The Lighting Research Center (LRC) in Troy, N.Y, has announced that Mark Rea, Professor of Architecture and Cognitive Sciences at the LRC at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will serve as the chair of a task group set up by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) “…to develop a recommended practice for the specification, measurement, and application of lighting to support circadian entrainment of individuals in daytime work environments.”
According to the press release, the goal of the 11 member task group is to create “…a set of practical recommendations and methods, grounded in science, that can be broadly implemented by addressing how to specify lighting for daytime applications, how to accurately measure circadian light, and how specification can be achieved, not only through the use of ceiling fixtures, but also by windows, skylights, luminous panels, and plug-in lighting.” The task group will develop the recommended practices based on input from designers, manufacturer, facility owners, and scientists and has set a target date of May 2019 for publication.
The task group members are comprised of individuals from across the scientific research, medical, and lighting communities and include:
- Chris Brown, CEO of Nextgen Lighting and Former CEO of Wiedenbach Brown;
- J. Thomas Chapin, Vice President Corporate Research at Underwriters Laboratories;
- Lei Deng, New Technology Manager and Digital Thread Leader at Current, powered by GE;
- Mariana Figueiro, LRC Director and Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;
- Alan Lewis, Consultant in Physiological Optics and Former President of the New England College of Optometry;
- Ignacio Provencio, Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia, who discovered the photopigment melanopsin;
- Govi Rao, President and CEO at Noveda Technologies;
- Christopher Steele, Deputy Director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command;
- Bryan Steverson, Program Advisor at the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings;
- Amy Walker, Standards Project Manager at Underwriters Laboratories; and
- Edward Yandek, Lighting Consultant, who has led efforts to establish numerous high-profile standards such as Lighting EMC and EMI requirements for FCC Part 18 and ICES-005.
“Our goal is to investigate all aspects of the recommendations to ensure that the science is correct, to confirm that the methods of implementation can be accurately yet broadly applied, and to inspire a positive change in lighting practice,” said Dr. Rea in a prepared statement. “Lighting isn't just for vision anymore. It's high time we had a valid, agreed-upon metric and some basic guidelines so that healthy lighting can be effectively delivered to benefit society.”
