Light for learning

The importance of light in our learning environments cannot be under estimated. Research shows that light impacts our health and level of alertness and this extends to those spaces in which we are taught. It is now widely accepted that good lighting in schools can have an important effect on educational attainment and rates of learning.

We also need to consider the impact of our designs on the wider environment, from the use of material resources to the impact on the community and the pupil. Lighting in schools needs to be sustainable, to continue to serve the needs of the community and future students, taking into account likely changes in curriculum, demographics, methods of teaching, computer use and so on.

Our lighting design for the future of educational facilities needs to consider the following:

• The proven link between improved school environments and student/staff morale and staff retention

• The need to create schools which would represent good value for money and have a long functional life

• A requirement to diversify the school curriculum and to extend community use of educational facilities There is now, more than ever, an imperative to create sustainable schools, which would have a low impact on the environment, exploit natural light and ventilation and reduce use of natural resources. Lighting has a large part to play in each of these, and can do so by using the equipment and complying with the legislation around product application and performance.

Fig. 6.13 A PC intensive university teaching space lit with direct/indirect luminaires

Specific Techniques

Methods of teaching

There a generally considered to be three methods of teaching:

• Teacher-led discussions, an ‘interactive’ approach to

Each creates different requirements for the space in which they happen. The first requires flexible lighting, creating a relaxed informal atmosphere. The second is more focused on the tasks within the space - the teacher, the board and the ambient. The last is most specifically about ambient and task, where the task lighting will be local to the student and varied according to their need.

Lighting application

Generally there are two recognised illuminance levels required in classrooms and these, whilst general targets to aim for, need to be varied to account for task, time of day and the age of the pupil.

Levels of ‘300-500 lux should not be exceeded, but should be focused on 300 lux for the young and 500 lux for the mature student. A task uniformity of 0.8 is desirable.

To maintain this level and maximise efficiency all teaching spaces should use daylight as a primary source and dim the artificial light accordingly, initially by the windows. To give true sustainability lighting controls must be provided that are simple to understand and operate, give flexibility of use and deliver energy savings. Specific requirements will require task lighting (i.e. the need to specifically light the task, rather than creating high overall ambient lighting levels)

Specular, louvred fittings are not required, except perhaps in dedicated computer suites, and even here their use should be restricted and satin, rather than full mirrored louvres used.

Fig. 6.14 Lighting in large lecture rooms should be flexible to allow different scene setting options to be used to suit the teaching requirements

It is recommended that light sources should be between 2000-4000K with a colour rendering in excess of Ra80.

All light fittings must be flicker-free and provide a Limiting Glare Index of 19.

Primary artificial lighting choice should be direct/indirect in nature to create the right balance of performance, efficiency and comfort in learning spaces. The important thing is to put light onto all surfaces, and in particular, light the face of the teacher and pupils, so that true communicative learning can take place.

While PC use is widespread, and growing, modern screen technology can easily handle high luminance well beyond that covered by EN 12464-1, but note that it has been shown recently that students do not learn well with a high proportion of self-motivated PC teaching alone. Lighting for computer screens should not impinge on lighting for effective teaching.

Effective Distribution

Lighting for visual comfort is not just about the light sources – it is also about the distribution of light:

• Walls and ceilings need lighting with both direct and inter-reflected light

• This requires relatively high reflectance surface finishes – e.g. >70% for the ceiling, >60% for the walls (display boards may lower this to 30-50%) and as high as practical on the floor

• Gloss finishes should be avoided as they can cause veiling reflections and glare

• Some walls and displays should have accent lighting, to create the effect of directional light that feeling of dappled sunlight through a window for instance

• Average supplementary wall illuminance should be around 2/3rds of the task illuminance

The design approach should concentrate on providing ambient, task and accent lighting

Fig. 6.15 Direct/indirect lighting with good light distribution onto wall displays

Specific Techniques

The basic principle is to achieve a well-balanced lighting environment, with good brightness management, which avoids sharp, distracting lighting contrasts. It is important to remember that while working on PCs, students will probably be receiving information from a teacher at the same time, so providing good vertical lighting on the face, which might be viewed from any position in the classroom, is equally important.

In fact, good vertical illuminance is important in all teaching spaces – being able to see the face of the teacher and the facial expressions of other students is a key component of good communication – and is vital to effective learning. About 80%

of the information we take in is visual and in a teaching space most of that happens on the desk or within the 40° band (20°

above and below the horizontal from the eye).

Get the lighting wrong and it becomes difficult to see the teacher, or the board, for instance. If we can’t see the teachers face because contrast or vertical illuminance is poor, then we may fail to read their body language, or in the case of the hearing-impaired, be unable to lip read. Also consider the colour of the background compared to the teacher’s skin tone. Lighting a light skin tone against a white background presents different problems to a dark skin tone against a white background. Good design will have to cater for all the diverse ethnicities of teaching staff.

Using Daylight

Good daylighting is also paramount -- artificial lighting makes up 25 per cent of the energy costs of a typical school. Recent research in the US showed that high levels of daylight are associated with improvements in learning rates, increased attendance and 20 per cent higher results in reading and maths. It also can also lead to energy savings of 30-60 per cent (70 per cent if automatic blinds are used).

So ecologically and on a human level we cannot ignore daylight. All schools need to use daylight as their primary light source, with daylight factors of 4-5 per cent and a minimum 20 per cent of glazing on external walls. As well as letting in daylight, this allows students and staff to retain a

Fig. 6.16 An example of lighting with good vertical illuminance at the board

Specific Techniques