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The Health Benefits of LED Lighting

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Electrical Construction and Maintenance


Joseph R. Knisley

By Joe Knisley, Senior Editorial Consultant


Tue, 2012-12-18 12:22

Solid-state lighting (SSL) is shaping up to be a remarkably complex technology, combining the sciences of light
and color with the potential to provide many features that were previously unattainable in a lighting system. The
ever-growing lineup of SSL luminaires today, these comprise light emitting diodes (LEDs) delivers a
combination of high electrical-to-photometric energy conversion (efficacy), optical efficiency, and ease of
control that exceeds anything a fluorescent or HID light source can offer. Digitally addressable, an LED
luminaire can network with control devices and other fixtures to enable centralized control and information
feedback for maximum energy savings.
The LED source is essentially a semiconductor chip, very similar to computers and communications
equipment in terms of its makeup. As such, it allows other components or elements, such as a microcontroller or
a network communications interface integrated circuit, to be added to a luminaires driver module, moving
lighting from a simple, switch ON/OFF technology to a more complex technology with the ability to provide cost
and health benefits.
Before we
discuss the
potential
health
advantages
of this
technology,
lets review
the ambient
light sensing,

communications capability, and performance/space monitoring benefits of todays LEDs.

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Ambient light sensing


An ambient light sensor (ALS) detects the amount of light in the proximity of the sensor, allowing the general
illumination of a space to be lowered when another source of light (daylight) is present with very little additional
cost to the LED lighting system. The ambient light sensor has improved over time to the point that, today, a
sensor uses less than 1A of current, has a range from 0.1 lux to 100,000 lux to cover most applications, and
provides IR and UV blocking to remove any unwanted light in the non-visible spectrum from the actual system
readings. In addition, a sensor that detects the color of the ambient light permits color tuning of RGB-type LED
lighting systems.
To maintain the design target amount of light output over the lifetime of an LED fixture say 60,000 hr for an
indoor parking garage luminaire a design may initially provide 30% more light than required, allowing the
illuminated area to be overlit for much of the fixtures lifetime. A SSL lighting design using an ambient light
sensor and a dimming system can regulate light output in response to lumen depreciation (i.e., the loss of light
over time). L70 is a parameter that describes the point in time at which the light output has decreased 30% from
its initial value, and is typically on the order of 35,000 hr to 100,000 hr for LED lamps. Other benefits may
include consistency of light intensity and color, and lower total thermal load.

Communications capability
As energy use codes have become more stringent, a communications system or network that allows lighting
fixtures to connect with each other, with sensors and other data collection points, and with local and centralized
control equipment is imperative. Proving more versatile than a simple occupancy sensor, a lighting control
network offers increased energy savings by adapting the lighting system to changing conditions and allowing
remote monitoring of electric consumption.
Networks are based on the seven-layer model developed by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) model. The physical layer (Layer 1 of the model) describes the wired or wireless connection and how the
data is modulated on a specific media. A full network stack for lighting doesnt exist at present because one or
more layers of the seven layers in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is often missing, and, in most
cases, the application level (the top layer [Layer 7]) is absent.
Because it is essentially a low-voltage source, an LED fixture can be powered from a central location with
low-voltage cabling, and controls can be run on the same category-type cable. Cabling professionals often
recommend the use of Cat. 6 cabling for this application, because the conductors are comparatively large, thus
lowering the DC resistance loss. Presently, the market is wide open on exactly how to combine these two services
on a single cable, but a standards-based wiring system and network standard eventually should determine a
winner.
Powerline communication (PLC), which uses existing electrical power conductor lines as the delivery media, is
gaining acceptance because of new technology. Sending data over the existing AC power lines is an old concept
chronically plagued by noise and high attenuation problems. However, new orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM) technology makes PLC networks reliable over longer distances. This new PLC standard,
called G3-PLC communication, handles speeds up to 300 kbps, offers mesh networking capability, and features
a robust mode for high noise conditions.
Many municipalities and other agencies are installing controllable outdoor LED lighting (COL) networks for
street and highway illumination using the newest powerline communications techniques. Because LED
streetlights can be continuously dimmed while retaining their efficacy or turned on and off repeatedly without
any reduction in their useful life roadway lighting levels also can be adjusted to suit weather/atmospheric
conditions, making outdoor LED luminaires one of the best markets for potential energy savings.

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A new lighting industry group, called the TALQ Consortium, is working to create a software protocol
specification for the applications layer in the OSI network model that would link a central management system
and an outdoor lighting system power networks communications system. Independent of the various typologies
used today (e.g., wireless, power line, etc.), this standard allows for future standards developments. More
information is available at www.TALQ-consortium.org.
One interesting example of integrated LED control for an indoor space is a recessed fixture, which allows each
luminaire to dim down to 5% using 0VDC to 10VDC control; a fully operational lighting control system can be
constructed by simply connecting the luminaires with category-type cabling. Furthermore, the controller underdrives the fixture to deliver constant light output over the products rated life, in addition to saving energy. Each
luminaire tracks its own operating hours and provides a visual indicator that it has reached the end of its service
life. Other manufacturers are providing each luminaire, or light source, with its own IP address and wireless
communication ability, thus offering a number of ways to control the lighting and manage energy use.

Performance/space monitoring
Clearly, the industry is moving toward what could be called an intelligent lighting control system that uses
sensors, programmatic controls, and communications links to detect what is happening within a lighting system
in a building. The essential elements of an intelligent lighting system includes dimmable luminaires, sensing
options, a robust lighting network that allows fixtures to communicate with each other, and centralized control
and software.
An example of performance/space monitoring capabilities can be seen by considering a typical office area.
Installing a single, small disk module in the ceiling located adjacent or within a luminaire can, in addition to
detecting the light level, register other conditions, such as occupancy, temperature, carbon dioxide level, carbon
monoxide level, air pressure, air velocity, humidity, particulate, and color. With such a system, not only is
energy use recorded and stored, but the occupancy or use of a conference room or other office space can also be
monitored on a real-time basis.
Finally, fuzzy logic technology will enable these systems to become more efficient by enabling active learning
prediction of occupancy and even a users desired light level.

Health considerations
LEDs are also showing general health benefits for humans. An LED is made like other semiconductor products,
with each diode being cut from a wafer of crystals layered over a base of silicon, sapphire, nitride, or some other
material. The crystal layer on early LEDs was gallium arsenide or gallium phosphide, which produces a narrow
band of red color. All other colors, such as green, blue, or amber, also depend on the semiconductor materials
used to make the diode.
Because LEDs emit light at precise wavelengths that is, where a specific spectral composition of light is
important they are ripe for medical/health benefit applications. We are just at the threshold of understanding
how light levels and colors affect people the intricacies of the interaction between lighting and our circadian
rhythms.
When we dont receive a strong, regular reception of light (similar to daylight), our body clock malfunctions. If
a lighting control system can adjust the spectral content of light as well as the light level throughout the day,
imitating the daylong presence of sunlight, it can help our biological clock, or circadian rhythm, stay in sync.
During the central part of the day, blue light, at about 460 nm, stimulates hormone production for alertness and
activity. Later in the day and evening, warmer color temperatures are preferred to help in the production of
melatonin, the hormone secreted from the pineal gland that is needed for sleep activity.

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A majority of older adults report experiencing problems with sleep, and the LED light source can assist in
providing the optimum amount of light and preferential wavelengths for people throughout the day. A 2008
study, with subjects whose average age was 85.5, demonstrated improvements in depression, agitation, and
sleep when they received high daytime levels of light plus or minus 92 fc. The ANSI/IES RP-28-07 document,
Lighting and the Visual Environment for Senior Living, has recommendations for the aging population.
However, they only apply for vision.
In 1980, The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) discovered the connection between light and health in
an experiment that demonstrated how bright white light could suppress melatonin production. A few years later,
scientists demonstrated that circadian rhythms in humans could be disrupted. In 2001, Dr. George C. Brainard,
a professor of neurology in the Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, found that circadian
rhythms could be disrupted with fairly low levels of blue light. He and other researchers concluded that the eye
must have photoreceptors sensitive to blue light that perform non-visual functions. This hypothesis was
confirmed a year later, when researchers at two institutions physically isolated the receptor.
Counting on the versatility of SSL, one LED maker thinks that biological-specific lights, tuned so as not to
interfere with an individuals normal production of melatonin, could reach the lighting market in about two
years.
Another example of what the future holds is a small home lighting system that provides visual entertainment
features. The system, which is controllable through a smartphone or tablet, consists of three LED Edison-based
lamps and a bridge that plugs into a Wi-Fi router using the ZigBee Light Link standard. Each A19-sized lamp
contains red, green, blue, and white LEDs to create any color or different hues of white light, from warm
candlelight to a cool blue sky color. For information on how LEDs create white light, see SIDEBAR: How LEDs
Product White Light.
An app for this system features four preprogrammed lighting settings based on research concerning the
biological effects that lighting has on the body. The manufacturer is also inviting developers to add even more
features to this lighting system. This product appears to be close to what could be called biological-specific
lighting, designed to not interfere with an individuals normal production of melatonin.
From both a green and health benefit perspective, the transformative potential of LEDs lies as much in their
controllability as in their inherent efficiency. This opens the door for lighting designers and specifiers to make
the most of this new technology.

The first technique used in the 1990s to create a pleasant white color was to combine the light output of red,
green, and blue LEDs, recognizing that LED light sources are inherently additive. However, each color of the
electromagnetic spectrum produced by an LED chip has its own operating requirements and the driver the
bulbs controlling circuit board is relatively complex.
Therefore, the most widely used method of additive mixing to achieve a white light is called a phosphorconverted blue (PCB) type, since the chip, or die, emits a blue color and the protecting lens covering the die has
an interior coating of yellow phosphor, absorbing some of the blue light, converting that energy to yellow light.
In combination, the resulting mix of color, which is a continuous energy spectrum with one or two peaks, is
perceived as white light.
A third method, called remote-phosphor technology (RPT), is also slowly gaining acceptance in applications that
require uniform illumination, color consistency, and high efficiency, such as downlights, high bay fixtures, and

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other applications. This method consists of an LED board containing royal blue LEDs, a mixing chamber, and a
remote phosphor element. Available in a variety of optics, RTP offers glare reduction, higher system efficiencies,
and high optical efficiency for the luminaire.
While phosphor-converted white LEDs are used in many general illumination applications,
monochromatic/colored LEDs are also used in a number of applications such as the architectural and
entertainment segments of the market.
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