Lighting plays a vital role in the way people experience and understand color. Light accentuates textures, colors, and forms of space, helping architecture and design achieve its true purpose. 

But lighting can also affect how we feel. Poor lighting can make objects around us appear bland, making us feel tiresome and bored. On the other hand, good lighting that accurately renders colors can boost our productivity and make us feel excited. 

There are several reasons why lighting affects us, including color quality and a phenomenon called the circadian effect. 

Color Quality 

Color quality has a visceral impact on an occupant, either enhancing or detracting from comfort. The WELL Building Standard indicates that poor color quality can reduce visual acuity and the accurate rendering of illuminated objects. This can result in foods, human skin tones, and plants appearing dull or unsaturated under lights with low-quality metrics. 

One of the most significant places color quality is needed is in offices and workspaces. Poor, harsh lighting can cause headaches leading to discomfort and reduced motivation. In workplaces with poor lighting, individuals may rely on music, games, or social media to stay alert when feeling tired or drowsy. However, appropriate lighting can assist in keeping employees awake and focused.

A common way to measure color quality is the Color Rendering Index: a scale from 0 to 100 percent indicating how accurate a given light source is at rendering color when compared to a reference light source. The higher the CRI, the better the color rendering ability. 

For instance, sunlight has a CRI of 100, while different manufactured lighting will have a value somewhere beneath 100. For example, Signify's AccuRender technology was specifically developed for the purpose of maintaining high color quality. AccuRender has a CRI of ≥ 90.

Tones Affect Wellbeing

Melanopic Daylight Efficacy Ratio (MDER) is a measure that indicates whether the spectrum of a light source has an equal, larger, or smaller melanopsin stimulation compared to standard daylight, which has an MDER value of 1.

Generally, the MDER can be considered as the circadian effect comparison between your artificial light and natural light. The higher the MDER result is, the more circadian effect your light has.

What is the Circadian Effect?

Work efficiency is known to be impacted by the properties of sunlight at different times of the day. People tend to be more productive in the midday and less productive in the early morning and dusk. This daily cycle is called circadian rhythm. To evaluate the circadian effect, you can use a metric called M/P ratio: the higher the M/P ratio is at any given time, the more focus and alertness you can expect to have.

As an example, Signify's AccuRender technology boasts an MDER of up to 0.80, which helps contribute to productivity and improve wellbeing. 

Why Specify Products with High Color Quality?

High color quality is necessary for several industries including healthcare, retail, hospitality, and educational facilities. Accurate color rendering in these places helps occupants feel more comfortable and relaxed, resulting in high-impact actions. 

Products with technology such as Signify’s AccuRender give designers creative freedom without inconsistent light output, wasted energy, high electric bills, and having to sacrifice high efficacy for higher color rendering. Quality color rendering is available in all types of lighting, from downlights to track lighting and decorative lighting.

Choosing lighting with high color quality also directly contributes to the WELL Building Standard. For products that take color rendering to a new level, check out Signify’s Lightolier BIM library to browse the brand's extensive line of Lighting Revit families with AccuRender.