licht.wissen 19 No. "Impact of Light on Human Beings"

<strong>licht</strong>.<strong>wissen</strong> <strong>19</strong>
<strong>Impact</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Light</strong> on Human Beings
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School lighting
Good light is a vital requirement in a learning environment. Studies show that biologically effective lighting impacts
positively on learning and helps students concentrate and work more attentively.
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In the morning, many students are still
sleepy. This is because an adolescent’s internal
clock <strong>of</strong>ten gets out <strong>of</strong> synch. Many
teenagers are still wide awake late at night
but find it hard to get up in the morning
and are not very motivated for learning.
Their internal clock is geared to a different
schedule than the school; they suffer from
“social jetlag”.
Numerous studies in recent years have
shown that daylight-like lighting can provide
important stimuli for student’s circadian
rhythms:
Students are more alert in the morning.
They thus perform much better.
Concentration and retentiveness increase.
The number <strong>of</strong> mistakes made significantly
declines.
More focused
These positive effects revealed by a study
in Hamburg in 2007/2008 were confirmed
in 2012 by a study conducted at two grammar
schools in Ulm. Young people aged
between 17 and 20 were taught in one
classroom with biologically optimised lighting
and in one room with conventional lighting.
The students were required to do a
number <strong>of</strong> performance and attention tests.
The classroom with dynamic lighting was
fitted with pendant-mounted LED luminaires
(blue and white LEDs) that could
be separately controlled and together
achieved a very high colour temperature
<strong>of</strong> up to 14,000 kelvin, which is comparable
to daylight. The luminaires provided
both direct and indirect light. An integrated
lighting control system ensured that the
colour temperature was dynamically adjusted
over the course <strong>of</strong> the day. The conventional
lighting, with fluorescent lamps,
reached a colour temperature <strong>of</strong> 4,000
kelvin. Illuminance was the same in both
classrooms: 700 lux horizontal illuminance
on the desktop and 300 lux vertical illuminance
at eye level.
The findings were distinctly positive: students
were much more focused under the
biologically effective lighting. They worked
faster and their performance was better.