Ergonomics in the Real World

System Concepts was commissioned by the Lighting Division of the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to carry out research into the ergonomic issues involved in the use of automated lighting control systems in a range of buildings (all types of building except offices, museums and galleries). BRE wanted to ensure that the energy savings which can be achieved by such lighting control systems are maintained and enhanced. They believe that this process is helped by paying close attention to how the lighting control systems are actually used in practice: that is, by investigating the ergonomic issues associated with the use of such systems.

We investigated a sample of approximately 25 sites, constructing the sample in order that different types of automatic lighting control systems were investigated, in different types of building including:

• Industrial buildings
• Retail installations
• Multi-residential installations
• Public buildings
• Hotels, pubs and restaurants

During our visits to each site, we carried out four main activities, including:

• Talking to the person who has responsibility for the automatic lighting system itself;
• Examining the user interface to the lighting control system;
• Taking some independent measurements of artificial lighting levels and the amount of daylight;
• Talking to some of the people at each site who represent the final "consumers" of the lighting system to discover their impressions of the key features and strengths of the control systems in their areas.

We prepared a concise report on each site that we visited. A final report summarising all the sites was submitted to BRE and the material collected will be aggregated and published in the form of a BRE Information Paper.

This work will help lighting specifiers, developers and building/facilities managers to ensure energy is saved through appropriate and effective use of lighting controls.

Tanya Heasman