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Lighting Design
Types of Applications:
-
Building Perimeter Lighting
-
Pedestrian-Scale and Safety
Lighting
-
Roadway and Parking Areas
-
Parking Facility Lighting (interior
and exterior)
-
Building and Facade Highlighting
and Accenting
-
Office Lighting and Accenting
-
Retail and Display Feature Lighting
-
Atrium Areas and Indirect Lighting
-
Warehouse and Shipping Area
Lighting
-
Hazardous Area Lighting
There is much confusion between
the concepts of quantity and quality in the field of lighting
design. Although interrelated, these two items are distinct. The quantity
of light can be physically measured using a light meter and other equipment.
However, a light meter can't duplicate the sensitivity of the human eye
- there may be a significant difference between what a light meter reads
and what the eye perceives. The quality of light is a perception that changes
as a result of personal experience and aging. A good lighting design takes
quantity and quality into account and strikes a balance. The type
of source used is also essential in providing a successful lighting design.
We will suggest the correct locations to use metal halide, high pressure
sodium, compact fluorescent, fluorescent, incandescent, and low-voltage
light sources. The following represents the process we undertake in a typical
lighting design project.
1.
Preliminary Design Concepts
The
preliminary design involves meetings and discussion of concepts, working
directly with you and your client to determine the desired atmosphere of
a space and use all the available information regarding possible colours,
textures, and finishes to simulate the outcome. In this way, we can more
accurately develop the characteristics a lighting solution will have for
a particular space. We also make recommendations on types of colours and
finishes to use to maximize the illumination effects within a space. This
can result in significant luminaire reduction, saving your client initial
and operating costs. The preliminary design is then transferred to a CAD
drawing and plotted for review and revisions as required. Once the design
concept is fixed, the luminaire selection process begins and a fixture
is chosen based on its aesthetics and performance characteristics. This
stage forms the qualitative aspects of the lighting solution.
2.
Lighting Design Calculations
After
the preliminary design is reviewed and the qualitative concepts are fixed,
we proceed to the calculation phase to ensure that the illumination levels
and uniformity comply with accepted standards and recommendations of the
Illuminating Engineers Society of North America (IESNA). We use a variety
of software packages depending on the type of application and output required.
This can be a very time-consuming process and is well-suited to computers.
A calculation can take from 30 seconds to 30 minutes or more on a 400MHz
Pentium II computer depending on the complexity of the design. When the
illumination levels or uniformity are unacceptable, the lamp source wattage
and/or reflector combination and/or locations of the luminaires is altered
and the calculations are executed again and again until the desired results
are achieved. The calculations may involve vertical illumination values
as well as horizontal components where light-trespass and glare are factors
in the design. This forms the quantitative aspect of the lighting
solution.
3.
Lighting Solution Photo-Rendering
When
the lighting solution satisfies the design concept criteria developed in
the first step, and the illumination and uniformity levels are within acceptable
values, we proceed to render the solution. The rendering is then plotted
for review and revisions as required. While the rendering cannot guarantee
the final outcome, it provides invaluable information regarding uniformity
and relative illumination levels. The rendered output provides you and
your client with a visual representation of the illuminated space that
can quickly be used to identify areas of concern.
Click the menubar links to the
left under "Services Contents" to obtain detailed
information on each of the services we provide. If you'd like us to submit
a Fee Proposal for your project, please go to the Fee
Request Form.We look forward to working with you. |
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