04/ 23/ 2002
by Dave Donelson
Flick the light switch and get to work.
That's the normal view of lighting in the workplace--especially in a home office where the lighting was never intended to illuminate a desk or work area. But it's wise to take another look at your lighting since it strongly affects productivity and health.
The problems caused by improper lighting include eyestrain, headache, muscle strain, fatigue, stress, and poor morale. Most small business owners are aware of the most common causes of these problems. Glare is almost universal anywhere there are VDT's (Video Display Terminals). In some offices, the lights are kept too low or non-work areas like hallways and stairways aren't lit at all--misguided efforts to save energy that increase safety risks.
But there are other, more subtle, lighting problems. The Lighting Research Center at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says these include flicker, noise and too much contrast between task and ambient light levels.
Another workplace factor that interacts with lighting conditions is the age of the work force. Larry May, vice president of office lighting company Luxo Corp., says that a 40-year-old generally needs twice as much light as a 20-year-old and that eyeglasses reduce the amount of light reaching the eye by 10 percent or more.
Changing office lighting incurs costs, of course. These can be mitigated by phasing in the changes, starting with the ambient light (it's the most prevalent and expensive) and adding task lighting components as you go along. You'll save on energy costs by switching from incandescent to fluorescent lights. New compact fluorescent light bulbs use only about a third as much electricity as standard incandescent bulbs, and will pay for themselves by lasting up to 10 times longer.
Get help in analyzing your needs from a lighting designer or architect. You may get a lighting manufacturer, distributor or even electrical contractor to assess your needs and develop a plan at no cost.
Your investment in proper workplace lighting can be recouped quickly with lower energy bills and higher productivity.
Brighten Up
Workplace lighting problems can be solved fairly easily:
- Consider using a two-source light system, instead of relying exclusively on bright overheads. Larry May of lighting company Luxo Corp., says you can reduce your ambient light from 100 foot candles (a standard measure of light quantity) to 30 and add task lighting at 50 to 80 foot candles. This will reduce glare, relieve ergonomic tension, and cut your energy bill.
- Switch to indirect fixtures for ambient light (including wall lighting).
- Make sure your computer screens are anti-reflective or add screen filters to older VDT's.
- Use natural daylight whenever possible. It's not only cost-efficient but its color and spectrum boost morale.
- Give your employees control over their lighting. This helps them reduce eyestrain and is generally more cost-efficient.
- Make lighting transitions from one area to another as smooth as possible. Rapid changes from light to dark (or vice versa) cause temporary blindness and costly accidents.
Automatic Turn-Off
Installing occupancy sensors can reduce office lighting energy use by 25 to 50 percent, and up to 75 percent in warehouses and rest rooms.
Source: Energize America Education, www.energizeamerica.org
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2002 issue of MyBUSINESS magazine.
