Do you want to better understand how lighting influences humans’ mental and physical wellbeing? Their cognitive performance? If you’ve answered these questions positively (and if you’re reading this column it seems likely that you’re at least a little interested in these topics), you should take a look at the resources available at the website of the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) (http://www.lrc.rpi.edu).
On their website the LRC is very clear about who they are and their organizational objectives: “The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the world’s leading center for lighting research and education. Established in 1988 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the LRC has been pioneering research in solid-state lighting, light and health, transportation lighting and safety, and energy efficiency for more than 30 years. LRC lighting scientists with multidisciplinary expertise in research, technology, design and human factors, collaborate with a global network of leading manufacturers and government agencies, developing innovative lighting solutions for projects that range from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to U.S. Navy submarines to hospital neonatal intensive-care units…With 35 full-time faculty and staff, 15 graduate students, and a 30,000 sq. ft. laboratory space, the LRC is the largest university-based lighting research and education organization in the world…We view the LRC as the nucleus for independent lighting research and education. We are the pre-eminent source of objective, timely information about lighting technologies and applications and about human response to light.”
The LRC’s work is quite technical, and often understanding and using their findings effectively requires reading an entire report or paper. So, it’s particularly important that the LRC website links to many full reports and papers, and allows anyone to access them without charge. They are available in its publications section, for example. On the refereed (i.e., peer-reviewed) journal articles page, some full papers are available when the names of links suggest that only abstracts will be provided.
Anyone looking for a way to ease into the technical issues addressed in the LRC’s papers/reports can take a look at related news releases, which often provide gentle introductions to technical topics. These press releases are available in the “Newsroom” at the LRC’s website. Popular press write-ups of findings, for example, those here: (http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/resources/newsroom/media.asp#.Wv7g8i-ZNo4) can also be a good way to quickly get a handle on technical material.
One of the most important free resources at the LRC website is the new version of their online circadian stimulus (CS) calculator (http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/cscalculator/). Video instructions on its use are available here: https://youtu.be/Puln_h1CB24?list=PL_X9RKGy9RIbWM_7Tm-xR3PvfiAXD5Hvp. On its website, the LRC describes this calculator: “The LRC has released a web-based version of its CS calculator with more robust and flexible functionality to help lighting professionals select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for circadian-effective light exposure in architectural spaces. This calculator provides additional functionality not included in earlier versions.”
If you’re interested in lighting, take a look at the LRC’s website. Sign up for LRC News Alerts if you like what you see. The research team at the LRC will be a driving force in lighting research for many years to come.
Sally Augustin, PhD,a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.