This document summarizes a presentation about variable white lighting products and their applications. It discusses tunable white light, how it is achieved using different lighting technologies, and its benefits for circadian rhythms. Examples are given of places that have used tunable white lighting successfully, including hospitals, art museums, schools, and retirement communities. Metrics for measuring the effectiveness of tunable white lighting designs in improving resident outcomes are also presented.

1. March 5 & 6, 2015
New strategies for applying light:
integrating variable white lighting products
Ann Schiffers – USAI Lighting
Senior VP of Specification Sales (MFA, BS, IES)

2. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Brief review of light and color
 Definition of tunable white light
 Review of how light interacts with the circadian system
 How new information will change the way you design
 Applications for tunable white light in architectural lighting
practice
 Example project from special guest

3. 1. What is tunable white light and how is it tuned?
2. Different technologies used to achieve and create
tunable white light
3. Importance behind coordinating dimming, building
control systems, and tunable white light fixtures
4. Applications in which tunable white light has been used
5. New opportunities for using tunable light that may help
you

4. What do these places have in common?

5.  Catering to needs of
patients and staff alike
 Assist and promote
comfort and recovery
 Enhance visual acuity for
medical professionals
 Welcome visitors

6.  Designed to promote
appreciation of fine art
 Visual presentation must be
of the highest caliber
 Colors rendered accurately
 Light levels high enough for
viewing, but below
materials’ damage
threshold
 Have no UV or IR

7. March 5 & 6, 2015
380nm 780nm
IR
Radar
Radio
Gamma
UV-A
UV-B
UV-C
Electromagnetic energy
a physical, scientific definition

8. March 5 & 6, 2015
 somewhat subjective,
 a physiological perception
 White comes in many
different shades and
tones
 “we know it when we see
it”
 RGB sources cover this
whole color space
(including non-white)
WHITE LIGHT

9. March 5 & 6, 2015
Ceramic Metal HalideHigh pressure sodium
Incandescent

10. March 5 & 6, 2015
measured in the thermal scale
Kelvin
WHITE LIGHT

11. March 5 & 6, 2015

17.  Uses a lot of energy
allowance
 Requires minimum 3
control zones
 Fixture footprint on
the larger side
 Linear form factor

18.  Socket shadow
apparent
 Color mixing is
coarse at best
 Light levels not very
high (OK for
ambient)
 Curved applications
difficult

19.  Solid-state LED-
based technology
 Uses arrays of red,
green, and blue
LEDs
 Different form
factors available
 Smaller footprint

20.  Requires digital controls
and communications
 DMX controllers can be
complicated
 Color mixing must be
commissioned
 3 or 4 channels required
at a minimum

21.  Light levels of red,
green, and blue adjusted
independently
 Range is large: “white”
can be hard to find
 “white” is often not
uniform

22.  Controls are simple and
intuitive
 Only two control
channels are required:
one for color
temperature, one for
intensity
 Color mixing is handled
on the fixture end

23.  Uses all white LEDs
 Allows light to shift CCT
while always remaining
“white”
 Smooth tunable range
from 2200K – 6000K
(some are less, from
2700K-4000K)

24. March 5 & 6, 2015
It’s good for us

25. March 5 & 6, 2015
 All living things have a Circadian
Rhythm
 The circadian system regulates
our biological cycles and
functions
 Light is the primary stimulus for
the human body clock
 we need light AND dark at the
right times for our health

26. March 5 & 6, 2015
 The back of the eye is filled
with nerves and photoreceptors
 Among the rods and cones was
discovered a new
photoreceptor
 Intrinsically photoreceptive
retinal ganglion cell (ipRGC)
discovered in 2001

27. March 5 & 6, 2015
 ipRGCs in the eye connect
directly to the brain
 This cell DOES NOT
contribute to the visual
system
 This cell DOES contribute to
human health and wellbeing

28. March 5 & 6, 2015
 ipRGCs respond to light in
a different way than other
photoreceptors in the eye
 ipRGCs are most
responsive to 460nm
(blue) light

29. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Daytime visual system is
most responsive to green
 Nighttime vision (rods) is
blue-shifted in
comparison
 Circadian system
responds differently to
light than either

30. March 5 & 6, 2015
 ipRGCs in the eye connect directly
to the suprachiasmatic nucleus
 SCN is the main pacemaker in the
brain
 Light acts as the primary stimulus
for the brain’s clock (SCN)

31. March 5 & 6, 2015
 SCN tells the rest of the
body what to do: it
controls
 Pineal gland – sleep /
wake
 Pituitary – growth, blood
pressure, reproduction
 Adrenal gland – stress
 Thyroid - metabolism

32. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Brain controls production of hormone melatonin
 Melatonin helps with cell repair
 Reduced melatonin linked with
 Diabetes
 Heart disease
 Cancer
 Obesity

33. March 5 & 6, 2015
 We evolved with two light sources: night and day
 Today we live with artificial light sources
 Melatonin production is affected by our current lifestyle

34. March 5 & 6, 2015
Dr. George Brainard
Thomas Jefferson
University
Dr. Mariana Figueiro
Lighting Research
Center, RPI
Dr. Steven Lockley
Harvard University

35. March 5 & 6, 2015
some applications where it has
been used effectively

36. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Where couldn’t we use it?

37. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Seattle Mariners clubhouse lighting project
 Airbus Industries Mockup
 Benefits for students and office workers
 Lighting and Alzheimer's
 School for the Visually Impaired
 Auction House Optimization
 A morbid tale

38. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Home team locker room
 Mariners wanted 5000 Kelvin before the baseball game, and
wanted 2700 Kelvin after the game.
 Used new tunable white technology –
2x2s.

39. March 5 & 6, 2015
 “Whether due to jet lag or some other aetiology, our finds are of
practical importance for the west coast teams, because they
face the double handicap of playing away games after eastward
trips. The result is that these teams are giving up more than one
additional run in every game played after such travel.”

40. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Airbus completed a mock
up last year that was similar
to a flight simulator. It was
complete with seating,
noise, vibration, etc. They
installed tunable white LED
to test the reduction effect
on jet lag in intercontinental
travel.

41. March 5 & 6, 2015
 High CCT in morning (help wake
up)
 3500 to 5000K during normal
work
 Increased light levels for tests
 Low CCT and light level after
recess
 Studies conducted with
fluorescent, but will be much
better with LED

42. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Daylight is the ultimate
tunable white light source
 Daylight = better entrainment
 Studies show a correlation
between daylight and
workplace satisfaction
 Researchers and designers
recreate daylight with tunable
white light sources

43. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Assisted living facilities lighting
studies use high CCT, high light levels
during day, low CCT and lower light
levels in evenings
 Results = reduced daytime agitation,
reduced daytime napping, improved
mood and socialization, increased
nighttime sleep quality and duration

44. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Visually impaired students use
vellum sheet used to increase color
contrast – but individual students’
needs vary
 Tunable lighting allows students to
customize contrast for individual
needs for optimal task performance
and visual acuity

45. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Everything must be right for a
multi-billion dollar art sale
 High profile auction houses
customize tunable sources to
recreate the ideal light in which to
view artwork – recreating the light
that was used at time of work’s
creation

46. March 5 & 6, 2015
 Funeral homes ask for tunable white technology to provide
the best possible viewing conditions for open-casket
funerals
 Able to customize the tunable light source for different skin
tones

47. March 5 & 6, 2015
Jeanmarie Zimmerman
AIA, ACHA, CCIDC, EDAC
Puchlick Design Associates
Associate / Design Director

48.  Providence Holy Cross Palliative Care
 Canterbury Continued Care Retirement Community (CCRC)
Household

51.  HYPOTHESIS A | Because the circadian clock is intertwined
with most cellular metabolic processes and it is affected by
organism aging, augmenting increased daylight openings
with programmable clock “scenes” via “tunable” RGB fortified
Tunable White Lights will improve resident outcomes.
 HYPOTHESIS B | Integration of RGB Fortified Tunable White
LED light programmed to Calendar year “Scenes” will
improve Resident Outcomes.
Reasons for Using Tunable White Light

52.  Reduction in sleep aide medications.
 Normalization of Bed Times.
 Regulated appetite.
 Regulated Melatonin levels.
 Reduction in Cardiac medications and incidences associated with
sleep irregularity.
 Increase in Resident engagement in spaces with Tunable White
Light augmenting natural Daylight.
Goals For Using Tunable White Light

53.  Clinical Outcome Analytics
 Sleep Medications Data
 Resident Meal Data
 Patient Vitals Data
Metrics for Measuring Design Effectiveness

54. Tunable white light fixtures used in lounge and corridors

55. Tunable white light fixtures used in resident rooms and kitchens

56. Tunable white light fixtures used in spa