Electricity and Lighting

We are surrounded by light at almost every moment of everyday.  As designers, Interior lighting is one of the most important aspects of any living space. Artificial and natural light has a dramatic impact on our body and mind as well as changes and transforms a space. It has the ability to change the mood of a room, and we can use light and shade to make a room feel comfortable but also dramatic and atmospheric. This chapter this week covered the electrical systems and the different types of lighting applications you can use in a space.

Electricity is an essential part of modern life and important to the U.S economy. We use electricity for lighting, heating, cooling, electronics, machinery, and many other applications. Electrical current can be either in the form of alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC.) Electricity travels from the utility company to the user through a combination of overhead and underground electrical lines. Interior designers must have a working knowledge of electricity and how it gets distributed in a building in order to properly integrate their designs safely and correctly. Designers use common electrical symbols on electrical plans and need to understand them to read plans from subcontractors. These are typical electrical symbols that are crucial for designers to understand and apply to a building.

The study of artificial lighting is an important aspect to interior design and a critical element in the design process. As designers, we need to understand and master artificial lighting because this can affect people’s health and welfare, and bad lighting can ruin even the best interior. Depending on the material of the surface, light may be reflected, transmitted, or diffused. How lighting is distributed within a space affects how people view that room. Shadows in the corners combined with the high contrast tends to create a space that is perceived as private or intimate. An overly lit room with little to no contrast creates a public and open feeling. The color temperature of light and the colors used with a space also has a big affect on a user, making the space feel warm or cool. We often use incandescent light sources for warmer, more comfortable environment and fluorescent is perceived as cooler tone. These are important to understand because the sources you use has a big impact on humans and their wellbeing. In the chapter it states, “Good lighting has been associated with improved worker performance. Control over light levels correlates with higher employee satisfaction. Other studies have indicated that shift workers run an increased risk of serious diseases such as cancer. The cause of this is disruption to the natural circadian rhythm within the human body, which responds to light levels in the environment though a complex series of chemical changes.” As you can see, the impacts of artificial light can have several causes of discomfort, but this can be avoided though proper lighting design.

There are also several types of lighting fixtures for a variety of uses. Some of the most common light fixtures include wall sconces, pendants, wallwashers, uplight fixtures, downlight fixtures, suspended fixtures, recessed fixtures, and surface mount fixtures. Each type of fixture provides a slightly different light distribution that can create ambient, task, accent and decorative lighting. It is important to know each type so that you can choose the right one to best suit the space.

We use lighting every single day. Lighting accounts for 15 percent of global electricity consumption and 5 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It is extremely important that as designers, we do our best to include sustainable lighting solutions in all our designs. One of the most important things to consider for sustainable lighting is using daylight. Daylight is usable sunlight and consists of the percentage of the sunlight that meets the interior workspace. Natural lighting has a huge effect on a person and can improve your mood and overall, wellbeing. Other principles you can apply is using daylight sensors. The dimming and dual switching allows you to adjust the lighting to different levels throughout the day. You can also use occupancy sensors on spaces that are not continuously occupied. You also want to select energy efficient lamps and fixtures such as LEDs because they produce the most light using the least amount of electricity.

Rendering Activity:

I chose out two images that I thought were very interesting spaces and demonstrated the use of good natural daylighting within a space. The sun casted unique shadows off the architectural elements creating a beautiful interest to the space. The image I decided to render had amazing shadows casted on both the walls and floor. The contrast helped make out the objects used in the design such as the concrete beams and helped bring them together to create a cohesive look. I also loved the intricate details shown in the other image. They used these techniques to draw attention to the significant elements of the building 

and the shadows casted onto the floor really made 

the design come together as a whole.