LICODA

I had the honor of editing a textbook written by a friend of mine. The Architecture of Light, by Sage Russell, is a lighting textbook that focuses primarily on lighting design and not just the physics of light. Because of the excellent presentation of design principles, I have decided to use this text as the book for my lighting design class.

Sage has taken his experience as a lighting educator and developed a unique method of presentation for many of the topics. Specifically, the light mapping technique is a proven method of presenting lighting concepts and one I use on a regular basis.

I would not only recommend this book to students of lighting design, but I think even experienced designers will gain a new perspective of their lighting design process. I urge anyone in the lighting industry to take a look, given the opportunity- you will not be disappointed.

The Las Vegas Section of the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) invited me to speak at their November General Meeting. The topic I presented was LEED and I summarized the program while emphasizing a few credits that pertain to lighting and electrical disciplines.

Visit the portal page by clicking here and viewing the presentation in your web browser.

A friend asked me if I had a good resource to all of the local lighting codes and ordinances for the San Diego area. Yes, I do - the Palomar Observatory light pollution page.

About half-way down the page you will find a listing of links to lighting codes and ordinance for San Diego and portions of Riverside Counties.

The only exception I would provide for this list is the link to San Diego County’s Light Pollution Ordinance. Due to the method at which the information is delivered by the county and the way Palomar chose to reference the link, you will have to hunt for the information.

Or, you can use the new link I have provided HERE.

GE Lighting has a nice feature on their website, gelighting.com, that provides a good method of comparison for source color temperature. The color booth website (click here) provides various images that can be viewed side-by-side, and display scenes lighted with different color temperature sources.

Keep in mind when viewing these images, the actual color that would be perceived by the eye is very difficult to capture with a camera. Additionally, the color settings of the monitor or printer used to view these images may not be calibrated. The comparison method should be used to get an idea of differences between sources, not to actually measure how well a source may render a particular color.

When is lamp image a good thing - when it is intentional, of course. And only when it is intentional.

What is lamp image? Lamp image typically occurs when a lamp is placed so close to a surface, that the outline or shape of the lamp is discernible. A form of lamp imaging also occurs when using multiple lamps in progression. When the lamps are not close enough to each other, the dark area generated in between the sources is easily perceptible and often delineates what is intended as a continuous installation.

Lamp image can be another aesthetic element to highlight an element or compliment the geometry of an environment. The example image, Figure 1, shows a space that features lamp images (assumed to be intentional) that accent the front of the reception area. This photo is clipped from page 37 of the current Louis Poulsen catalog, hosted at LouisPoulsen.com, and is of the Fitness and Recreation Center at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts.

When using intentional lamp images on your project, be sure to pay close attention to the details. Lamp images can detract from a good lighting installation when thought is not given to size and spacing of the image produced.

Following is a review of a LED based product recently brought to my attention. The Tre’o TC and Tre’o TE by Insight is a linear high output LED based application that may provide a nice uniform distribution of light.

The product features an extruded aluminum body and is available in indoor (Tre’o TC - UL listed for dry locations) and outdoor (Tre’o TE - UL listed for wet locations) variations. The only drawback, is the size of the outdoor product. One of the advantages of LED can be the size of the package. The indoor Tre’o is of the same size to many manufacturers of similar products which have a UL wet listing. I have no doubt the TE will stand up to the elements.

Both interior and exterior products are available in 15, 30 and 120 degree distributions and three different output configurations - six, 12 and 15 watts/sq ft. It is unclear through the literature whether Insight is different wattages LED components (same LED spacing on all products), or if they are varying the spacing (further apart, less watts/sq ft). I have seen the 120 degree, 12 watts/sq ft models and they produce a nice uniform wash over the distribution and the light output is impressive. As with most LED products, the actual lumen output (compared to conventional luminaires) is unknown and a comparison between LED and other source technology cannot be made. The Tre’o is manufactured with 2800K, 3200K, 4100K and 5500K color temperatures. The product also offers Red, Green and Blue color schemes with the possibility of 24 bit RGB color changing.

I’m sure this product can be compared similarly to the energy consumption and output of some fluorescent luminaires. Typical for most LED based products, there is a price premium and will make the Tre’o a solution for a select number of applications. Specifically, those requiring longer life/less maintenance or a potentially smaller form factor.

Recently, a local IES presentation I attended about daylighting re-entered my mind. This was a presentation given in November 2007 by Michelle Boynton of Brummit Energy Associates, Inc. Among the many daylight related issues Michelle discussed, the methods of performance modeling really caught my eye.

Typically, daylighting analysis requires an investment in resources and time. Of the five performance modeling methods presented by Michelle, some could be implemented almost immediately and/or with minimal resources.

The five methods presented were LEED NC EQ.8 calculations, T24 Daylight Zone Mapping, Profile Angle Studies, Illuminance Calculations and Energy Studies. If you can get your hands on the LEED NC Reference Guide and familiarize yourself with Title 24 daylight zones (if you practice in the state of California, you are already familiar), you will see how easy these methods provide a quick analysis of a project’s daylighting capabilities.

For those armed with the ability to quick sketch, Profile Angle Studies may also indicate daylighting effectiveness efficiently. Bottom line, I was able to walk away from the presentation with new techniques that I could immediate begin to implement.

To review these methods and the rest of the daylighting presentation, you can view a .pdf copy here.

Author’s Note (added October 1, 2007): I came across another document outlining some daylight design tips (in addition to numerous other daylight design items). A .pdf version of the document can be found at http://www.informedesign.umn.edu/_news/mar_v03-p.pdf and appears to be published by the University of Minnesota.

The following design guidelines are taken directly from the article and include:

• Avoid direct sunlight and skylight unless needed for thermal comfort.
• Bounce daylight to create indirect daylight.
• Bring daylight in from above to obtain deeper penetration.
• Filter daylight into buildings.
• Use sustainable design principles.
• Maximize ceiling height to gain better light distribution.
• When appropriate, separate view glass from daylight glass.
• Determine whether daylight is primary or supplementary in lighting design.
• External control strategies offer best light and heat control. Combine strategies of external and internal controls area also practical and are becoming more common.
• Building geometry and space planning should promote, rather than preclude, distribution of daylight.
• Locate the maximum number of spaces near daylight through building massing and configuration.
• Create low contrast between window frame and adjacent walls to reduce glare and improve the vision experience. Splaying openings inward can increase distribution of daylight into rooms.
• Integrate building systems, including artificial lighting with daylighting through control systems.

I recently came across a great blog by Mitja Prelovšek, a graduate student currently studying in Sweden. His blog - Light Musings, caught my eye when it featured a lighting review of the National Museum of Stockholm. Mitja does a great job of critiquing the varied illumination levels and color temperatures used to exhibit photographs.

I have no doubt you will see future references to this blog from me. I eagerly await Mitja’s posts and look forward to reading his archives.

Our local Valmont Pole rep just dropped off some brochures that detail a few new lines of poles. It appears these poles may have been available outside the US previously. I found the design of the new lines to be refreshing and “outside the box”, enough so to bring to your attention.

You can view brochures of the new lines at the following links (my apologies - these brochures are in french, apparently the US versions are printed but not available online at the time of this writing):

• idyline
• URDIA & RO’Dia
• Annapurna & Patagonia