Measuring Light

L
Leve
els
To design for visual comfo
ort, you need to
o know how to measure
e light. The
T
me
easureme
ent and perception of lig
ght can be
b an in--depth to
opic, and
d effectivvely
ana
alyzing d
daylight requires
r
being precise wiith the te
erms and
d metricss used.
Jum
mp down to
o...
- Ba
asic Metriccs
- Lu
uminous Flux & Inten
nsity = light from a so
ource
- Illuminance = light falling on a su
urface
- Co
omfortable
e Illuminatiion Levels
- Lu
uminance = light refle
ected by a surface
- Otther Meassures
- Da
aylight Facctor
- Da
aylight Auttonomy
- Usseful Daylig
ght Illumin
nance

Bassic Metrics
The
e "brightne
ess" of light can mean differentt things: fo
or example, the amou
unt of lightt coming from
f
a lig
ght source is luminou
us flux (lum
mens), the amount off light fallin
ng on a surface is illu
uminance (lux),
(
and
d the amou
unt of lightt reflected off a surfacce is lumin
nance (cd/m
m2).
The
ese quantitties are diffferent beca
ause the fa
arther a surface is fro
om a light source
s
the
e less light that
fallss on the surface, and
d the darkker a surfacce is, the less
l
incide
ent light it reflects. This
T
is beca
ause
ligh
ht follows the inversse-square law. For example,
e
a point sou
urce like a candle that causess an
illum
minance of 1 lux on an object one mete
er away wo
ould cause
e an illumin
nation of 1/4
1 lux on the
sam
me object tw
wo meterss away, or 1/9
1 lux on the object when it is 3 meters away.
a

Being prrecise abou

ut metrics for
f lighting and daylig
ghting is im
mportant.

Luminous Flux and Intensity = Light Coming from a Source

The amount of light being given off by a particular source, in all directions, is called luminous flux
(or luminous power) and is a measure of the total perceived power of light. It is measured in
lumens. Lumens are a useful metric for comparing how bright a light source is (i.e. a 60W
incandescent bulb is about 850 lumens see Electric Light Sources for more about lighting
efficiency).
The human eye perceives light within the visible spectrum between wavelengths of about 390
nm (violet) and 700 nm (red). Humans perceive some wavelengths of light more strongly, and
luminous flux is scaled to reflect this (using the luminosity function). Radiant flux is a related
measure that quantifies the total power of the electromagnetic radiation from a source (not just
visible light also infrared and ultraviolet), and is measured in watts.
The amount of light that travels in certain directions from the source is called the "luminous
intensity" and is measured in candelas. A candle emits about one candela in all directions (this
candle would emit a total of 12.6 lumens learn more about lumens, solid angles, and candelas on
Wikipedia).
When modeling lighting and daylighting, these properties are coded into the light sources your
model uses whether its the sun (and the assumed sky conditions), or the light bulbs and fixtures
used.
Illuminance = Light Falling on a Surface
The amount of light falling on a surface is "illuminance", and is measured in lux (metric unit =
lumen/m2) or foot-candles (English unit = lumen/ft2). 1 footcandle equals 10.8 lux. This is the
measurement youll work with the most for optimizing visual comfort because building regulations
and standards use illuminance to specify the minimum light levels for specific tasks and
environments.
This value does not depend on the material properties of the surface being illuminated. However,
since the amount of light the surface sees depends on how much is being reflected from other
surfaces around it, it does depend on the color and reflectance of the surfaces that surround it.
The brightness of the sky is often given using illuminance values measured on an unobstructed
horizontal plane. Some common illumination levels are in the table below, from The Engineering
Toolbox:
Condition

Illumination
(ftcd)

Full Daylight

(lux)
1,000

10,752

Overcast Day

100

1,075

Very Dark Day

10

107

10.8

0.1

1.08

0.01

0.108

0.001

0.0108

0.0001

0.0011

Twilight
Deep Twilight
Full Moon
Quarter Moon
Starlight

Comfortable Illumination Levels

The values above represent the total illumination available from the sky. As a designer, your job is
to make sure that the occupants of your building have the right level of light for their activity, and
try to get as much of that light as possible from natural light. These levels are usually measured on
a working surface in the building.
Areas can be too dim or too bright, and these levels depend on the task. The brightness required
to make jewelry or assemble electronic components is far greater than the brightness required to
safely walk to a room's exit. The following is a table of commonly recommended light levels for
different activities. To design for the activities in your program, see local codes or green building
certification standards.
Standard
Maintained
Illuminance (lux)

Footcandles

50

Characteristics of Activity

Representative Activity

Interiors rarely used for visual tasks (no

perception of detail)

Cable tunnels, nighttime

sidewalk, parking lots

100 - 150

10-15

Interiors with minimal demand for visual

acuity (limited perception of detail)

Corridors, changing rooms,

loading bay

200

20

Interiors with low demand for visual

acuity (some perception of detail)

Foyers and entrances,

dining rooms, warehouses,
restrooms

300

30

Interior with some demand for visual

acuity (frequently occupied spaces)

Libraries, sports and

assembly halls, teaching
spaces, lecture theaters

500

50

Interior with moderate demand for visual

acuity (some low contrast, color judgment
tasks)

Computer work, reading &

writing, general offices,
retail shops, kitchens

750

75

Interior with demand for good visual

acuity (good color judgment, inviting interior)

Drawing offices, chain

stores, general electronics
work

1000

100

Interior with demand for superior visual

acuity
(accurate color judgment & low contrast)

Detailed electronics
assembly, drafting, cabinet
making, supermarkets

1500 -2000+

150200+

Interior with demand for maximum visual

acuity (low contrast, optical aids & local
lighting will be of advantage)

Hand tailoring, precision

assembly, detailed drafting,
assembly of minute
mechanisms

Recommended illuminance levels for different tasks.

For more information on recommended levels from the Illuminating Engineering Society see here.

Measuring Illluminancce in Softw

ware
Witth various a
available lighting ana
alysis softw
ware, you ccan see the
e actual value of usefful light falling
on critical surrfaces like desks, wallls and walking surfa
aces. Depending on the
t levels of illumina
ance
required for a particular use or acctivity, you
u can use tthese quan
ntitative re
enderings to
t understtand
whe
ether the space is use
eful or if th
he design needs
n
more
e attention
n.

(Left)) Illuminance rend

dering - Daylighting
g only. (Right) Illum
minance rendering
g - Electric lighting
g only.

In daylighting
d
g analysis, you
y often want to map
m illumin
nation overr the space
e to see ho
ow light fallsoff as you ge
et farther from
f
windo
ows and other
o
light sources. The imagess below sho
ow a graph of
worrk surface illuminancce levels ch
harted ove
er a sectional visual rendering.. These gra
aphics help
p to
sho
ow whetherr work surffaces are achieving
a
a
adequate
lighting levvels as wells as helpin
ng to visua
alize
the contributing light so
ources.

Illuminance values on the workplan

ne of a classroom.
Values fro
om Radiance plotteed on an analysis grid
g within Autodeesk Ecotect.
See Anderson
A
Anderso
on Net Zero Energyy Classroom case study.
s

Illuminance valuess plotted on a crosss-section of the working

w
surface witthin an office spacee,
during the
t day and during
g the night. Imagee from Loisos + Ub
bbelohde.

Lum
minance = Light Refle
ected by a Surface
Lum
minance is the light re
eflected offf of surface
es and measured in candelas
c
p square meter
per
(cd//m2), or Nits (in impe
erial units)..
Lum
minance is what we perceive
p
wh
hen lookin
ng at a scene, or whe
en using a camera. Th
he quality and
inte
ensity of th
he light tha
at reaches our eye does
d
depen
nd on the material
m
prroperties of
o the surfa
aces
(collor, reflecta
ance, textu
ure).
Lum
minance va
alues are often used to study th
he visual quality
q
of a space. Vissual softwa
are renderings
(i.e. 3ds Max) are based on this an
nd can give
e designerss a very go
ood idea off how the space
s
will look
l
based on their choices of
o light sou
urces and materials.
m
While luminan
nce is really useful fo
or understa
anding qua
alitative me
easures of the success of a dessign,
it iss not a goo
od measurre of light quantity. Because
B
the human eye
e can ad
djust for a huge range of
illum
mination le
evels over 3-4 orderss of magnitude, from
m bright da
aylight in the
t 10s off thousand
ds of
lux (1000s off fc), to me
ere 10s of lux (single
e-digit fc), a visual re
endering of
o a bright and a not-sobrig
ght space are
a difficult to measu
ure. Can yo
ou tell by looking at the visual rendering
gs that there is
ove
er 100 time
es more light intensityy on the wall
w in the d
day image than in the
e night ima
age?

(Left) Visual Rendering - Daytime. (Right) Viisual Rendering - Nighttime.

N

Lum
minance re
enderings are
a useful for undersstanding qualities
q
likke light disstribution and
a
glare, but
not for underrstanding if
i the spacce has eno
ough light for its inte
ended use.Glare is determined
d
d by
com
mparing the extremess of lumina
ance value
es that an occupants
o
s eye will se
ee from a given vanttage
point.

Mea
asures Use
ed in Daylig
ghting Dessign
Based on these measurres, lighting
g designerrs use som
me addition
nal metrics like daylig
ght factor and
dayylight autonomy to help
h
them optimize and
a
comm
municate th
he quantityy and quality of daylight
with
hin a space
e. This is im
mportant because
b
th
he availability of dayylight can change
c
a lot through
hout
the day based
d on sky co
onditions.
Day
ylight Facto
or
The
e actual illu
uminance levels in a space from
m daylighting can varry greatly a due to th
he cloud co
over
and
d position o
of the sun. To deal with
w these highly
h
varia
able sky co
onditions, some
s
build
ding codes and
dessign briefs use daylig
ght factors as the design
d
criteria instea
ad of illum
minance on
n the working
plan
ne.
Dayylight facto
ors are exxpressed as
a the percentage of naturall light falling on a work surface
com
mpared to that which
h would ha
ave fallen on
o a completely unobstructed horizontal surface un
nder
sam
me sky con
nditions. The daylig
ght factor is analyzed at a point,
p
but these values are often
o
averaged acro
oss an entire room orr visualized
d on a grid.
A daylight
d
factor of 5%
% on an in
nternal surrface mean
ns that it received 1/20th
1
of the maxim
mum
available natu
ural light.

Daylight factors calculated

c
and visualized in Ecotect

For reference
e, a room that has a DF of le
ess than 2% is conssidered poorly lit. Ro
ooms with
h DF
betw
ween 2% a
and 5% are
e considere
ed ideal for activities that comm
monly occu
ur indoors.. With daylight
facttors of mo
ore than 5%
%, it is important to
o take into
o account thermal
t
re
equirementts (see hum
man
thermal comffort) becau
use large areas of glazing
g
can
n result in
n heat losss during th
he winter and
ove
erheating in
n the summ
mer.
Dayylight facto
ors are ge
enerally calculated using a standard ove
ercast sky in order to
t represent a
worrst-case scenario to be
b designe
ed for (see
e Sky Cond
ditions, abo
ove). The distribution
d
n of light in
n an
ove
ercast sky d
dome is asssumed to consist off uniform horizontal
h
bands thatt get brigh
hter at the top
(or higher solar altitude)). Due to this uniform
m sky, and the fact th
hat the dayylight facto
or is calcula
ated
as a percenta
age, the on
nly parame
eters that affect dayylight facto
ors are the
e geometryy of the ro
oom
dessign and th
he materials it is made
e of. It won
nt depend
d on buildin
ng orientattion or loca
ation.

Day
ylight Autonomy (DA)) and Usefful Daylightt Illuminan
nces (UDI)
Day
ylight Auttonomy (D
DA) is the percentag
ge of workking hourss when lighting need
ds are mett by
dayylight alone
e. It is mea
asured by comparing
c
g daylight illuminance on a workplane to the minim
mum
requirement o
over time. This is a very
v
popula
ar metric and
a can tell you how
w often ligh
hts need to
o be
on to
t meet sp
pecific illum
mination re
equirementts.
Use
eful Daylig
ght Illumiinances (U
UDI) also measures
m
a percenta
age of tim
me that a space
s
rece
eives
ade
equate dayylight, but it also qu
uantifies when the lig
ght levels are too high and to
oo low. UD
DI is
based on three standard bins (w
which broadly line-up
p with com
mfortable illuminatio
on levels cited
c
abo
ove).
Less than 1
100lux is in
nsufficient daylight
Between 1
100 lux and
d 2000 lux is useful da
aylight
More than
n 2000 lux is
i too mucch daylight and can re
esult in visual and the
ermal disco
omfort

UDI measured at differrent workspaces within

w
an office buiilding.
Image from
f
Loisos + Ubb
belohde.