Mark S. Rea, Professor of Architecture and Cognitive Sciences at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has agreed to chair a task group with Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) working to develop a recommended practice for the specification, measurement, and application of lighting to support circadian entrainment of individuals in daytime work environments.

The task group will produce a set of practical recommendations and methods, grounded in science, that can be broadly implemented by addressing how to specify lighting for daytime applications, how to accurately measure circadian light, and how specification can be achieved, not only through the use of ceiling fixtures, but also by windows, skylights, luminous panels, and plug-in lighting.

The members of the task group are:

-Chris Brown, CEO of Nextgen Lighting and Former CEO of Wiedenbach Brown

-J. Thomas Chapin, Vice President Corporate Research at Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

-Lei Deng, New Technology Manager and Digital Thread Leader at Current, powered by GE

-Mariana Figueiro, LRC Director and Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

-Alan Lewis, Consultant in Physiological Optics and Former President of the New England College of Optometry

-Ignacio Provencio, Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia, who discovered the photopigment melanopsin

-Govi Rao, President and CEO at Noveda Technologies

-Christopher Steele, Deputy Director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command

-Bryan Steverson, Program Advisor at the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings

-Amy Walker, Standards Project Manager at Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

-Edward Yandek, Lighting Consultant, who has led efforts to establish numerous high-profile standards such as Lighting EMC and EMI requirements for FCC Part 18 and ICES-005

The task group will seek input from design professionals, manufacturers, facility owners, and scientists, review proposals being considered, vote on the technical merits of each recommendation, and draft the recommended practice. The target date for publication of the recommended practice is May 2019.

“It is truly exciting to be part of this groundbreaking work on developing guidelines that can be used across the value chain, from designers and specifiers, to manufacturers and installers,” said task group member Govi Rao. “It will be a significant benefit to the user community to have a demystified and simple framework guiding the diverse approaches worldwide in the delivery of light, driven by rapid technological innovation.”

“Our goal is to investigate all aspects of the recommendations to ensure that the science is correct, to confirm that the methods of implementation can be accurately yet broadly applied, and to inspire a positive change in lighting practice,” said Dr. Rea. “Lighting isn’t just for vision anymore. It’s high time we had a valid, agreed-upon metric and some basic guidelines so that healthy lighting can be effectively delivered to benefit society.”

About Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Underwriters Laboratories Inc (UL) was founded in 1894. UL fosters safe living and working conditions for people everywhere through the application of science to solve safety, security and sustainability challenges.  The UL Mark engenders trust enabling the safe adoption of innovative new products and technologies. Everyone at UL shares a passion to make the world a safer place. We test, inspect, audit, certify, validate, verify, advise and train and we support these efforts with software solutions for safety and sustainability. To learn more about us, visit UL.com.