Basic Concepts of Lighting Design | Electrical Engineer | MEP Design |
Lighting system design is a very important aspect of construction projects, and the best performance is achieved when lighting is specified through detailed calculations and not “rules of thumb”. However, lighting has a key difference with other building systems like HVAC and plumbing: there is a subjective and artistic factor involved. Lighting systems must provide adequate visibility, but they also set the ambiance of built environments. Effective communication is important in any engineering design process, and this is only possible if the parties involved are familiarized with key technical concepts. This article will provide an overview of the main terms used when specifying lighting systems.
Lighting system design is a very important aspect of construction projects, and the best performance is achieved when lighting is specified through detailed calculations and not “rules of thumb”. However, lighting has a key difference with other building systems like HVAC and plumbing: there is a subjective and artistic factor involved. Lighting systems must provide adequate visibility, but they also set the ambiance of built environments.
Effective communication is important in any engineering design process, and this is only possible if the parties involved are familiarized with key technical concepts. This article will provide an overview of the main terms used when specifying lighting systems.
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Correlated Colour Temperature and<br />
Colour Rendering Index<br />
Describing the colour performance <strong>of</strong> lighting requires two separate<br />
metrics, one for the light source and another for the objects it illuminates.<br />
The correlated colour temperature (CCT) describes the colour <strong>of</strong> the<br />
light source itself. When dealing with the CCT, no value is considered “the<br />
best”, since each lighting hue has different applications.<br />
The colour rendering index (CRI) describes how faithfully the light<br />
source renders the colours <strong>of</strong> objects and surfaces in the room. The<br />
maximum CRI value is 100, describing a light source that matches the<br />
quality <strong>of</strong> natural light - a higher CRI is always better regardless <strong>of</strong> the<br />
application.
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