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We’ve spent the last decade thinking of Circadian Lighting (and its now-discredited predecessor, Human Centric Lighting) as primarily a daytime intervention. After all, blue-rich light is a wake-up call and for all those dozers making their way to their workplaces, what could be better than to increase productivity on behalf of the businesses that we were asking to invest in the technology?
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Happily, the research scientists have kept on at their task of trying to work out just what it is that’s going on with us and natural light (and dark), so the crude caricature of what blue-rich light is all about has been refined and we’re gaining a more holistic understanding of how the circadian cycle works – and there’s more to it than a blast of daylight in the mornings.
I once asked one of the early champions of circadian (HCL) lighting what we should be doing at the end of the day. The answer, from a manufacturer of office lighting fixtures, was ‘that’s not our problem’. Hmmm. Well, that was then and this is now. Because if we follow the science we are obliged to accept that late night illumination is indeed ‘our problem’. Circadian lighting is a 24-hour exercise and if your lighting system doesn’t do that then you’re not offering circadian lighting.
To add grist to this mill, its becoming even more apparent that the extent to which we feel bright and fresh in the mornings has a lot to do with how we prepare ourselves for a good night’s sleep. Who knew?
I asked Sleep Mentor, Melanie Lovatt of Headrest, to explain what we need to do to get a good night’s sleep – and a good day’s work.
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Circadian PLUS
Which brings me to the title of this article – Circadian PLUS; because there’s a lot more going on even beyond the sleep-wake cycle that Melanie has been talking about.
On October 15th 2024 Shelley James and I are co-curating a one-day symposium that will look at where we go next with Circadian lighting – and we’re calling it Circadian PLUS.
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Speakers include:
- Deborah Burnett, Benya Burnett
- James Benya, Benya Burnett
- Colin Ball, BDP
- Dr Shelley James, Age of Light Innovations
- and other industry professionals and research scientists!
Supporting manufacturers:
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