How to perfectly implement Human Centric Lighting
What HCL means and how to use it correctly
Human Centric Lighting requires luminaires with certain product features and, essentially, is an aspect of the lighting design. Human Centric Lighting fundamentally places people and their activities at the centre of qualitative lighting design. Learn how to successfully integrate Human Centric Lighting into your next project to benefit both you and your associates.
What does Human Centric Lighting mean?
Human Centric Lighting, or HCL for short, stands for a planning approach that puts people and their requirements at the centre of lighting design. Human Centric Lighting addresses the visual, emotional and biological effects of light. In addition to visual criteria such as the specific visual task and good orientation in the room, it also includes the non-visual effects of light on people. In addition to cones and rods, the two photoreceptors for vision, our eyes also have another light-sensitive receptor type. This was only discovered at the beginning of the 21st century and adopts a role in the synchronisation of our day-night rhythm. In line with this, HCL-oriented architectural lighting takes into account the visual perception of architecture, the visual task as well as the emotional and biological component.
So funktioniert Human Centric Lighting in der Praxis
Der Gedanke des Human Centric Lighting ist nicht neu. Lange vor der aktuellen Forschung zur nicht-visuellen Wirkung von Licht formulierten Pioniere der Architekturbeleuchtung wie Richard Kelly oder William Lam mit dem Licht zum Sehen, Hinsehen und Ansehen bzw. den „activity needs“ und „biological needs“ die Prinzipien einer wahrnehmungsorientierten Lichtplanung. In Kombination mit den neuen Erkenntnissen der Chronobiologie haben wir für Sie eine Formel ausgearbeitet, die praxisnah erklärt, was Human Centric Lighting im Grundsatz ausmacht.
AAA, das steht für Architektur, Aktivität und Atmosphäre. Machen Sie für eine bessere Raumwahrnehmung in der Architektur die vertikalen Flächen sichtbar. Unterstützen Sie mit dem richtigen Licht Aktivitäten, wie das konzentrierte Arbeiten, aber auch zwischenmenschliche Kommunikation. Die richtige Atmosphäre erzeugen Sie durch das zur Tageszeit passende Licht. Das ist für uns das echte Human Centric Lighting.
A for architecture
- Make the surroundings perceptible through light on vertical surfaces
- Emphasise functional areas in rooms with individual lighting
- Integrate luminaires into the architecture via appropriate mounting methods, luminaire designs and arrangements
A for activity
- Optimise visual comfort through glare-controlled luminaires and correct luminaire arrangements
- Adjust the brightness to different visual tasks
- Adjust the colour temperature for the circadian rhythm
A for atmosphere
- Create temporal orientation by adapting the course of daylight to the interior space
- Achieve individualisation through changeable lighting scenes that can be set according to personal preferences and moods
Interactively discover the individual aspects of Human Centric Lighting
Move the sliders to change lighting scenes
This animation demonstrates how the different aspects of Human Centric Lighting can change our perception of space and the atmosphere. You can determine yourself as to what extent the individual components of Human Centric Lighting, 'architecture', 'activity' and 'atmosphere', contribute to the lighting concept.
How ERCO Human Centric Lighting is implemented with Iku recessed downlights
Human Centric Lighting at ERCO means vertical lighting, zoning, visual comfort and dynamic lighting scenes.
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Benefit from Human Centric Lighting
As a lighting designer
- Include qualitative aspects and thus offer more comprehensive lighting design services
- Contribute to promoting the well-being of users with your holistic lighting concepts
- Qualitative lighting design is not only visually more attractive – the advantages also outweigh quantitative designs in terms of energy consumption
As a user
- Enable colleagues to control light according to their personal preferences
- Provide colleagues with light with a high level of visual comfort, thus establishing pleasant working conditions
- Offer colleagues both a high quality and attractive working environment for more motivation and creativity
As a property owner
- Achieve added value for the property through qualitative lighting
These quality features characterise Human Centric Lighting from ERCO
ERCO has always put people at the centre of qualitative lighting design – long before Human Centric Lighting became a concept. The ERCO formula: user-friendly lighting concepts based on human perception, with avoidance of glare and minimisation of energy consumption. These five quality features for efficient visual comfort are what set ERCO apart:
Qualitative lighting design
General lighting and accent lighting with good glare control enable perceptual hierarchies and support people in their tasks. Use light only where it is needed.
Vertical lighting
Vertical surfaces make up a large part of perception due to our natural direction of view. They thus determine the perception of brightness to a disproportionately greater extent than light on horizontal surfaces. This is why, for ERCO, wallwashing is an essential component.
Efficient lighting technology
Precise optical systems direct light with high precision onto the surfaces to be illuminated, the surfaces that people require for their perception. The projected light of the LEDs in combination with high quality lens systems is also characterised by very high levels of efficiency.
Efficient LED technology
High visual comfort is based on ERCO's expertise in optoelectronics, ranging from LED PCBs and electronics to thermal management. The specification of LEDs according to criteria such as color rendering, color constancy, luminous flux and thermal stability guarantees maximum quality standards.
Intelligent controllability
ERCO offers luminaires for wireless and wired control technologies such as Casambi Bluetooth, Zigbee, DALI or standard phase dimming. Sensors and lighting scenes also enable you to minimise energy consumption and adapt the course of daylight. Control light according to your personal preferences.
How we put Human Centric Lighting into practice
Modern office lighting for mai public relations, Berlin
Qualitative lighting concept
The ERCO lighting solution with LED technology combines horizontal general lighting and wallwashing in a lighting concept based on the principles of HCL. Sensors control light according to presence and the level of daylight. Employees can adjust the lighting according to their preferences and for the respective work area thanks to Casambi Bluetooth control. Wallwashing creates a wide spatial impression and forms the counterpart to incident daylight.
Conventional lighting concept
Open distribution fluorescent lamps are rigid and indiscriminate. There is a lack of reference to the visual task of the users. Different types of work must be done here with the same lighting. The low-contrast, undefined appearance of the room may also cause fatigue.
Short summary
- Human Centric Lighting includes visual and non-visual effects of light
- Dynamic lighting concepts support the circadian rhythm, i.e. the 'inner clock' of people
- When planning your lighting and to achieve a qualitative lighting concept, consider the keywords architecture, activity and atmosphere
- Vertical lighting, the zoning of light, visual comfort and dynamic lighting scenes are the most important components
- Minimise energy consumption by using presence sensors and daylight sensors
