A new international lighting standard that meets our biological needs

Inappropriate light exposure can compromise health, wellbeing, and performance by disrupting biological rhythms and patterns of sleep. Determining the extent to which artificial light sources and architectural environments induce such ‘non-image-forming’ effects requires a suitable measure of light intensity. University of Manchester research led by Lucas has developed and validated a measure that predicts light’s non-image-forming capacity. This has been standardised in an SI-anchored metric for light, which forms the basis of lighting design guidelines that specifically address non-image-forming effects, and has allowed lighting manufacturers and engineers to develop products and systems which, while maintaining illumination, avoid the disruptive effects of artificial light.