10-18 I E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK

LIGHTING-APPLICATION TECHNIQUES
Interior-lighting applications may be divided, for convenience in
discussion, into six broad classifications: residence (including farm), office,
store, school, public building, and industrial lighting. Although these
classifications are not mutually exclusive and no sharp lines of distinction
exist between them either in theory or in practice, their practical objectives
may be quite different as, for example, the lighting of stores and offices.
Physical differences (the average living room compared with an auto-
mobile-assembly plant), emphasis on utility or decoration (the warehouse
compared with the theater), and the variation of seeing task severity (the
watch factory inspection department versus a night club corner table) have
inspired the development of application techniques which are known as
"current practice" in each of the six classifications. The specific tech-
niques are discussed in some detail in succeeding subdivisions of this
section.
No summary of the considerations involved in any single interior is a
sufficient guide for planning and designing all lighting installations. The
following, however, should be weighed carefully in planning any lighting
installation:
Quantity of Illumination
The primary standard of lighting effectiveness is the illumination level.
Other factors held constant, increases in illumination level are accompanied
by increases in visual acuity. With an acknowledgment of the limitations
imposed by other factors, levels of illumination have been recommended
by the Illuminating Engineering Society for many of the common seeing
tasks encountered in each of the application fields. (See Table A-l, page
A-l.) The tabulated illumination levels are neither minimums nor
maximums, although they tend toward the former. They are found in the
common practice of the day. which reflects a balance of many variables,
including economic factors, convenience, and availability. The recom-
mendations are reviewed periodically and when, because of new knowledge
and practices, a change appears in order, a revised table is published.
The scientific basis for appraising a seeing task involves four interrelated
factors: (I) the size of the object to be viewed;
(2)
the brightness contrast
between the object and its immediate background;
(3)
the time available
for seeing; and
(4)
the average brightness of the object. Usually, the first
three factors are constants in a specific lighting problem and only the
fourth factor is chosen by a designer. Brightness equals the illumination
(a controllable factor) times the reflectance of the seeing task. The im-
portance of proper interpretation of illumination tables is evident.
Quality of IlluminationBrightness Levels
The provision of adequate levels of illumination does not guarantee
comfort. Vision is not a mechanical process and therefore thought should
be given to those factors that physically or psychologically contribute to
the satisfaction of using the lighting. Such terms as "glare" and "shad-