Just because we have a media platform, that doesn’t mean we don’t look to other resources for inspiration and insight into the solid-state lighting (SSL) industry. I listened to a recent edition of the Get a Grip on Lighting podcast, hosted by Michael Colligan and Greg Ehrich for NAILD (National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors). They spoke with Stan Walerczyk, who is known by many of you in the audience as an independent lighting design consultant and a founder of the Human Centric Lighting Society. He has also presented for LEDs Magazine and at Strategies in Light in the past and has contributed a few columns on the challenge of moving forward with human-centric lighting in the US in particular. You can find a list of all articles Walercyzk has contributed on our author information page.
Whether you agree with Walerczyk’s outlook or not, in the latest podcast, he was asked some interesting questions, and these provoked some food for thought. One of the particular issues the hosts highlighted was the conundrum of research when it comes to human-centric lighting, or lighting for health and wellbeing (a mouthful, I know). Without double-blind controlled studies, they observed, it is difficult to distinguish between correlation and causation when determining the effects of lighting in various projects. A fair point, I think, and one that was canvassed in a prior webcast and a subsequent blog I wrote last September. Walerczyk agreed, and while he doesn’t have the magic solution, he said, “We know that we have been doing is not good enough and we need to go to the next level with good peer-reviewed research, and I think we’re starting to take off there instead of saying, ‘We need to get there,’ and nothing’s really happening. I think it’s really starting to happen.”
While we’re on the subject, lots of folks in the industry, including the podcast hosts, are taking issue with the term “human-centric lighting” and recommend new terminology. What do you think? Is there another term that can encompass all the potential of light and health?
You can catch the podcast episode at Get a Grip on Lighting. And take a look at the latest program information for Strategies in Light — there will be panel discussions on circadian lighting standards and LEDs designed for circadian lighting application, designing indoor lighting that mimics daylight cycles, and even more to be defined. Join us in San Diego to learn more about these topics and more.
