It is necessary to concern illumination of offices with special pedantry all over the world. After all unlike premises or entertaining institutions they assume not only mass stay of people, but also their intense work for many hours. It is counted up that during the day the employee of office of 10000 times translates a sight from the document on the keyboard or on the computer screen. According to statistics, illiterate "approach" to light can lower labour productivity on 30 %!
So what should be illumination to provide the maximum visual comfort on service?
First of all, it is underlined by the functional. Certainly, fixtures should be entered organically in surrounding conditions, corresponding to style of an interior as a whole. However the main thing in the concept is taken away to such concepts, as light exposure level, a colour rendition, colour temperature, brightness distribution restriction of blinding action. All of them have exact digital "embodiment".
Certainly, taking into account so difficult requirements to create the competent lighting project is possible only to skilled experts. The leading manufacturers well understand a component of systems of illumination, they even let out catalogues of production not for the end user, and counting on the professional-designer who is freely guided in system of rules and specifications.
There are some standards defining rules of illumination of office, including office. It is German DIN, British CIBCE, American IES NA and, at last, Russian SNiP. As for the last it is in many respects obsolete, remaining on a level of development of light engineering of 60-70th years. According to the European standards EN12464-1 of the requirement to systems of office illumination look as follows:
| Type of office area or kind of activity |
Illumination level on a working plane, Lux |
Restriction of blinding action (limiting values), UGR |
The colour rendition (the minimum values), Ra |
| The automated workplaces |
500 |
19 |
80 |
| Trunk-call and a conference hall |
500 |
19 |
80 |
| Receptions |
300 |
22 |
80 |
| Archives |
200 |
25 |
80 |
| Office-work, copy works |
300 |
19 |
80 |
| The letter, reading, data processing |
600 |
19 |
80 |
| Plotting |
750 |
16 |
80 |
Whatever was the interior, its illumination should create softly outlined shades. Otherwise the three-dimensional perception of people and subjects are broken, eyes quickly get tired.
Artificial illumination of office should be approached to the natural as much as possible. One of receptions is to have fixtures numbers on a ceiling in parallel windows (so that the direction of artificial and natural light coincided). At offices where there are coupled desks, except beams going from windows, additional devices (even in the afternoon) are required. They will relieve of the extremely undesirable shades.
So, the question of illumination has no unequivocal decisions. Also has put here not only that light as that has the multiplane characteristics which have received in a modern science exact digital expressions. Office area is the difficult structure, and its components are intended for different kinds of activity so, and should be issued differently.
If depth of a premise of 4-6 m 60-70 % of working hours it is possible to use actively a daylight (certainly, if window apertures wide enough). For an exception of the reflected patches of light fixtures have in two ranks: the first — it is direct along a window, the second — in parallel the first, on distance of two thirds of depth of a room, receiving, as a result, general uniform "flare".
The features at the large office rooms calculated on 10-15 the person where each worker carries out the problem, communicating with colleagues if necessary. In this case the sight line should settle down in parallel a window, and beams — to arrive at the left. As ceiling illumination two-three numbers of the raster fixtures laid in parallel to a window will be pertinent.
It’s applied local illumination to create an individual "adjustment". In this way norms of the general thus decrease on 25 % on domestic or on 50 % on foreign standards.
Screens of monitors of new generation are so perfect that practically do not have catchlight so, and do not tire eyes. Nevertheless, experts recommend for struggle against this undesirable effect as much as possible to use light getting to a working zone not directly, and reflected from walls and a ceiling. Well, if office equipment indoors "not at level" it is not necessary to neglect council. In this case walls, a floor and furniture are shined approximately equal, there are no bright patches of light on screens of computers. However the considerable part of beams is lost already in the course of their hit in a premise. Besides fixtures and a ceiling in installation of the reflected illumination quickly become soiled that in addition reduces its efficiency. And still: at light furnish of walls and the furniture indoors practically does not arise shades and the expressed contrasts that is perceived artificially and tires sight.
Screens of monitors of new generation are so perfect that practically do not have catchlight, and do not tire eyes. Nevertheless, experts recommend for struggle against this undesirable effect as much as possible to use light getting to a working zone not directly, and reflected from walls and a ceiling. Well, if office equipment indoors "not at level" it is not necessary to neglect council. In this case walls, a floor and furniture are shined approximately equal, there are no bright patches of light on screens of computers. However the considerable part of beams is lost already in the course of their hit in a premise. Besides fixtures and a ceiling in installation of the reflected illumination quickly become soiled that in addition reduces its efficiency. Also we should mention that it practically does not arise shades at light furnish of walls and the furniture indoors and the expressed contrasts that is perceived artificially and tires sight.
A bit different requirements are paramount at the equipment of individual offices. Among them: high level of a colour rendition and a competent direction of illumination (presence of modeling effect). Functionality partly concedes to an aesthetics, that is why the universal installations providing different conditions for work, negotiations and rest therefore are expedient. Original fixtures of a diffused light (with usual or compact luminescent lamps) for the general illumination, halogen miniprojectors (spots) for creation of light accents and the fixtures wall or built in a ceiling (with halogen or metal-halide lamps), as though "washing" walls are also pertinent.
The necessary conditions create, varying combinations of fixtures. For example, for it is underlined by the official include only cool luminescent illumination, for the informal choose slightly muffled warm highlighting walls and local illumination, and for solemn illumination "switch on" all sources.
At designing of conference halls priorities give to successfully picked up colour of radiation and the harmonious light environment. There will be to a place a system of the localized general illumination in which all fixtures are concentrated over the central table and presidium. If sessions slides are shown, it is necessary to provide system of smooth adjustment. If in a conference hall there are no windows, for improvement of psychological comfort it is possible to design false, representing wall rectangular fixtures with scatterers from dairy glass.
For office illumination we recommend light-emitting diode office fixture L-OFFICE 25 as alternative to fixtures LVO 4х18 and LPO 4х18 on luminescent lamps.
