New technologies and innovative thinking
The benefits of healthy lighting in a healthcare facility are numerous and significant. They include:
- More satisfied employees, patients and guests
- Less eyestrain and headaches for users
- A more pleasing and adaptable environment
- Reduced maintenance costs
- Lower energy consumption
- A more sustainable facility
By integrating new technologies with innovative thinking, lighting can help achieve new standards for ambiance, comfort, efficiency, and sustainability all positively contributing to a healthcare facility's bottom line.
Psychological and physiological affects
People are positively affected by lighting that is in sync with their moods, physical condition and what they are trying to accomplish. For example lighting can:
Improve productivity, recuperation and comfort. Good quality lighting strategies manage the colour, clarity and contrast of lighting in a space. By incorporating a high Colour Rendering Index (CRI), luminaires that provide visual comfort (high VCP) and a strategic lighting design with layers of lighting, you can create a vibrant, appealing and comfortable space.
Reduce eyestrain and headaches. Using high frequency electronic ballasts and high quality lamps with effective luminaire optics minimize eyestrain and headaches. Reducing flicker rates will prolong the lamps, while being virtually untraceable to the human eye. Low mercury lamps with high CRI, accompanied by well-shielded luminaires can significantly reduce these common complaints from building occupants. Furthermore, studies show that worker concentration and effectiveness are improved with appropriate lighting.
Source: Workstation Design for Organizational Productivity, National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.
Improve Human Energy Levels. Using a dynamic and responsive lighting strategy appropriately shifts light colour temperatures throughout the day. Energy levels are maintained and positive moods are encouraged.
Optimize various tasks within a space. Healthcare facilitators have a wide range of varying tasks. They require indirect lighting at an ambient level to provide comfort to patients; they need task lighting for chart reading; and they require higher levels of light for physical examination. The key to optimizing lighting in a healthcare facility is to provide flexibility through different lighting systems and light controls.
From efficiency, to utilization, to user-friendliness
Technology and research have encouraged and facilitated a paradigm shift in the design of modern healthcare facilities:
Getting away from the institutional look. Lighting is an efficient way to add warmth and style to a space creating a more calm and relaxed atmosphere. The traditional cold, institutional look is unnecessary, inappropriate and inefficient.
Providing more comfort and safety. Using different lighting strategies to provide layers of light within a space provides comfort for social and everyday use, while achieving appropriate light levels for examination, circulation (safety) and cleaning.
Giving users control. People appreciate lighting controls, and those controls make spaces more efficient. For example, in an oncology room a control device that allows technicians to adjust light levels remotely means that the patient is not left alone nor is the therapist taken away from administering treatment.
Optimal lighting levels for the lowest energy investment
All building construction today is experiencing a dramatic shift in thinking--from short term budgets to long-term sustainability and total cost of ownership. Nowhere is that change more evident and in focus than in lighting, where the following efficiency and environmental factors are a priority:
Energy-saving strategies. Lighting consumes more electricity in the average healthcare facility than any other electrical function. Using a dimensional lighting design that incorporates controls and task specific lighting will save energy and ultimately be healthy for the budget and the environment. For example, consider installing motion sensors in bathrooms, janitor's closets and private offices. This is one of many Canlyte suggestions that can contribute to your bottom line.
Lowering maintenance costs. Difficult and frequent maintenance can result in long labour hours, disruptions and downtime. To ensure maximum accessibility (to accommodate more people and generate more income for the facility), specifiers are looking more closely at the longevity of the lighting products they specify. For instance using long-life Solid-State Lighting Solutions (LEDs) in a cove lighting application in corridors can lower a facility's heavy maintenance costs.
Reducing raw material consumption. Lighting systems today do more with less; they consume fewer raw materials and require fewer luminaires for a given light output. Longer life means less waste for landfills and newer technologies have dramatically reduced the use of hazardous materials such as mercury.
Considering the total cost of ownership. In the grand scheme, a sophisticated lighting specification for any build or renovation is not a significant cost considering the proven benefits it can deliver.
The Canadian lighting leader
Our knowledgeable sales staff can help answer any questions you may have and can provide access to Healthcare Lighting Solutions specialists to further assist you with any corporate healthcare lighting needs.
Our people are active members in every significant organization and governing body concerning lighting. Our Lighting Concept Centre is known nationwide as a resource for lighting designers and engineers looking for better lighting solutions.
With the recent purchase of Canlyte by Philips, the largest global lighting company and the leading healthcare equipment provider, we can combine our strengths and expertise to develop the best application-specific solutions for a healthcare facility. This means tailored systems offering new standards of performance, comfort, efficiency and choice to match a variety of tasks within a healthcare space:
- Lighting Control
- Colour shifting, dimmable fluorescents
- Solid-state LED lighting solutions with RGB capability (ability to change colour)
- A complete range of products and configurations for a "full package" solution for each specific healthcare application
- A team of qualified, experienced specialists
We have an optimal understanding of the dynamic needs of a healthcare facility: neo natal, operation, imaging, patient rooms, obstetrics, dialysis, autopsy, waiting rooms, pharmacy and cafeteria... just to name a few.
Our goals and yours have a lot in common
By taking the time to understand the needs of the healthcare community and committing our innovation, knowledge and resources to satisfy those needs, we believe we are the ideal partner to help you develop the lighting specification for your next facility build or renovation. If you would like further details on our products and services, please visit www.canlyte.com. But most of all, we urge you to call with your questions, challenges and concerns. We are here to help you specify healthy lighting for your next project.