Impacts of Dynamic LED Lighting on the Well-Being and Experience of Office Occupants

As a critical factor in the built environment, lighting presents considerable influence on occupants. Previous research across static lighting conditions has found that both illuminance and correlated color temperature (CCT) affect occupants’ physiological and psychological functioning. However, little research has been conducted on the non-visual impacts of dynamic lighting with daily variation in illuminance and CCT levels. The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact of dynamic lighting on office occupants’ health, well-being and experience at a living lab. Fifteen participants were recruited to work in three office modules for four months. Four lighting conditions were designed and implemented in this study, including two static lighting conditions and two dynamic lighting conditions with a specific predefined control scheme. A prototype lighting system with enhanced control capabilities was configured and implemented to ensure the desired lighting environment protocol. Both objective methods and subjective surveys were used to assess the behavioral and physiological outcomes of interest, including mental stress, sleep, productivity, satisfaction, mood, visual comfort and perceived naturalness. The results showed that the daytime behavioral impacts were either positive or mixed. Specifically, a significant alertness increase was observed in the afternoon, indicating a potential solution to reduce the natural feelings of sleepiness during the workday. There was also a marginal benefit for mood. The nighttime impacts include a significant decrease in perceived sleep quality and sleep time after subjects were exposed to dynamic lighting. No significant differences were observed for mental stress, productivity, visual comfort, or perceived naturalness. The findings present additional insights into the non-visual impacts of dynamic lighting and give recommendations for further investigations.