Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Office Lighting – What Can We Learn from Light-Dosimetry?

Integrative lighting design aims to support human health and wellbeing by considering the visual and nonvisual effects light has on building occupants. Given that nonvisual responses depend on the amount and pattern of light received at the eye over time, lighting design solutions targeting nonvisual functions may particularly benefit from post-occupancy evaluations in which daily personal light exposure of occupants is monitored with wearable light sensors (light-dosimetry). In this paper, we use light-dosimetry data collected during a service evaluation in an operational office with a new daylight-responsive lighting control system to explore different ways to assess the impact of office lighting on occupant’s light exposure with regards to potential health benefits. Specifically, we show that light-dosimetry can be used to contrast different lighting solutions and to assess whether and to what extent lighting specifications effectively translate into personal light exposure. Importantly, this study emphasizes the ability of light-dosimetry to capture the impact of individual behavior on light exposure and allows to put lighting at the workplace into the context of the total light experienced throughout a day. Thereby, potential health outcomes can be examined in relation to actually received light exposure. The aim of this paper is to provide a resource and rationale for researchers and lighting designers to include light-dosimetry as a tool evaluate the potential of integrative lighting in optimally supporting human health and wellbeing.