter.