The journalist Jeroen Kreule was the first person who participated in our 30 days good light experience. We provided him with a lamp from our Participant Sparckel designed for use on a desk, so perfect for a home office. He wrote an article about his experience in last Saturdays newspaper AD with a very wide reach. Jeroen Kreule freelance journalist. © Jean-Pierre Jans We started the challenge to bring the positive effects of good light under attention. Since most people are not aware of the fact they need good light, we want to let people experience it. Jeroen Kreule was our first participant and just finished his 30 days of good light. He was very positive about how good light exposure affected him. He sleeps better, he is happier and has a better mood. In his article he tells his personal story and he interviewed Jan Denneman for more background information. More information about the 30 days experience Read the full article

Around the year 2010 LEDs became the lighting industry’s main light source. The trigger for this transition was energy saving. Their introduction was one of many enormous contributions from the lighting industry to fight global warming. Lighting systems became an integral part of smart buildings and sometimes even the backbone. This enabled several additional features like connectivity, LiFi, presence detection, indoor positioning, asset tracking and management, information about the use of buildings or streets, etc. This is the first LED revolution and it’s in full swing. Illustrations by Anne Vermeltfoort The second LED revolution is the introduction of ‘good light’. This will be even more impactful because it affects the billions of people that have to live and work inside. We spend more than 90% of our lives indoors where we are to a large extent deprived of natural daylight. Science is very clear about this: we need daylight to synchronise our biological clock. Lack of exposure to daylight causes poor quality sleep which can make us unfit and subject to mood swings. The second LED revolution is focussed on health and wellbeing. People need daylight. The lack of natural daylight in buildings can be compensated with Personal Good Light. This will make the lives of billions of people healthier. It will bring them better sleep, more energy during the day and an improved mood. Upgrading the current ambient lighting systems and adding Personal Good Light is an obvious way to go to improve the life quality of billions! Join the movement of Good Light. Here you can read the full article And here you can read the full magazine

We created a project page, here you can find places where they have installed Good Light. You can read about experiences, where to visit these places and about the supplier. For example the Good Light Project: NatureConnect by Signify. The NatureConnect lighting innovation by Signify is built on the visual, biological and emotional benefits of natural light to reconnect us to the outside world. It mimics the natural patterns of daylight indoors to create rich and meaningful lighting solutions for comfortable, engaging and attractive indoor environments that support wellbeing. The NatureConnect system contains different lighting elements that all have their own role to collectively create natural lighting experience. It provides the right light at the right moment during the day by automatically following the rhythm of the sun. With the intuitive wireless user interface, the end-user can switch from the circadian rhythm to a lighting scene best suited for the activity in the space. The project page will be regularly updated with all kinds of new projects, so stay tuned and visit the page often. Visit our projectpage

Our board member Marijke Gordijn was a late night guest in the Dutch NPO radio 1 show ‘de Slapelozen’ translated ‘the Insomniacs’. The theme of this night was ‘rhythm’. Together with the host ‘Frits Spits’ and photographer ‘Mischa Keijser’, she talked about light, darkness, melatonin, sleep-wake rhythms, light pollution at night, photography, music, art and the silence of the night. The radio show is especially created for everyone who can’t or doesn’t not want to sleep during the night and is broadcasted for five nights in a row from 02.00 till 04.00 a.m. In a season of five episodes a sleep expert, behavioural therapist or psychologist is a guest in this show, people can call the show to talk about their sleep problems and can ask for advice. The radio program will be followed by a television program in November 2021. Listen to the broadcast: First hour Second hour

Back in 2016 the community of Würlingen, Switzerland detected the need for additional classrooms. The number of children was expected to rise significantly. So they wanted to build four additional primary school departments, two kindergarten departments and one double gymnasium. The architects who created this building collected all information regarding solar position and designed the classrooms in a way they don’t block daylight impact unlike most classrooms. They managed to create a feeling of openness and closeness at the same time, they play with daylight and artificial light in such a way you think there is only daylight coming in. For more information watch the presentation of Julia Hartmann, Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Interior Design, IALD, CLD CEO and Creative Director at lightsphere, Switzerland Watch here

We need time to indicate when we need to get up, go to work or to an appointment. This is our social time, the time you see on your watch or clock. We can adjust this social time easily to the time we want it to be, but that doesn’t affect our bodies, for example when we feel tired or energized. Our bodies have an internal clock, a biological clock, to indicate the time of the day. This clock needs light to synchronize with the natural light-dark cycle. The sun is at it’s highest at 12.00, this is the time you feel most energized and around twilight hours you begin to feel more tired, this is because your internal clock signals to your body it’s going to be dark soon and needs to produce the sleeping hormone melatonin. This is the function of our biological clock, to anticipate the predictive 24-hour pattern of our environment. Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash What if there is no light? This is the situation when you are inside all day. The light levels indoors are too low during daytime and too high in the evening to set our biological clock effectively. Your sleep/wake cycle would go from 24 hours to a 24 hours and about 15 minutes cycle. Your body can’t synchronize with the environment; the timing of when you are actually ready for sleep shifts day by day. Scientists compare this with living with a permanent jetlag and you could risk depression and insomnia.

Mr. C. Ticleanu recently published an interesting overview article about the research of the impacts of home lighting on human health. A combination of bright light and night-time darkness is essential for our circadian rhythm and maintenance of a regular daily sleep-wake cycle. Home lighting is mainly developed for our vision, to enable safe movement between spaces, a sense of aesthetics and energy efficiency but how it affects our health has not received similar consideration. Photo by Josh Hemsley on Unsplash His conclusions are in line with the Good Light Guide which has recently been published by our Group. Some of his recommendations to maximise health benefits are: Spend as much time outdoors as possible. When indoors, occupy rooms that have outside views and receive daylight. When necessary, supplement insufficient daylight with electric lighting to achieve adequate light levels on the task areas and at the eyes. When using electric lighting, ensure it is brighter and has a cooler white colour appearance from mid-morning until early afternoon, towards the end of the day dim it down and set it to warmer white colour. After sunset do not use blue or near blue colours. Reduce the use of display screen equipment after sunset. At bedtime, switch off all light sources and close blinds to avoid any light ingress from outside. C. Ticleanu worked ten years in lighting design and research. Now he leads the Lighting Fundamentals module at The Barlett and works as a Principal Consultant in Lighting for BRE, where he leads and undertakes consultancy and research projects for public and private sector customers into all aspects of electric lighting and daylighting. His areas of expertise include: energy efficient lighting; lighting impacts on well-being and performance; lighting surveys and optimisation; POE studies; light pollution; computer modelling of daylight and electric light; and delivering presentations and training on lighting. Read the article here

The first deLIGHTed talks webinar ‘good life – good light’ was a great success! Almost 200 attendees listened to the free webinar about how good light indoors contributes to health and well-being. Four light professionals were invited to talk about good light and how it affects your well-being. They explained several topics regarding good light: The difference between daylight and electric light. The effect on your sleep- wake cycle, biological clock, and mental health. How exercise, good meals and social interactions are as important. The decrease of myopia when exposed to outdoor light. Recommendations for the right amount of light during the day. How to reset your biological clock when it is disturbed. How light therapy is beneficial for people with a bipolar disorder. The realization of a primary school with good light in every room. Watch the lectures here: ​ Good Light for Healthy, Daytime-Active People | Good Light Group by Annette STEINBUSCH, MSc. S&R Manager Light Quality at Signify, The Netherlands Case Study of a School Project | IALD by Julia HARTMANN, Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Interior Design, IALD, CLD CEO and Creative Director at lightsphere, Switzerland Relevance of Daylight for Humans | DLA by Mirjam MÜNCH, Dr. Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University Wellington, New Zealand Case Study of a School Project | IALD by Julia HARTMANN, Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Interior Design, IALD, CLD CEO and Creative Director at lightsphere, Switzerland Want to read about our recommendations? Get our Good Light Guide, which contains a lot of information about good light. We look forward to the next delighted talks webinar!

You can experience good light now at Martinspark hotel. The M HAUS in the video is the first one built providing a light package which can be equipped with a “light shower” which is 1840 MEDI lux at the eye. Xchange designed it to have a positive effect on the biological clock, as for they do not know any other product in this category that offers more lux or a better solution. Watch the video: The light package was developed with Bartenbach, a company which is known for their expertise. There are different scenarios programmed in M HAUS that can run fully automatic in which it can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the user, or the user can control the colour and light intensity him/herself. Their message: wake up work relax be happy! More info: Good Light Experience Martinspark

We´ve been invited to talk in the podcast ´Get A Grip On Lighting´ to argue about the subject quality darkness is essential to good sleep. We contend that good light during the day is also essential to our circadian rhythm for a good night’s sleep. Get A Grip On Lighting is hosted by Michael Colligan and Greg Ehrich, who have over 30 years of combined experience in the lighting industry. The podcasts feature deep conversations with many industry experts to highlight some of the more pressing questions of today. We discussed that the lighting industry focused too much on energy savings and that they should focus more on providing ´good´ light during daytime which means healthy light, light that mimics the sun, and provide darkness during night-time. But also, what light does to our circadian system, since we are the only species that live inside and the kind of health issues we suffer from because of this. There was even a bet for a beer, Michael claims: ´Withing 10 years there will be scientific proof that sunglasses cause major health issues in humans´. Listen to the podcast here

Watts ON is a Belgium based company specialized in workplace lighting. Their intention is to shift the focus from mainly energy efficiency to the health and well-being that good light can bring to the people working indoors. “Lighting is a neglected element if it comes to the quality and pleasure of working in an indoor environment”, says Lard Vanobbergen, the CEO, in this case the Chief Energy Officer. Lard is on its way to become an authority about the health effects of lighting, and that is the main reason for him and his company to join the Good Light Group as Participant. We will all very much benefit from Lard’s insights. Welcome to the Group! More: Relighting by ON | Watts ON

Today, 7 April 2021, it is the World Health Day, organized by the WHO. The theme this year: building a fairer, healthier world. To support your health, make sure that you get good light. Daily good light regulates your day-night rhythm and has a positive effect on your immune system, helpful to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo by Holly Mandarich on Unsplash We spend 90% of our lives indoors, deprived from natural daylight. This negatively impacts our bodies, minds, sleep, mood, performance and immune system. It may seem unnatural but when the light indoors is good enough to see well, it is still not good for your health. In most cases the power of the light indoors is insufficient to properly regulate the day-night rhythm. The consequence of this is that many people don't sleep well, aren't energetic during the day and suffer from mood swings. The lack of light has a negative impact on health. Make sure you are outdoors for a good time every day, especially in the morning, and get your dose of daylight. If that is not possible, sit inside close to the window and make sure that your workplace is brightly lit. Approximately five times brighter than the current practice. And make sure that you dim your lights in the evening, so that your body prepares for a good sleep. Are you already aware how good light helps improving your health? Read more here