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A couple of our science advisors wrote some blogs about Good Light. In this blog Daan Van Der Veen, Science Advisor of the Good Light Group, watched and summarized the new animation ‘Why do we sleep so late’. In a new animation by researchers at the University of Surrey, UK, it is explained how artificial light exposure at night is driving us to delay our bedtime and leaves us tired and reluctant to start the day when the alarm clock wakes us the next morning. Humans – and many other species on our planet – have evolved internal biological clocks that drive daily rhythms in our sleep and activity patterns. But in contrast to our wrist watches or alarm clocks these biological clocks do not run to exactly 24 hours - depending on the species, biological clocks express a period that is slightly shorter or longer than 24 hours. To ensure that these biological clocks stay synchronised with the 24-hour day on earth, a mechanism evolved by which daylight adjust the timing of these internal clocks each day. If morning light exposure falls earlier than expected, humans move the arm of their internal clock forward to catch up; if evening light falls later than expected, the arm of the clock is moved back to delay starting the restful evening and subsequent sleep. In the modern world we are exposed to electrical light late in the evening, and as a result we are delaying our biological clocks and holding back on a timely start of our sleep. If late sleep then also leads to late waking (but this is often only in weekends for many people in e.g. daytime employment or school-going children), we miss out on the important morning light that synchronises our clocks and rhythms to drive active wakefulness. The solution, Professors Dijk and Skeldon indicate, is to actively seek bright morning light exposure and avoid bright light in the evening. This will keep our biological clocks synchronised and promote timely sleep and waking. This animation nicely shows why good timing of daily light exposure is so important for sleep, and by extension also suggests that regularity of this light exposure is key to good synchronisation of biological clocks. It’s not just about the timing - the characteristics of the light will have an impact on both the response of the biological clock, as well as the direct effects of light on sleepiness. As the authors say: light is both the problem and the solution, and tailoring timing and quality of artificial light exposure in our urbanised, 24-hour society will be hugely important to driving timing of good quality sleep, and many other daily behaviours that contribute to health and wellbeing. Watch the video here

You can now join the free 3rd edition of the Good Light - Good Life webinar and learn why Bright Days and Dark Nights have such an important influence on your health and sleep. After the lectures you can join the panel discussion to discuss all aspects and your experiences with Good Light during the day and less light during the night. We organize the deLIGHTed talks webinars together with the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (SLTBR), the Daylight Academy (DLA), the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), and Luger Research (LR). Register and more info

Tuesday the 26th of April, we organized the 10th Good Light Group meeting. In this meeting there were three participants that gave a short presentation about either new research, their company and new innovations. In this meeting Anne Berends talked about her company Seaborough and meaningful light innovations for a better and healthier world. The second presentation was given by Daniel Tschofen of the company Wirklicht about their new innovations and the third was given by Inge Declercq about a citizen science project on light exposure, physical activity and sleep throughout the seasons. #1 Anne Berends - Seaborough Beyond the visible: SunLED brings inside the healthy near-infrared part of sunlight. Seaborough develops new technologies for the lighting industry, focusing on sustainability, light quality and health. SunLED is our newest technology that integrates near-infrared radiation in lighting products to improve the indoor environment. The positive effects on health and well-being of their technology are now proven in a clinical study. #2 Daniel Tschofen – Wirklicht What are the luminaires of the future? Natural materials and innovative technology will make a real difference. A brief overview of how sustainability and good light can be translated into luminaires. #3 Inge Declercq – neurologist, sleep expert, SleepWell & StressLess, UZAntwerpen Brainstorm on idea for citizen science project & looking for partners. The project is Belgian (as for now) and aims at gathering a large amount of data on sleep-wake habits of Belgians.

We've added a new Good Light project! A nursing home for people with dementia started to use biodynamic lighting. Before they started using the Good Light, there was a lot of behavioural disturbances and tumult in the nursing home which expressed itself especially at night when some residents started banging the doors, dragging furniture or even physically fighting each other. Photo by Dominik Lange on Unsplash The lamps help to regulate the residents' biological clocks, improving their day-night rhythm. But this does not automatically eliminate all sleeping problems, Engeline says: "If the behavioural disturbances are caused by an irregular rhythm, the lamps will resolve this. But a lamp does not replace an employee. The employee simply has more time left to help people. To help the people who are awake or restless for other reasons, for example because they are in pain or suffer from sleep anxiety." Read more about the project here Visit Sparckel to learn more about the lights

In a previous blog we wrote about a preprint publication of 18 scientist that agreed on recommendations for daytime light and evening light in indoor environments. These recommendations are meant for adults for a better sleep during the night and more energy during the day. The publication is now finalized and published. This news post is a brief summary by one of the authors dr. Luc Schlangen. Photo by Copernico on Unsplash The human indoor light environment strongly differs from the natural light-dark cycle outdoors, both in spectrum and amount of light exposure. The ubiquitous availability of electric light enables us to spend large parts of our day indoors, in conditions with limited, or sometimes even without, any natural daylight. Across daytime we therefore expose ourselves to relatively dim light conditions, while during the evening and at nighttime the abundant use of electric light deprives us of natural darkness. Consequently, in our 24/7 society, we experience dimmer days, brighter nights and a much smaller day-night contrast as compared to natural light-dark cycle outdoors. This has negative consequences for our daily mood and functioning, as well as for our sleep, health, and well-being. Our 24-hour exposure to light and darkness has important influences on our physiology and behaviour. It regulates our circadian rhythms and affects our mood, daytime functioning and nighttime sleep. These effects are mediated by a (melanopsin-based) photoreceptor that is maximally sensitive to the short wavelength portion of the visible spectrum around 480 nm, unlike vision which is dominated by the traditional rod and cone photoreceptors. The spectral sensitivity of the long and medium wavelength sensitive cones defines the units lux and lumen that are commonly used to characterize the brightness of our light environment as experienced by an average human observer. However, for circadian and other non-visual effects of light on physiology and behaviour the traditional units lux and lumen are less appropriate. Recently an international expert workshop on circadian and neurophysiological photometry, developed a set of recommendations to best support human physiology, sleep and wakefulness in day-active people within indoor settings. The workshop specified bright days and dim nights, not with respect to vision, but for the non-visual functions of light which are typically driven by the melanopsin-based photoreceptor. For this photoreceptor, the brightness of a light condition can be specified in terms of a recently-developed and standardized metric, melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance (melanopic EDI). The recommendations are published in PLOS Biology and specify what daytime, evening and nighttime light exposures are best to support human health and wellbeing. The recommendations provide highly needed further guidance towards truly integrative lighting solutions, but are not meant to supersede existing guidelines and regulations relating to for instance visual function, comfort and energy consumption. The expert consensus-based recommendations from the workshop are: Throughout the daytime, the recommended minimum melanopic EDI is 250 lux at the eye measured in the vertical plane at approximately 1.2 m height (i.e., vertical illuminance at eye level when seated). If available, daylight should be used in the first instance to meet these levels. During the evening, starting at least three hours before bedtime, the recommended maximum melanopic EDI is 10 lux measured at the eye in the vertical plane approximately 1.2 m height. The sleep environment should be as dark as possible. The recommended maximum ambient melanopic EDI is 1 lux measured at the eye. In case certain activities during the night-time require vision, the recommended maximum melanopic EDI is 10 lux measured at the eye in the vertical plane. dr. Luc Schlangen, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

After almost two years of working from home, most of you have created a Home Office in your house. But have you also added Good Light, in line with the Good Light Guide? Or are you still using the ceiling lamp that was already in the room before you started to use it as your Home Office? Good Lighting for your Home Office can be realized in multiple ways and is really easy to install. Just read the Project example of the WiZ Home Office by Signify and be inspired to upgrade your own Home Office. It is part of the mission of the Good Light Group to have 100,000 practitioners working in Good Light by 2025. So, make sure you practice as you preach. For Participants, Partners, Science Advisors and Friends of the Good Light Group in the Benelux, it is now possible to order your WiZ high lumen bulbs & WiZ Remote control to create your own Good Light Home Office at Light Gallery with a special ambassador discount code: GoodLightGroup220120Rs#07ja

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