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Future Directions for Lighting Environments

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Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders

Abstract

Lighting for homes, schools, and commercial spaces has traditionally been designed for occupants’ visual performance, aesthetic appreciation, and energy conservation, with relatively little attention being paid to its influence on other human factors such as health and well-being, mood, and alertness. Recent discoveries and continued research into the effects of light and electric lighting on the human nonvisual system and its relationship to the human circadian system have dramatically changed how we think about light, how we specify light for the places we live and work in, and how industry has adapted to produce new lighting products and techniques. This chapter begins with a brief description of light and its effects on the human circadian system, followed by a discussion of current trends in the lighted environment and how those trends have guided research into human health and well-being. The need for proposing a 24-h lighting scheme in our lighted environments is addressed, and the chapter concludes with a review of future trends that might be expected in the workplace, healthcare facilities, and the home, as well as key considerations that should guide the future of the lighted environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

    Mariana G. Figueiro

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  1. Mariana G. Figueiro
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Correspondence to Mariana G. Figueiro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mayo Center for Sleep Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    R. Robert Auger

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Figueiro, M.G. (2020). Future Directions for Lighting Environments. In: Auger, R. (eds) Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43803-6_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43803-6_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43802-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43803-6

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