Environments for Aging - Fall 2019 - 10

BULLETIN

BULLETIN
Edited by Anne DiNardo

Bright ideas

range of factors, from evolving technology

level and their eyes forward, without having to look away from
bright sources.
What new approaches to lighting design are you seeing
applied to senior living spaces?
Schwade: Low-wattage LED luminaires with higher color
rendering index levels of 90 and above are becoming more
common. Also, LED luminaires are being used everywhere on
a project instead of only specialty areas, with extra attention
being given to source color temperature. Color tuning and
dim-to-warm LED strategies are mimicking incandescent designs of the past in a new way with controls that change with

to resident quality of life, is driving updated lighting strategies for senior living
environments. "Our world is changing, and our technology
is changing with it," says Matt Ebejer, principal at Mazzetti.
"Our lighting is getting smarter." Here, Ebejer and his Mazzetti colleagues Michael Martin, senior lighting designer, and
Lauren Schwade, associate and senior lighting designer, discuss these changes and important considerations to make
when addressing lighting on your next senior living project.

time of day and color temperature.

Environments for Aging: What's the biggest misconception that you see about lighting for senior living
communities?
Lauren Schwade: The biggest misconception is that quality lighting design is not affordable. You often see the same
common lighting designs that would be in a typical apartment, residence, or hotel applied to these environments. But
senior living communities need more than higher illumination
levels geared toward the aging eye. With LED lighting costs
coming in lower and lower by the day, lighting designers
have more options than ever to create a quality lighting design approach that can support the needs of older adults.

Supporting residents' circadian rhythms is important.
What lighting strategies can be used to help support
this?
Schwade: You don't have to have a full tunable lighting approach, which controls a light source's color temperature output, to help balance a person's circadian rhythm. Using warm
white lighting in the evening to balance hormone levels can be
enough when there's daytime natural daylight exposure for the
resident. Communal spaces that don't have a lot of daylight
exposure or that are used for alert daytime activities could
benefit from color tuning based on the time of day, to keep
residents on a normal day/night cycle. Warm lighting with amber tones for nighttime lighting can also help with sundowning.

What design considerations do you need to make
when designing for an aging population?
Michael Martin: Beyond higher illumination levels, designers must also consider contrast, source glare, and horizontal
and vertical illumination to provide visual comfort for those
with vision issues such as macular degeneration, positional
vertigo, or other balance issues who rely on visual cues
to help with orientation. For example, lighting details and
luminaire design should be simplified to reduce luminance
contrast within the visual field. Details such as coves and
architectural feature highlighting, which create line-of-light
and halo effects, should be softened to be a gradual but
distinct gradient. This provides a visually comfortable space
so that individuals can safely navigate it with their heads
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EFAmagazine.com * Fall 2019

What's driving these changes?
Matt Ebejer: Technological advancements with improved
energy efficiency, quality of life of residents, marketability of
sustainability and energy conserving projects, and lifecycle
costs are some of the drivers. Many state utility companies
offer grants for energy-saving ideas, including covering design
costs and helping pay for equipment.

What's on your radar for the next breakthrough in
lighting design?
Martin: Luminaire designs that include nightlights for the residents, in and out of the resident room. Also, more affordable
lighting controls that will allow for voice-activated personal
assistant integration and better dimming strategies will create
opportunities for layers of light or "scenes" that add to the
overall aesthetic appeal of an environment. Small-impact
LED sources are key to helping designers address surface
brightness and balancing lighting without having glaring light
sources. Lighting should be part of the overall architectural
approach and is just as important.-Anne DiNardo, executive
editor

http://www.EFAmagazine.com

Environments for Aging - Fall 2019

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