Lighting Fundamentals

Question 1

What are the five layers of light?

Answer 1

1. Choreography - using light to create paths, destinations, encourage flow and movement
2. Mood - add intensity, color and texture to elicit emotion
3. Accenting - encourages interest and draws visual interest by making objects stand out
4. Revealing architecture - apply to details of a space to enhance spatial effects and reveal form or structure
5. tasks - apply light to task areas to accommodate basic functions of space

Question 2

What are the controllable aspects of light?

Answer 2

Intensity - bright vs dark
Texture - directional vs diffuse
Shape - pools of light, planes of light, points of light

Question 3

What CCT stands for?

Answer 3

Colour correlated temperature - sets the atmosphere of space

Question 4

What is the unit for colour temperature? How the numbers correlate to it?

Answer 4

4000 - 2500K = cooler (blue) to warmer (the warmer the light the drowsier the ambient feels). Numbers associated with daylight and selected lamps.
4500K - cool
4200K (Kelvin) - cool white fluorescent
3500K - neutral
3000K halogen (warm) ...zzZ
2700 standard incandescent

Question 5

Best CCT for office environment?

Answer 5

3500K - neutral

Question 6

What to take in consideration when choosing luminaire?Name examples of effects of lighting produced

Answer 6

1 - Focal glow - recessed on ceiling coves or wall slots
2 -Play of brilliants - multiple small points
3 -Contrast + stimulation: Surface finishes
dark surfaces - little inter-reflection - high contrast
light surfaces - inter-reflections will fill in shadows and reduce contrast
4 -Direction + Distribution

Question 7

How to make indirect lighting more effective?

Answer 7

Providing reflective canopy for the high ceilings

Question 8

How can luminaire be mounted and produce indirect light in the AT ceiling?

Answer 8

mounted within the AT ceiling - can reflect light within the luminaire
Can be dropped element (suspended mounted) that reflects off the AT ceiling

Question 9

Direction and Distribution of Light beam

Answer 9

1-direct concentrated - recessed dowlightm - narrow beam
2-direct diffuse - exposed luminaires - pendants, directional (e.g. to arts on walls) - wider beam
3-indirect diffuse - beam directed upwards (good strategy in office spaces because you don’t want really bright intense light - softer is desirable
4-direct/indirect - beams up and downward at the same time
5- Omnidirectional - multidirectional beams
Note the perimeter of lighting (not enough to illuminate the entire room - add light to perimeter
Can be suspended
Can act as an accent within the space

Question 10

Keys to Office lighting (8)

Answer 10

1- Consider the atmosphere of the space
2-Design the effect of the lighting
3-Use energy and cost efficient light sources
4-Provide both ambient and task lighting
5-Ambient lighting should consist of a mixture of direct and indirect light
6-Light the perimeter walls
7-Rely on reflectance for free light
8-Provide adequate controls

Question 11

What LED stands for?

Answer 11

Light Emitting Dialled

Question 12

Which lighting method is better for the open office environment?

Answer 12

Lower ambient lighting plus a task lamp provides appropriate lighting for viewing computer screens and reading documents.
Lower ambient light also makes people quieter, which helps with acoustics
Task light - provides individual lighting control and reduces energy usage ( less lumens necessary in the ambient lighting

Question 13

What LVR stands for? What are the values and what they represent?

Answer 13

Light Reflectance Value - 1-100 (100 is the most reflectance) or 0-1 (0 represents no reflection of light)

Question 14

What is the requirement for manual lighting controls?

Answer 14

Enclosed spaces must have at least one control that independently controls general lighting in a space.

Question 15

Types of light sensors?

Answer 15

1- Occupancy sensor - for places with lots of traffic (Hotels Halls, e.g.)
2- Vacancy sensor - requires lights to be turned on manually but automatically turns the lights off. (these first two are often the same device with the desired setting being set by either a switch or programming
3-Daylight sensor - detects changing light conditions and adjust the lights automatically throughout the day -

Question 16

How far from a window can daylight impact the interior of a building?

Answer 16

Depending on the floor plan/window configuration daylight can directly impact the perimeter walls to 15’ interior (light sources should be dimmed when daylighting levels are sufficient) and less significantly between 15’-30’.
IECC 2009 requires separate zoning and controls for fixtures in daylight zones.

Question 17

Benefits from daylighting strategy of lighting an ambient?

Answer 17

Passive strategy!
Improve aesthetic qualities, 
Better color balance
Connection to outdoors
Increased energy efficiency

Question 18

Type of light controls?

Answer 18

Manual
Dimmers
Time Clock - a feature that enables scheduling of lights based on usage. Good for areas with predictable schedules.

Question 19

What is illuminance?

Answer 19

The amount of light that is hitting a surface

Question 20

What is the unit for illuminance and what it stands for?

Answer 20

Foot candles (FC) - is the amount of light that hits a 1 square foot surface when 1 lumen is shined from 1 foot away - imperial 
LUX - 1 lumen/1 square meter - metric (10 lux is roughly 1 FC)

Question 21

Governing Codes Electrical Engineer is aware of?

Answer 21

Ontario Building Code (OBC) - Life Safety signage and fire alam systems
The Ontario Electrical Safety Code (ESA) - regulates installation and inspection of construction
Ontario Fire Code

Question 22

Interior Design role in electrical systems design?

Answer 22

Coordinates the location of Mechanical and Electrical elements and ensures that the work of the mechanical and electrical engineers is consistent with the interior design intentions
• Is aware of clearances and obstructions
• Locates and ceiling mounted electrical or mechanical devises on the reflected ceiling plan

Question 23

Electrical Components in Commercial Premises?

Answer 23

Energy (electricity)
Source: Generator
Conductors (energy passes through): wires
Load (draw energy, requires energy to function): lights, heaters, motors

Question 24

Items in the electrical room?

Answer 24

Transformer - works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Transfer electrical power from one circuit to another without any variation in their frequency
Electrical panel

Question 25

Where high power is usually required?

Answer 25

kitchen, photocopy machines, laundry

Question 26

Connections to mechanical system?

Answer 26

Air handling equipment
Water pumps
Exhaust fans

Question 27

What are the entries of a receptacle (“outlet”)?

Answer 27

Neutral, Hot, ground

Question 28

120V receptacle office uses?

Answer 28

desk top machines (computers), task lighting

Engineer will limit power to less than 12A normal

Question 29

What is a power plan?

Answer 29

Series of drawings provided by the electrical engineer

Question 30

What GFCI stands for? Where is it required?

Answer 30

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter.
Any outlet within 1.5 M of a sink,
all kitchen outlets for countertop use must be 20AMP GFCI protected,
At least one GFCI protected outlet is required in each bathroom

Question 31

Stairway lighting requirements

Answer 31

Stairway lighting requires switches at both the top and bottom at the stairs when the stairs have more than 3 treads (CAN) or more than 6 treads (USA)

Question 32

What is a 3 ways switch? Where is it used?

Answer 32

1 light with 2 switches. Rooms with 2 entry points. Top and bottom of stairs

Question 33

What are examples of low power systems?

Answer 33

Fire alarm bells, horns speakers
Audio-visual systems
Public address and sound masking systems