School & Hospital Lighting Trends

Schools and hospitals are unique spaces – spaces where occupants spend large amounts of time and where environment is important. Lighting has a critical impact on the quality of school and hospital atmosphere and needs to be carefully considered while addressing the ever-present requirements for energy efficiency and maintainability.

Several new technologies that are especially applicable to schools and hospitals are becoming more common. These include higher-output fluorescent lamps, longer-lasting fluorescent lamps, and metal halide lamps which offer better color rendering capabilities.

The T5HO lamp is becoming a common light source for settings where a higher light output is desired. Ceramic metal halide technology can reduce the need to use incandescent sources to provide high-impact focal light or general lighting in large spaces. Specific applications for these technologies are discussed later in this article.

There are new technologies that show widespread utilities such as longer-life T8 fluorescent lamps which are widely avail-able. In many cases, the rated life of some standard T8 offerings is increasing, which offers an immediate benefit.

Educational Lighting
Attention to quality lighting in learning environments continues to increase, along with interest in energy efficiency since lighting is a major energy consumer in schools.

For energy conservation – while it seems simple – one of the easiest ways to conserve lighting energy is to turn the lights off. Utilizing natural daylight conserves energy, and it has also been shown that students in well-designed, daylit classrooms score higher in standardized tests.

For educational facilities, good daylighting often means that there is a skylight or clerestory window component that allows light to penetrate deeply and evenly into a room. What about existing classrooms with the usual complement of windows at the side of the room? In these cases, lighting can at least be reduced by separately switching fixtures in the daylit zone so they can be off when adequate daylight is available.

Continuing the push toward quality light in the classroom, indirect lighting is becoming more prevalent. By directing light upward and bouncing it off the ceiling, the classroom environment seems brighter and has a softer, shadow-free light that reduces glare and eye strain. New smaller diameter, high output lamps (T5HO) are often used in these fixtures to reduce the quantity of lamps and increase the efficiency of the light fixture by allowing for more effective optical design.

Another interesting application for these lamps is in gymnasium lighting. Gymnasiums are most typically lighted by high-wattage metal halide high-bay type fixtures. New fixtures that utilize the T5HO lamp for these applications offer a number of benefits over the typical metal halide system. Because the fluorescent fixtures use multiple lamps, immediate maintenance is not necessary when a lamp needs replacement. Multiple lamp configurations also allow for switching of different light levels in the space, allowing use of lower light levels for a gym class and higher levels for a basketball game.

A fluorescent light source also means ‘instant-on’ capability instead of waiting the few minutes for warm-up that metal halide sources require. In many cases, the fluorescent solution is more energy efficient, as these lamps provide more consistent light output than metal halide.

Color consistency and color rendering are also far superior with fluorescent lamps compared to standard metal halide systems, meaning that colors and people look far better under the fluorescent source.

Healthcare Lighting
Hospitals are evolving from simply providing treatments in to holistic healing environments. Lighting plays a key role in creating atmospheres that contribute to a sense of health and well-being.

One area where this challenge is most evident is exam lighting in patient rooms. While the lighting needs of patients require a sense of warmth and comfort, hospital staff have very demanding visual requirements that might seem to conflict with the goals of a healing environment. The high light levels required by hospital staff create uncomfortable glare for the patient. Some fixtures developed to solve this problem look very institutional, yet have reduced the glare, which is an important consideration since the fixtures are usually located directly above the patient’s head.

To reduce glare and improve aesthetics, the industry is adapting to new systems that provide the required light level by reducing glare and still providing a pleasing appearance. This is usually accomplished through the use of a diffuser to soften the light or by moving the light to the patient’s sides and directionally aiming the light to the patient on the bed.

Other important features in patient rooms are low-level lighting for resting or family visits, night lighting to allow staff and patients to navigate the room, and low-level lighting to allow staff to check on patients without turning on exam lights. Flexibility is key, and allowing separate control of different fixture types is absolutely necessary.

Patient needs are addressed beyond the patient room as lighting trends extend throughout the facility. Lighting for the hospital patient requires a different approach – one that works from the perspective of looking up instead of ahead. Whether lying in a recovery unit, inpatient room, or being transported, the patient spends a great deal of time looking at the ceiling plane. This means that all light sources in areas where gurney-bound patients are located should be well-shielded and/or dimmable so that patients do not look directly at bright lamps. Indirect lighting can accomplish this goal and should be considered in circulation areas within inpatient units, surgical, diagnostic, and treatment areas.

Here, as with schools, T5HO lamps help achieve these goals. Their higher light output provides the high light levels required for exams with fewer lamps. Their small size allows use in coves to provide indirect light in less space.

Another trend in lighting – the use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) – shows much promise in the healthcare environment. Although high- intensity white light sources are not yet ready to replace fluorescent and incandescent lamps yet, some applications can benefit from these light sources now.

In the patient room, LEDs can provide low-level light when mounted in the wall, allowing patients to navigate with-out turning on the room lights. Nursing staff can also use LED task lighting for note-taking in the patient room.

Outside of the patient rooms, hospital facilities have other specific lighting needs. As facilities expand to include patient education and medical offices, in addition to inpatient and diagnostic functions, public spaces are becoming much more important. Some of these larger spaces with high ceilings can benefit from ceramic metal halide technology, which provides much better color rendering and consistency than standard metal halide. In atrium spaces, these lamps can provide quality light, while far exceeding the energy effectiveness and lamp life of incandescent sources.

In healing environments, daylighting does not necessarily take the place of electric lighting, like it can in other applications. However, it does offer benefits beyond energy savings. Access to daylight and outside views has been shown to improve patient outcomes. While it may not save energy, there is a definite benefit to daylighting in the hospital environment.

Whether the target audience is a student or a patient, daylighting and quality lighting enhance environments that contribute to learning and healing. These days, new tools are providing ways to provide quality light in efficient and effective ways – and that is a benefit to everyone.

Jill Cody is employed by HGA Architects and Engineers.

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