ELG aims to provide business owners, hospitals and schools with the ideal LED lighting products to improve the health, well-being and productivity of the people who work and reside within indoor lit spaces. To this end, the company has added low glare LED ceiling panels to its AlphaLine range.
Glare is measured using the “Unified Glare Rating” (UGR). UGR is derived from a formula that denotes the perception of lighting glare in a space. Put simply, UGR is calculated by dividing the luminance of a lamp by the background luminance in a room.
The resulting index has values ranging from 10 to 30. European guidelines on the quality of light in workspaces specify that activities that include reading, writing, training, meetings, and computer-based work must occur in environments with a UGR of less than 19 (<19). Lighting with this rating will produce a low glare that is not perceived as uncomfortable by the majority of occupants.
ELG’s AlphaLine low UGR LED ceiling panel and narrow frame low UGR LED ceiling panel use the latest micro-prismatic diffuser technology to minimize discomfort from glare. Perfect for schools, colleges, hospitals and offices, these products ensure that anyone who has to work or study for prolonged periods under artificial light will feel no uncomfortable experience of glare.
However, as ELG general manager, Simon Bodill, is quick to point out, the UGR rating is just the starting point:
“ I speak to a many people who complain about uneven light distribution and dark patches in workspaces because the luminaires are arranged inefficiently, “ he says.
“The starting point is choosing low glare lighting products but thereafter the key is to understand what tasks will be taking place in the environment. Some computer applications, for example, show text or images against a dark background – these working environments require a different approaches to glare management, which we model as part of our complimentary lighting design service.”
Furthermore, LED ceiling panels often have a higher lumen output than their fluorescent predecessors. Often, including a dimming strategy as part of the lighting installation can both save additional energy and reduce glare.