Lighting guidelines from lighting quality research

To judge the quality of a lighting installation is to determine how well it meets context-specific goals in the areas of architecture, economics, and individual wellbeing. The goals for individual well-being are behaviours such as task performance, mood, social behaviour, aesthetic judgements and satisfaction, that occur as a result of internal processes influenced by luminous conditions. These processes fall into two categories, psychobiological processes (visibility; photobiology; and, stress and arousal), and psychological processes (attention and environmental appraisal; perceived control; and, affect [emotion] and expectations). Empirical and theoretical work from a variety of scientific disciplines adds to our understanding of how lighting influences human experience and behaviour by acting on these processes. Some of these, such as visibility, are well-understood and obviously relevant to lighting practice. Others, such as photobiology, are in their infancy, but have the potential to substantially change lighting practice. These internal processes can provide a valuable organising principle for the translation of research findings into lighting practice.