LIGHTING & HUMAN WELLBEING
At the Havells Presents ‘Spotlight’ organized by Realty+ Masterclass on April 16, the multi award winning lighting designer from UK, Florence Lam - Arup Fellow and Lead- Global Lighting Design practice, explained how right quantity and colour of light has a profound impact on human wellbeing. The event started with the presentation by Florence Lam wherein she gave examples of her projects and the way artificial light was used to not only bring wellness aspect to a space but also to set the context of a building or highlight the purpose of a space or a structure. She elaborated on the ways to use interior lighting to increase productivity, decrease fatigue and in present times how to use daylight while working from home. Human health is defined not only by the physical state of individuals, but is defined as a state of complete physical, psychological and social wellbeing. In physics light is a wonderful piece of scientific phenomenon. It also plays a key role in our culture and humanity. Light has always acted as an emotive means connecting to human consciousness to relate memories and experiences and that is beyond general human reasoning or understanding. It provides context similar to that of a scene in a play or movie. I'm a strong believer that the fundamental and best light for humans is daylight. Role and quality of daylight in shaping different cultures around the world is unprecedented.” “The people of different regions and countries perceive light differently. How a person from a European country will understand daylight will be completely different from the view of person from tropical country. Therefore the lighting design and approach too changes accordingly.” Florence Lam stated. Parag Bhatnagar, SBU Head Executive Vice President, Havells India Ltd mentioned, Today the role of lighting has changed significantly and it can help in maintaining good health. Spotlight is a very important initiative by Havells. In the last 3 to 5 years scope of lighting has changed significantly earlier. Good lighting can improve employees’ productivity and it can help in office space optimization. Earlier lighting was used for general lighting purposes. But now the role of lighting has changed. It can help in destressing, improve quality of sleep, and improve concentration. Lighting can overall improve the well-being of human beings. So the technologies which are being used in this lighting are not very popular. Lot of people are not aware of it. We thought that we should create a platform where all knowledgeable people who understand lighting and have capability to help in accelerating the use of such technologies in lighting should come together on this platform of spotlight and help Havells in accelerating these technologies. LIGHTING DESIGN INFLUENCES “Urban lighting isn’t just about meeting safety needs through code compliance, or achieving an aesthetic effect. It presents a significant opportunity to fundamentally improve the quality of life of urban citizens. Properly considered, lighting can positively impact the ‘total architecture’ of our cities; reinforcing urban design principles, enhancing cultural experiences and encouraging social interaction,” says Florence Lam. For instance, Dongdaemun Design Park, Korea project has beautiful lighting is literally into the architecture of the new cultural hub in Seoul creating a minimalistic atmosphere. Likewise, another of her project, the world's largest timepiece at Zurich project features dynamic light that narrates the space and guides people through public realm. “Densification of cities impacts human health. Besides the heat Island effect, the quantity of light reaching inside the buildings gets limited in densely packed cities. Many commercial buildings with deeper floor plates get less daylight into the office space. Therefore, lighting industry needs to develop dynamic human centric lighting solutions that aim circadian rhythms to promote health and wellbeing,” stated Florence Lam. Parag Bhatnagar added, “Nowadays its all about awareness about lighting technology. Once people understand the impact and health benefits of the human centric lighting systems, the use of such products will increase tremendously. Currently India has only 10% market penetration of such products and our endeavour is to take to at least 60-70% in next few years by increasing awareness among the public and the designers as well.”
LIGHT & PRODUCTIVITY According to Parag Bhatnagar, with almost 60-70% of the population now living and working from home due to the pandemic situation, realization for proper and energy efficient lighting has increased. Florence Lam suggested that in the present scenario, people should make optimum use of daylight. While working the direction of daylight should be controlled so as to avoid glare on computer screen so as not to strain eyes. She explained the direct connection between lighting and productivity of employees that also directly impacts the bottom-line of the companies. “With the help of lighting technology we can increase employee’s productivity up to 3-10%. What’s more, good lighting raises the capital value of the real estate assets. The event concluded with both Florence Lam and Parag Bhatnagar concurring that the designers, architects, manufacturers and all the other stakeholders of the building and construction sector will have to work together to offer holistic solutions to create not only spectacular looking buildings but also healthy spaces for the benefit of the people.
Tags : News/Views Story Videos Past Event Havells India Ltd architecture productivity Light Spotlight Florence Lam Parag Bhatnagar human health Urban lighting