Search Results

The ENLIGHTENme project aims to advance the understanding of how indoor and outdoor lighting affects health and wellbeing, particularly in elderly populations. It will develop innovative, evidence-based guidelines and policies for measures, technologies, and interventions that can be implemented with a dedicated Decision Support System to help both citizens and city leaders improve public health and wellbeing. ENLIGHTENme is an international consortium, subsidized by the EU under Horizon 2020 projects. On 16 and 17 December 2021, the consortium organized an international online conference, of which the proceedings are now online. The theme was ‘shaping light for health and wellbeing in cities’. Our board member Jan Denneman presented the guide of good light for health, wellbeing and the circadian rhythm. Scientific studies from recent decades make very clear that light is crucial for our health and wellbeing. Good light does much more than enabling us to see. It is the most important “zeitgeber” for our brain and body to synchronize our internal circadian clock with the natural light dark cycle. This enables better sleep, more daytime energy, better mood and improvement of our immune system. The best light to synchronize our circadian clock is daylight. This has the intensity, colour and dynamics to do so effectively. Indoor lighting, however, is often not intense enough and too static. During daytime it needs to be at least five times more intense and more dynamic than is the current lighting practice. LED technologies make it possible to mimic the positive aspects of daylight indoors. In the evening and at night, the exposure to electric light should be much lower than current practice. This offers vital opportunities for new lighting designs and solutions and a health and well-being revolution for the more than 90% of society with a daytime indoor activity. You can find the presentation on pages: 58-63

"We joined the Good Light Group because it is our mission to improve sleep, performance, and health by focusing on the power of light and darkness. By participating in this group we hope to learn from and share experiences with other scientists and practitioners in the field of light and circadian rhythms." Room lighting and light from electronical screens contain blue light. Blue light exposure in the evening can prevent the secretion of melatonin. The blue light filtering glasses from Somnoblue can help you to fall into a deep sleep more quickly. This all without using medication. The glasses shouldn’t be worn all day, only about 1 or 2 hours before going to bed. Somnoblue

Sunday 27th of march is the day we need to shift our clock forward one hour for daylight saving time. This usually means losing an hour of sleep. That’s why we were being interviewed by RTL news, a Dutch news website. DST has a lot of disadvantages for our sleep. Photo by Daoudi Aissa on Unsplash In general, we like DST because it feels like we can enjoy some extra daylight in the evening. But even one hour of a time shift can make it harder to wake up and fall asleep on a set schedule. We need morning light to regulate our internal clock, also known as our circadian rhythm. If you go to work when it’s still dark, work inside an office that lacks light, and get a lot of light during the evening can cause disruptions to your circadian rhythm. A disrupted circadian rhythm can cause poor sleep and a lack of energy during the day. According to several studies, people who live further east in a time zone are more likely to be happier than people who live further west in a time zone. So, we need to get back to our original time zone to be happier! Read the article

Wirklicht manufactures high end luminaires. ‘We improve the wellbeing of people with innovative daylight technology and elegant natural materials.’ Wirklicht stands for daylight luminaires made out of wood. With their wooden luminaires, they combine natural materials and the best light. Thanks to their innovative technology, the luminaires bring daylight into every home! Nowadays, humans spend most of their time in rooms with little or no daylight. Light from the sun affects human health positively and sets their biological clock. WIRKLICHT is daylight for the home. The lights with the latest LED technology have a positive effect on the well-being and biorhythm of humans. So happiness and wellbeing are greatly influenced by light. To communicate the benefits of good indoor lighting will considerably improve the wellbeing of people. This is the reason Wirklicht joined the movement of the Good Light group. Wirklicht

Jeevun Grewal together with Manuel Spitschan and Keeva Garvey developed an enlightening infographic about how to improve your light exposure. Bright days and dark nights are very important for our health and well-being. It makes sure your circadian rhythm is in line with our 24 hour sleep wake cycle, so it’s very important for your sleep as well. We spent most of our time indoors so what can we do to improve our light situation: Go to the LinkedIn post

In a recent article in LEDs magazine the circadian pioneer, esteemed professor Russel Foster from Oxford Universities claims we’re not ready for circadian lighting. But does he really mean it? His argument is that researchers still don’t know all the details. Others say we know enough to move on. But according to the article, the two sides might actually agree. According to our chairman Jan Denneman human-centric lighting, better known as circadian lighting or integrative lighting, is the best-kept secret because nobody in society knows about it. Scientists know, but they only talk about it to each other. If people start wanting healthy light and are going to ask for it, the industry will follow. This is the very reason of existence for the Good Light Group. Read the full article here

The BBC recently released a video about how morning light can help regulate your sleep patterns and why it's so important to get outside to experience the full benefits. Source: BBC Sunlight is powerful stuff - probably more powerful than you might realise. Every aspect of how we function is controlled by light, it affects all of our most important body functions - from sleep, to our mental wellbeing, even our immune system. The video will give you an illuminating look at why morning light can help regulate your sleep patterns - and why it's so important to get outside or at least installed Good Light in your office or home to experience the full benefits.

Intelligent Lighting Design and Consultation is a team of lighting professionals who understand that light is as essential to life as air and water, and that the quality of our lighting environments is a significant determinant to behavioral, biological, psychological and visual performance and well-being. ILDC's work is focused primarily on providing superior lighting solutions for commercial and residential applications where improved lighting conditions will have a positive affect on user experience, productivity and holistic wellness. “We work with leading lighting and controls technologies to create high fidelity, dynamic lighting environments that respond to the activities and needs of the user for optimized results. Our company is honored and excited to be aligned with the membership of the Good Light Group in our mission to increase awareness of the importance of good light in our lives, and to help construction professionals learn how they can elevate their work and their customer satisfaction by implementing good lighting practices to their projects.” We as the Good Light Group are happy to have ILDC as our new participant! ILDC

Chronolight offers independent recommendations to companies and individuals for optimal lighting conditions to support performance, health and well-being. “Light is not just light, even if this is not so easy to see through at first glance. We are still trapped in light conditions for which we were not made”. An important part of our recommendations is the implementation of the latest scientific findings on the non-visual effects of light. But non-visual aspects are not everything, I strongly believe that good light is like “music for the eyes”. To create people-friendly lighting atmospheres and to make people aware of why we need to change our everyday light, I joined the Good Light Group.” Chronolight

Thursday the 24th of February, we organized the 9th Good Light Group meeting. We always ask two participants to give a short presentation about new research, their company or new innovations. In this meeting Nicholas Witton talked about the effects of daylight and our workplace culture and Oliver Stefani talked about the projects of Chronolight. The first presentation was given by Nicholas Witton a sleep Consultant and Researcher. He has a PgDip and MSc in Sleep Medicine at The University of Oxford. He also works at Elite Sleep where he is employee well-being. He talked about the effects of daylight and evening long-wave light on sleep and performance. How the combination of a lack of daylight can lead to sleep deprivation and Social Jet Lag which affects alertness, productivity and result in lower performances Our workplace culture in 2022 is not very healthy, 29% struggle to create a sustainable work-life balance, high stress and increased mental health issues, reduced vitamin D production and long-term light desensitisation which means body clock desynchronisation and increased sleep problems. Watch his presentation to learn more about the short term effects, long term effects and what you can do to prevent this. The second presentation was held by Oliver Stefani who works for Chronolight. Chronolight uses scientific findings on light effects and offers advice on good lighting. He explained some of the projects they worked on, for example: ‘Design meets Biology: Lighting for Skyguide’s air traffic controllers. Lighting design in harmony with chronobiology’ and ‘Consultancy for Fraunhofer on light in vehicles’. Watch his presentation here

Project developer EDGE Technologies puts people first when it comes to the development of buildings. Their approach is based on the pursuit of a healthier world. For example, they strive for creating an optimal environment for the users and a reduction to zero of greenhouse gases and material waste. EDGE develops buildings holistically and gives plenty of room to the creativity and innovation of residents and users. Photo by Horizon Photoworks for EDGE EDGE Olympic Amsterdam opened its doors in 2018 and is a state-of-the art flagship building that combines sustainability, health and wellbeing. It received the Netherland’s first WELL certification at Platinum Level in 2019. The building is designed as one big open ecosystem for all tenants and members to easily connect with each other, creating one community of forward-thinking professionals. They also installed healthy lights from Sparckel, a Participant in the Good Light Group. Vivian, an employee at EDGE concludes: "I notice that I feel mentally fitter and more clear in my head, so that I can do more work. My colleagues also notice a real difference in the light level with the bluish light, it ensures we can work with more focus for a longer time."

Sunshower combines low dose UV light and powerful infrared with your daily shower. UV light stimulates the natural production of vitamin D. This makes your immune system more efficient and boosts your mental health. It has a positive effect on your well-being, your energy level and your sleep-wake rhythm. The result: you feel fitter and wake up better rested. The heat of infrared light has a relaxing effect. It also improves the blood circulation, which accelerates the removal of waste products. This helps your sore muscles to recover faster. Our aim is to increase vitality, be more energetic and therefore feel happier. Sunshower shares the same vision as the Good Light Group, they too want to inform the world about the importance of good and healthy light. www.sunshower.nl