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The main reason why offices have gotten dimmer is that energy conservation codes limit the amount of power you can use for lighting. Most office type spaces are

by imgabe 7y ago

The main reason why offices have gotten dimmer is that energy conservation codes limit the amount of power you can use for lighting. Most office type spaces are only allowed 0.9 - 1.1 watts per square foot compared to 3 watts per square foot in the past. Part of that reduction is also that lights are vastly more efficient, but designers are also incentivized to use as little lighting power as possible. Lighting power is also tradeable among spaces. If you want to use some extra light for a fancy lobby space, you can make the office areas dimmer as long as you still come under the allowed total overall. Energy codes are in general a good thing, but there are some tradeoffs and unintended consequences.

RandomBacon 7y ago
I would be looking at the regs to see how the spaces are measured and see if I could create 1" high ceilings for some spaces that are pitch black (and stack those spaces) so that I could use more lighting elsewhere.
- imgabe 7y ago
  It doesn't work that way, you can't just define arbitrary spaces. They have to be actual habitable rooms, which means a minumum ceiling height if 6.5-7' in every jurisdiction I know of.
Dylan16807 7y ago
> 0.9 - 1.1 watts per square foot So with LEDs, one and a half 60 watt equivalents per square meter? That's pretty bright. If I'm doing my math right that's enough for 1000 lux.
- imgabe 7y ago
  I'm not sure how you're calculating that, but if you're just looking at the lumen output of the bulb, the lighting level is measured at the work surface. In an office, that's at 3' off the floor and the light is at the ceiling which is at 8'-10'. Lighting intensity decreases with the square of distance, so if you have 1000 lux right next to the bulb, you're going to have considerably less 5' - 7' away. Add to that that those aren't the kinds of fixtures that are used in offices. People don't want to look at bare bulbs (and they also create glare) so most lights have some sort of lens that is going to reduce the light output somewhat. The target lighting level for offices is 30 footcandles or about 322 lux. Even 1000 lux is nowhere close to being outside on a sunny day which is more like 100,000 lux.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    > Lighting intensity decreases with the square of distance, so if you have 1000 lux right next to the bulb, you're going to have considerably less 5' - 7' away. But you're in the range of square-of-distance bulbs. An array of lights on a ceiling gives approximately the same lighting as if you had a uniformly glowing ceiling and all the light went exactly down. You'd be outputting a good amount more than 1000 lumens per square meter of ceiling. Most of that hits the work surface of the same size, so you get 1000 lumens per square meter, which is 1000 lux. > some sort of lens that is going to reduce the light output somewhat A lens shouldn't reduce it by much if it's doing its job. > Even 1000 lux is nowhere close to being outside on a sunny day which is more like 100,000 lux. Yeah but it's a lot more than 300! If there's a problem it's probably not caused by energy rules.

by imgabe 7y ago

RandomBacon 7y ago

I would be looking at the regs to see how the spaces are measured and see if I could create 1" high ceilings for some spaces that are pitch black (and stack those spaces) so that I could use more lighting elsewhere.

imgabe 7y ago
It doesn't work that way, you can't just define arbitrary spaces. They have to be actual habitable rooms, which means a minumum ceiling height if 6.5-7' in every jurisdiction I know of.

Dylan16807 7y ago

> 0.9 - 1.1 watts per square foot So with LEDs, one and a half 60 watt equivalents per square meter? That's pretty bright. If I'm doing my math right that's enough for 1000 lux.

imgabe 7y ago
I'm not sure how you're calculating that, but if you're just looking at the lumen output of the bulb, the lighting level is measured at the work surface. In an office, that's at 3' off the floor and the light is at the ceiling which is at 8'-10'. Lighting intensity decreases with the square of distance, so if you have 1000 lux right next to the bulb, you're going to have considerably less 5' - 7' away. Add to that that those aren't the kinds of fixtures that are used in offices. People don't want to look at bare bulbs (and they also create glare) so most lights have some sort of lens that is going to reduce the light output somewhat. The target lighting level for offices is 30 footcandles or about 322 lux. Even 1000 lux is nowhere close to being outside on a sunny day which is more like 100,000 lux.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  > Lighting intensity decreases with the square of distance, so if you have 1000 lux right next to the bulb, you're going to have considerably less 5' - 7' away. But you're in the range of square-of-distance bulbs. An array of lights on a ceiling gives approximately the same lighting as if you had a uniformly glowing ceiling and all the light went exactly down. You'd be outputting a good amount more than 1000 lumens per square meter of ceiling. Most of that hits the work surface of the same size, so you get 1000 lumens per square meter, which is 1000 lux. > some sort of lens that is going to reduce the light output somewhat A lens shouldn't reduce it by much if it's doing its job. > Even 1000 lux is nowhere close to being outside on a sunny day which is more like 100,000 lux. Yeah but it's a lot more than 300! If there's a problem it's probably not caused by energy rules.