lighting effect

Light not only fulfils technical requirements such as visual tasks and general lighting, but also influences moods and spatial effects. It can emphasise faces, intensify colours and highlight surfaces. Visual impressions are based on individual experiences that shape terms such as ‘cosy’ or ‘dazzling’.

Artificial light shapes rooms and aids orientation, especially in unfamiliar surroundings. As electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (380–720 nm), it enables the perception of colours and surfaces.

This makes light a central element for functionality and atmosphere.

Design with light

Light is a versatile tool for shaping spaces visually and emotionally. It emphasises structures, colours and surfaces, while allowing other elements to recede discreetly into the background. In addition to supporting orientation and vision, light creates atmosphere and showcases spaces, textures and proportions in a targeted manner.

Successful lighting design combines technical knowledge with aesthetic sensibility. It takes into account visual perception, lighting techniques and control systems, without allowing them to dominate the creative design. The result is well-thought-out, ergonomic lighting solutions that optimally integrate the space and its users.

Light and Health

Light has a significant influence on our well-being and performance. Studies show that a lack of natural light at the workplace or in schools can lead to health complaints and psychomotor impairments. Via the eye, light controls central processes such as the sleep-wake cycle and hormone production. A daily dose of 2,000 lux of daylight is essential for physical balance – a lack of light can promote depressive moods, especially in winter.

However, glare and reflections caused by daylight are also problematic in the workplace. Therefore, individually controllable sun protection systems and a suitable positioning of the screen are important. Standards such as DIN 5035-8 provide orientation, but only take limited account of individual needs, such as the higher lighting requirements of older people. Variable lighting solutions that can be adapted are crucial to promoting health and comfort.

The tasks of lighting design

Lighting design involves the targeted combination of natural and artificial light to optimise visual perception and functionality. While the spectral distribution of daylight changes depending on the time of day and year, artificial light remains constant and can be planned.

Central aspects of lighting design include the selection of suitable light sources and luminaires, including recessed, surface-mounted and special luminaires. Calculating light quantities, distribution and photometric data is just as important as cost-effectiveness in terms of energy consumption and cost-benefit ratio. Standards such as DIN specifications and specific requirements for offices, public buildings, residential areas or outdoor areas play an important role.

Lighting control systems and dimming for energy saving as well as the maintainability of luminaires and emergency lighting solutions are also important factors. Environmental aspects such as light pollution and proper disposal round off the holistic planning approach. The aim is to combine functionality, aesthetics and sustainability in an integrated lighting solution.

light calculation

Illuminance and light calculation are central elements of lighting design. They answer the question: How much and what kind of light is needed for a project? While such calculations used to be laboriously carried out with paper, pencil and complex formulas, modern light calculation programs have simplified this process considerably.

However, precise calculations require answers to some fundamental questions: What are the dimensions of the room? What colours and materials characterise the walls, floor and ceiling? Where should the luminaires be positioned – in the ceiling, suspended or in the floor? And finally: What activity will take place in the room?

With this information, an optimal lighting solution can be developed that takes both function and aesthetics into account.

Glare from Light

Blendung kann die visuelle Wahrnehmung und den Komfort erheblich beeinträchtigen. Man unterscheidet zwischen Direktblendung, die durch ungeeignete oder falsch platzierte Leuchten sowie ungehindert einstrahlendes Tageslicht entsteht, und Reflexblendung, die durch Reflexe auf glänzenden oder spiegelnden Flächen verursacht wird. Zusätzlich kann eine subjektiv empfundene psychologische Blendung auftreten, ohne dass die Sehfunktion gestört wird.

Eine sorgfältige Planung von Kunstlicht minimiert Blendung. Entscheidend sind die Auswahl der passenden Leuchte und deren optimale Platzierung, orientiert an ihrem Entblendungsgrad. Moderne Verfahren wie das Unified Glare Ratio (UGR) bewerten Blendungsgrenzen und berücksichtigen die Raumgestaltung sowie die Qualität von Bildschirmen. Je niedriger der UGR-Wert, desto angenehmer die Beleuchtung. Dies ersetzt frühere Verfahren wie das Grenzkurvenverfahren und sorgt für bessere Planungsstandards gemäß der Norm DIN EN 12464.