Healthcare
Similarly, many healthcare practices have patients lying on their backs and staring upward at some point during examination or treatment; for example, doctor’s examination rooms, hospital patient rooms and corridors, and dental practices. In all these applications, luminous ceilings have the benefit of visual interest and the elimination of glaring point light sources.
Hospitals have also reported operational benefits from switching to variable intensity color-controlled lighting. When McLaren Healthcare System in Michigan, upgraded their 11 primary hospitals with LED systems, they found they could reduce noise levels by controlling the lighting. Dimming the lights in patient and visitor areas at 8 p.m. signaled it was time to quiet down and allow patients to rest.
Hospitals can also utilize color adjustment to help both patients and staff. In patient rooms and wards, they can simulate the color of sunlight during the daytime, and at night, provide low blue-levels that are more conducive to sleep. In the nurse’s stations or resident’s break rooms, a color balance more closely resembling sunlight can help nightshift workers stay alert and ward off burnout.
Schools and libraries
Diffuse lighting is helpful in libraries and certain school instruction spaces, especially where computers are used and eliminating glare on monitors can help create a better working environment. Diffuse lighting may also be more calming and facilitate concentration.
Arbor Park School District 145, in a suburb of Chicago, installed luminous ceilings as part of a tightly budgeted renovation of the computer lab in the Morton Gingerwood Elementary School. The frosted ceiling looks attractive, and provides even, glare-free light for students.
Workplaces
Color-controllable lighting may have productivity benefits for a wide variety of workplaces that run late or implement a 24-hour work shift. Since diffuse lighting is good for spaces where computer screens are in use, minimizing glare and screen reflections makes working easier and reduces worker burnout. In places where the color-accuracy of the screen image is important, such as architecture firms, graphics studios, advertising agencies, and video-editing suites, controllable and consistent lighting levels and color are crucial to workflow, and diffuse lighting is ideal for the activities in those environments.
