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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

For many years Studio Kleurmerk has been advising organizations about 'good' and 'healthy' light. "I tell the same story again and again: what light can do for them. In hospitals, nursing homes, schools and more, it sometimes feels like I’m a missionary. It's the power of repetition, so we don't give up." However, Erna says, I am a little embarrassed to confess this, I had never experienced good light for myself. Until one of my employees needed a demonstration model for her presentation. Afterwards the model ended up on our desks. And then it happened: I now literally practice what I preach. Consequently, there are no more slumps during the day, I feel fit all day long and enjoy a very good night's sleep. I can't get around it anymore. The difference is so big for me and it is almost addictive. A day off and I notice it, immediately! Even more than before, I feel the need to make organizations aware of the obvious, healthy effect. In our designs we create 'healthy light' in a 'good lighting plan'. For us the use of colours, the materials, the sight and walking lines are also part of our design and advice. With this integrated approach we hope to keep on making many more students, elderly and employees healthier. It works for me! Erna van het Erve Director Studio Kleurmerk

We are very happy to anounce our new Science Advisor: Inge Declercq. Below is a brief summary of her article in the VRT, a Belgian newspaper. Sleep disruption and poor mental health have become a sad and seemingly inevitable part of our lives. The pandemic has duly fulfilled its role in amplifying these serious health issues. About one on five adults take on-prescription hypnotics and anti-depressants, the sale of over-the-counter sleep aids has raised up to 44% last two years, many of those containing melatonin. People seeking for help seem to want the miracle solution, despite of there being little scientific evidence that these drugs as stand-alone treatment have a sustainable effect on solving sleeping problems such as insomnia. The good news is that a solution that is back-up by solid scientific evidence and without side-effects exists! That sleep and mental health invariably come together needs no more debate. The one thing that nourishes this intertwined relationship is light. The right light at the right time, meaning bright light as from the morning and dim light in the evening. Let’s call it “Good Light”. “Good Light” is natural light, or indoor light mimicking natural light as much as possible. Because if your daily situation really hinders your possibility to catch bright daylight, then adapting your indoor light can be part of the solution. Always together with dimming your light exposure as from two hours before you go to bed. Because every time you light up your digital screens in the evening it is as if you take a drug that poisons your sleep and your mental health. Your brain needs the correct light signals that it catches through your eyes, to know when it’s time to activate your daytime energy, to nourish your health and to know when it’s time to sleep. So, do you want to manage your health without taking drugs? It’s simple: manage your light exposure correctly! Inge Declercq, MD, Neurologist, Sleep expert https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022/02/07/slaapexpert-over-stijging-verkoop-slaapmiddelen/ https://www.plan.be/publications/article-2079-nl-geestelijke_gezondheid_in_belgie_de_verborgen_kosten_van_covid_19 https://www.goodlightgroup.org/good-light-guide https://www.pelckmansuitgevers.be/slaap-wijzer.html#gref

In 2021, a large group of scientists, clinicians, local governments and societal partners joined forces in the BioClock Consortium to study the biological clock in modern society. The project was funded by a 10 million euros grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in the framework of the National Research Agenda (NWA). The consortium aims to tackle three major goals: Firstly, it aims to promote the health of the biological clock across society by developing and implementing lifestyle changes and lighting strategies for work, school and home. Secondly, BioClock aims to improve patient care through the application of chronobiology to clinical practice. It will do so by, amongst others, promoting cyclic conditions for patients in hospitals and develop medications to strengthen the biological clock. At last, BioClock aims to develop sustainable, non-invasive strategies to minimize the negative effects of light pollution on biological clock in nature. A great diversity of organisms will be studied (including plants, insects and fish) and researchers will focus on the lighting conditions that will aid biodiversity. The Good Light Group participates in workpackage 1.1, led by the University of Groningen. This project aims to study the mechanisms of light on our behavior and performance. The ultimate goal is to find light conditions that are optimal for our wellbeing 24 hours a day. The Good Light Group will assist in the research design, and indicate what information is missing to communicate a good and clear message to society, more importantly, that the knowledge is going to be actually used. In the next 6 years, these research goals will be addressed by 25 PhD and Post-doc candidates across 13 universities, research institutes and universities of applied sciences. More information can be found on BioClock Consortium

Thursday the 27th we organized the 3rd participant council meeting which was also the 8th meeting with participants. In this meeting we talked about the future of the Good Light Group, where we are now and how much we have grown as an organisation. One of our participants, Liz, gave a really interesting presentation about ‘how to start a movement’ she explained a lot about movements, what they are, how organisations start a movement and why this is important for the Good Light Group. You can watch both parts of the meeting on YouTube: Activities of the Good Light group All about movements

Professor Linnartz and Ph. D Charikleia Papatsimpa wrote a very interesting article in the latest LED professional Review. Light has an unquestionable effect on human health, physiology, comfort, productivity and mental wellbeing. Light influences our sleep/wake cycle, hormone secretion and subjective alertness and performance. We understand and can predict the effects of light more and more. Photo by ludovic toinel on Unsplash Light gives our biological clock an indication of time. The central biological clock maintains a temporal synchrony between internal periodic cycles and external environment that is thought to enhance overall organismal function and survival. But can we mimic this daylight with artificial lighting? A wealth of insights is available from studies in controlled lab conditions. The non-image forming effects of light on circadian rhythms are even modelled as a set of different equations. This gave a starting point for their research. Future light recipes were tested which allowed the preselection of the optimal light recipe for the individual based on his/her particular needs, responses and sensitivity to light input. Different people have different needs and are exposing to different settings. A lighting recipe designed to make an evening person wake up earlier in the morning is not the same as the lighting recipe for a morning person. It’s proven that light late in the evening and at night delays the circadian wake propensity rhythm, as a result people that are exposed to bright evening light have late spontaneous sleep and wake-up times. For an evening person that effect can be detrimental because they already have a clock that runs at a slower pace and receiving light at the wrong time of the day can shift their sleep schedule even later. This negative effect can to some extent be counteracted by increasing light during the day, especially during the morning. A morning person however should not be receiving light in the early morning, their clock is already in a phase where light delays the clock. They would need a late afternoon light boost. During this research some important lessons were learned: one of those is that the impact of light exposure is a slow and subtle process, the effects of light on the specific users are preferably tracked over longer periods of time. Preferably, one should not aim to drastically shift their circadian phase and sleep cycles. Read the full article here on p. 38

Some say the most depressing day of the year, but why? The third Monday of the year, the New Year's resolutions turn out to be more difficult to keep than expected. It’s cold and dark, and the last months we’ve been mostly indoors. We’ve developed a winter blues and depressed feelings. In this time of the year, we definitely need light indoors that mimics daylight. Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash The best way to avoid a winter depression is by getting enough good light during the day. It’s very healthy to go outside and enjoy the daylight for a couple of hours. But for most people this is not possible.. We developed the 20-20-2 rule, which helps you bringing enough Good Light in your life. Because light is such an essential part of feeling happier, healthier and more energetic. This is what you need to do: If you are inside, measure the light that’s entering your eye with a lux meter app on your phone (the light should be at least 1000 lux during daytime). Make sure you have Good Light while working. Locate your desk within one meter from a window or increase the electric light level to 1000 lux entering your eyes. Live by the 20-20-2 rule. After every 20 minutes of screen time, look at the sky for 20 seconds. Spend at least 2 hours outside every day, preferably in the morning. For more information see our infographic or download our Good Light Guide