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Recently, we welcomed LYS Technologies as Participant of the Good Light Group. Founded in London 2016 with a mission to reimagine how we live and work indoors, LYS Technologies works across wearable technology, data aggregation and analysis and circadian rhythm research. The LYS team is made up of designers, engineers, developers, data-analysts and writers. Together we are working to simplify and make accessible discussions around circadian rhythms. To put it simply, we are working to tackle global sleep disruption by changing people's relationship to the non-visual effects of light. https://lystechnologies.co.uk/pages/about-us-1

LpS Digital is the brand new, unique, and first, digital lighting conference and exhibition 24/7 available to viewers. Due to environmental issues and travel restrictions, the acclaimed LpS Symposium +Expo and Trends in Lighting Forum &Show held in Bregenz, Austria, has been remodeled into the LpS Digital. Jan Denneman has been one of the first presenters to record a presentation for LpS Digital about the importance of Good Light indoors. Summary Our world would not exist without the light and energy of the sun. Homo sapiens has evolved under this sun and therefore it is logical that we still need a lot of daylight to function optimally. Many thousands of years mankind indeed lived outside, but the modern human being spends most of its life indoors. In offices, schools, factories, hospitals, care homes, nursery homes, shops, private homes, trains, cars etc. In those places, light is usually good enough to see, but biologically it is darkness. Our body and brain need much higher lighting levels during daytime to steer important biological processes in the body like for instance the biological clock. Around the turn of the century, important discoveries were done that explain the mechanisms behind the effects of light on people. In 2002, the 3rd photoreceptor in the human eye has been discovered. The Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology in 2017 went to the scientists carried out breakthrough work in the field of chronobiology, the knowledge about 24 hour rhythms and sleep in our body. Irrespective the progress made in these scientific fields, it is currently still not reflected in how we design and light up our indoor spaces. Consequently, mankind still lives in biological darkness. The chronic light shortage has all kinds of bad consequences. People are less concentrated, alert, creative and their cognitive abilities are reduced. The quality of sleep is worse and people develop feelings of depression. Because most people do not have an outdoor job and as a result spend most of their lives indoors, we need to drastically improve the way we design our indoor spaces. Much more daylight needs to enter buildings and the electric lighting needs to compensate for the lack of natural daylight. The LED technology makes this possible in a sustainable way. The future of light is not any longer in energy efficiency alone. The energy efficiency with smart LED systems is already extremely high, and the lighting sector has been one of the highest contributors to energy efficiency and sustainability. The difference in energy efficiency and related cost savings between the lighting companies is small, and does not create a competitive edge. The attempts to change business models towards data and connectivity are only partly successful. The future of lighting is to focus on the real added value of good light. Good light will contribute to the well-being of the billions of people with an indoor job. If these users of indoor light would know and understand how important lighting is for their well-being, they will demand better lighting from building owners, facility managers, etc. This will create a pull for good light. This requires value-added selling capabilities, and communication to a wide public about the benefits of good light indoors. And it also creates an enormous opportunity for new innovations and for companies to create a competitive edge with their solution for Good Light.

Good Light indoors has spectral characteristics that vary according to time of day, personal needs, and specific tasks. In the morning and during daytime, the light spectrum should include a reasonable portion of short wavelengths to support the energizing and revitalizing effects of light. In the evening and at night, the amount of short wavelengths should be diminished to support winding down, a good night of sleep and to prevent disruptions of the day-night rhythm. To create a good lighting design, you need to be able to calculate the ‘melanopic EDI’ vertically at eye level. This parameter is introduced in the international standard CIE S 026:2018 CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. The CIE has recently launched a free of charge S 026 Toolbox and S 026 User Guide to support the use of this international standard. A short video has been prepared to give some background information on the Toolbox and some brief instructions on how to use it.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious health threat to the world population. In response, governments are implementing a variety of new policies including self-quarantine, self-isolation and social distancing. While medically necessary to limit spread, these new social policies can disrupt many of the stabilizing factors in our lives which support mental health. In close collaboration, the International Society of Bipolar Disorders (ISBD https://www.isbd.org/) Task Force on Chronobiology and Chronotherapy and the Society for Light Treatment and Biologic Rhythms (SLTBR, https://sltbr.org/) developed a list of recommendations to help your body clock to stay on track to help you feel better.

The policies to limit spreading of COVID-19 is ‘stay home’ and ‘work from home’. The consequence is that most people see very little daylight. While it is very important to stay home as much as possible and keep ‘social distance’ all the time, in the Netherlands it is not forbidden to go outside. The Dutch online news site ‘Dokters van Morgen’ published an article to emphasize the importance of getting enough daytime light exposure to keep the biological clock on track, for good sleep quality at night, and better mood. Read the tips (in Dutch) how to see enough Good Light while at the same time stick to the guidelines of the government to limit spreading COVID-19. For more information see https://zorgnu.avrotros.nl/hulp/hulpartikelen/item/werk-je-thuis-voldoende-daglicht-krijgen-is-belangrijk/

In his article (below) in the Dutch magazine “Endocrinology” (credits to tijdschrift Endocrinologie, https://endocrinologie.nl), dr. Aart Mudde sketches the underestimated attention for the epiphysic-hypothalamic system in medical practice. This system is influenced by light and for some critical health aspects high intensities are needed like from sun light, which is missing indoors. The epiphysic-hypothalamic system plays a role in melatonin production and disturbances in melatonin production probably links with diseases like hypertension, diabetes and Alzheimer. Because most of us spend our lives in biological darkness, our inner “Zeitgeber” the SCN which encodes for the circadian rhythm is chronically ‘ill’. There is a relative simple solution: more light indoors during daytime, exactly what the Good Light Group is promoting.

The annual Lighting conference of LED professionals in Bregenz, LpS2020, has been cancelled because of COVID-19. But LpS goes Digital! On September 22nd, 2020 the first digital lighting conference and exhibition will be organized. For more information go to https://www.led-professional-symposium.com/. Or join the conference and/or the exhibition on https://lnkd.in/gkX9zdW. The Good Light Group has been invited to organize one of the digital lectures.

On February 19th, an interesting article was published in the Dutch newspaper NRC with Marijke Gordijn, Board member of the Good Light Group. It describes the importance of good light in office environments. Lighting is often treated as of low importance in offices, but good light can have an enormous influence on sleep quality, alertness during daytime and mood. It is a big contributor to well-being of people. To avoid biological darkness indoors during the day, the lighting levels need to be at least five times higher than the current practice in indoor lighting. This is estimated to be 1000 lux vertical at the level of the eye. For a link to this Dutch article see: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/02/19/goed-licht-daar-word-je-beter-van-a3991039 #goodlightgroup #goodlight #lightforwellbeing #biologicaldarkness #humancentriclighting.

Today, we welcomed the Eindhoven University of Technology, TU/e, as Participant of the Good Light Group. We are very proud that the TU/e’s Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI) supports our foundation. The Intelligent Lighting Institute is one of the important knowledge centres in the world on all aspects of light. ILI’s mission is to search for revolutionary lighting solutions. To get an impression of the wide range of research in the Intelligent Lighting Institute, you can have a look at: https://www.tue.nl/en/research/research-institutes/top-research-groups/intelligent-lighting-institute/research/sound-lighting/ At the campus of the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Board members Jan Denneman and Bruno Smets met with Jos Hermus, the managing director of ILI, to sign the Participants Agreement. We are looking forward to a productive cooperation!

On January 29th, 2020 the board of the Good Light Group and the participants met in person for the first Participant Council meeting. Representatives of Seaborough, Signify and Sparckel were present. Claude Gronfier from Inserm, Roelof Hut from the University of Groningen, and representatives from Toshiba Material were unfortunately absent, all with good reasons. Nevertheless the first meeting was a great success. The board presented an overview of the activities since founding in May 2019 and the strategic plans for the future. Detailed ideas for the year 2020 were explained and discussed. The participants present supported the installation of a first chair of the council, who needs to be confirmed by the participants who were absent, to reach a majority voting. In addition, the idea to create two working groups, one to develop a communication plan and one to create guidelines and functional descriptions of Good Light based on scientific data, were supported and several participants already agreed to take a role. At the end of the meeting, everybody left with a very enthusiastic and positive feeling, convinced of the fact that there is work to be done!

A short video on the non-visual effects of light, explained by our president Jan Denneman. The Austrian online television channel A1now has issued a series about light: “let there be light”. The first episode explains the importance of good light for human well-being and health. This series is made by Stefan Yazzie Herbert.

Een groot deel van de Nederlanders zit te veel in het duister. Ze krijgen te weinig daglicht en het licht binnen is niet sterk genoeg. Helemaal nu de wintertijd voor de deur staat en de dagen korter worden. Een gebrek aan licht heeft invloed op ons humeur en onze slaap en kan daardoor allerlei gezondheidsklachten veroorzaken. Daarom moet er volgens deskundigen veel meer aandacht komen voor het effect van licht op onze gezondheid. Dagje buitenlucht Chronobiologe Marijke Gordijn, oprichter van Chrono@Work en gastmedewerker van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, verdiept zich in de afstelling en werking van de menselijke biologische klok. Licht is daar een essentieel onderdeel van. Als je overdag meer daglicht tot je neemt, slaap je 's avonds beter. "Zoals mensen vaak lekker slapen na een dagje in de buitenlucht", zegt Gordijn tegen RTL Nieuws. "Het gaat niet zozeer om langer slapen, maar om de kwaliteit van de slaap", zegt Gordijn. "Hoe snel je in slaap valt, hoe vaak je tijdens de nacht wakker wordt en hoe diep je slaapt; de kwaliteit van je slaap heeft een enorm effect op je lichaam." "Als je slecht slaapt verandert bijvoorbeeld je hormoonhuishouding, waardoor je meer risico loopt op obesitas", legt ze uit. "En er zijn directe verbindingen tussen je ogen en het hersengebied dat je stemming regelt. Onvoldoende licht beïnvloedt je stemming negatief en kan zelfs tot depressies leiden." Wat kun je zelf doen? Chronobiologe Marijke Gordijn heeft een paar praktische adviezen om meer licht tot je te nemen en de kans op een winterdip te verkleinen: Ga elke ochtend tussen 08.00 en 09.00 uur een half uurtje naar buiten Ga met de lunch naar buiten Werk je binnen, ga dan zo dicht mogelijk bij het raam zitten De verlichting thuis kan je sterker maken, maar dan heb je wel speciale lampen nodig die niet in de supermarkt te vinden zijn Het werkt om in de winter een paar dagen naar een zonnige bestemming te gaan Blijf niet elke avond binnen om onder een deken tv te kijken; doe ook activiteiten buitenshuis en trotseer de kou Zorg dat je voldoende slaap krijgt. Gordijn en haar collega's hebben hun bevindingen al met drie verschillende studies vastgesteld. "We weten ook dat de werknemers van kantoren waar met kunstlicht daglicht wordt nagebootst, beter slapen", zegt ze. Mensen die in beter licht werken, zijn fitter en alerter en hun stemming is beter. Op kantoren moet de lichtsterkte op je bureaublad volgens de Arbowet 500 lux zijn. Maar dat is veel te weinig, volgens Gordijn. "We moeten richting een lichtsterkte van 1000 lux op het oog om profijt te hebben van licht." 1000 lux? Lux is de eenheid voor lichtsterkte, waarbij 1000 lux gelijk staat aan wat er op je oog komt op een heel donkere winterdag. Bewolkte nacht zonder maan: 0,0001 lux Volle maan: 0,1 lux Schemering: 10 lux In huis op een erg donkere dag: 100 lux Kantoor: 300 tot 500 lux Bewolkte dag: 4000 lux Indirect zonlicht overdag: 10.000 tot 20.000 lux Direct zonlicht overdag: 100.000 tot 130.000 lux Er moet dus meer aandacht komen voor licht. "Je moet of het daglicht beter naar binnen brengen, of de verlichting naar een hogere intensiteit brengen", aldus Gordijn. En dat laatste kan tegenwoordig met speciale lampen. Het Eindhovense bedrijf Sparckel maakt naar eigen zeggen het eerste 'vrijstaande biodynamische lichtsysteem ter wereld met technologie die de kracht van natuurlijk daglicht evenaart'. Schijf van vijf Directeur en oprichter Maarten Voorhuis gaat zelfs zover dat licht bij de schijf van vijf zou moeten horen. "We weten niet hoe goed we ons eigenlijk kunnen voelen." "Biodynamisch betekent dat het licht zich aanpast aan het moment van de dag", legt Voorhuis uit. Dat betekent dat je door de ingebouwde tijdsklok van het lichtsysteem 's ochtends meer blauw en 's avonds meer rood licht krijgt. Op die manier krijg je het juiste licht op het juiste moment en slaap je beter. Onprettig fel Voorhuis vervolgt: "Ik ben eerst samen met wetenschappers de formule van gezond licht gaan ontrafelen. Daar kwam uit dat mensen 1000 lux op het oog nodig hebben. Wij zijn vervolgens gaan kijken hoe we dat konden bereiken, zonder dat mensen in onprettig fel licht komen te zitten." Voorhuis en chronobiologe Gordijn zijn niet de enigen die vinden dat er meer aandacht moet komen voor het belang van licht. Jan Denneman, die meer dan 40 jaar bij Philips Lighting werkte, richtte onlangs de Good Light Group op, een non-profitstichting die het belang van daglicht wil benadrukken. "In de Good Light Group zitten wetenschappers, chronobiologen, architecten en bedrijven", zegt Denneman. "Er zijn ongeveer 1000 deskundigen op het gebied van licht en gezondheid in de wereld. Er wordt onderling veel over gesproken op congressen. Maar het wordt nu tijd dat deze informatie ook naar het grote publiek gaat." 'Tuinman worden' "Iedereen weet dat je niet moet roken, dat schone lucht belangrijk is en ga zo maar door. Maar hoe belangrijk licht is, dat weet niemand", zegt Denneman. De Good Light Group moet dat gaan veranderen. Omdat we volgens Denneman tegenwoordig 90 procent van onze tijd binnen doorbrengen, krijgt bijna niemand genoeg licht. "Eigenlijk kun je het beste tuinman worden", zegt hij. "Maar dat kunnen we nu eenmaal niet allemaal worden." Bron: https://www.rtlz.nl/life/lifestyle/artikel/4889306/licht-daglicht-winterdepressie-kantoor-slaap-stemming-concentratie