Relating productivity to visibility and lighting

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5484227

Clear, R; Berman, S

The problem of determining the appropriate light levels for visual tasks is a cost-benefit problem. Existing light level recommendations seriously underweight the importance of economic factors. Furthermore, the relative importance of the visibility factors in determining the optimal light levels appears inconsistent with the importance of these factors in determining visibility and visual performance. It is shown that calculations based on acuities give a lower limit of 100 to 200 lux for cost-effective light levels for office tasks. Upper limits are calculated from correlations of task performance to visibility levels. Visibility levels become progressively insensitive to luminance as luminance increases. Average power densities above 100 watts/m/sup 2/ are cost-effective only when visibility is very low. However, there is a 3-to-10 times larger increase in benefits from improving contrast or contrast sensitivity than from using more than 10 watts/m/sup 2/. Contrast or contrast sensitivity can be improved by using forms with larger print, using xerographic copy instead of carbon or mimeo, making sure office workers have the right eyeglasses, or even by transferring workers with visual problems to less visually demanding tasks. Once these changes are made it is no longer cost-effective to use more than 10 watts/m/sup 2/. This conclusion raises serious questions about recommendations that lead to greater than about 10 watts/m/sup 2/ of installed lighting for general office work.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5484227
• Report Number(s): LBL-13931; CONF-820141-1; EEB-L-82-03; ON: DE82008598
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320103* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- School
Municipal
& Other Public Buildings-- (-1987)
BUILDINGS
CORRELATIONS
COST
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ILLUMINANCE
LIGHTING SYSTEMS
OFFICE BUILDINGS
OPTIMIZATION
PRODUCTIVITY
VISIBILITY