Educational lighting and learning performance

Abstract

The education of our children is one of the most important assignments for society. The facilities where education is conducted have been seen as one important part of a good educational result. In order to create good facilities the lighting situation has for long been seen as one important factor both concerning daylight and electrical lighting. The chapter describes the development of research that initially only could relate to daylight, but with the technological development within lighting was extended to the study of electrical lighting, first the incandescent bulb, then the fluorescent tubes and today the light emitting diodes (LED). The research has for a long time dealt with the visual conditions, but since the late 70s also non-visual aspects has been taken into consideration, not least after the discovery of the ipRGC in the early 21st century. The research in this area has grown very rapidly since and the knowledge has developed. However, much is still to be done. The research is only in the beginning. Results from recent research shows that there is a potential to create better lighting situations with the LED by varying intensity and spectral distribution. Furthermore the distribution of the light should be taken into consideration, and of course the visual aspect must not be neglected. We should also recognize the importance of daylight and how daylight and electrical light should work together for creating good lighting environments in the school.