How to start a healthy lighting campaign

Step 1: Know what you are up against.

There is now substantial scientific evidence that the light you see across the 24-hour day is as important for your health and well-being as the food you eat, the fluids you drink, and the air you breathe.

If you, or your friends and family, have any doubts, take a look at my book THE LIGHT DOCTOR.

It is a wonderful seasonal gift == for those you wish to keep healthy!

Yet over 95% of the lights sold today are static blue-rich LEDs. It is hard to find anything else on store shelves.

Their blue-rich light in the evenings and at night, coupled with insufficient exposure to full spectrum daylight during the morning hours, causes or exacerbates many of the major debilitating diseases of our time, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, and premature death.

It is time that we campaign to get healthy lighting in our lives. But to launch a successful campaign we need to know who and what we are up against.

Why Do We Live Under Such Unhealthy Lighting?

There are multiple forces that underlie the current unhealthy state of artificial lighting

1. Most of the lighting industry exclusively produces and sells static blue-emitting LED lights, even though they have been warned of the potential asbestos-scale liability they could face from the ill-health they can cause.

2. Most people who select and specify lighting are Lighting Designers and Architects who focus on the visual appearance of the lighting, rather than its impact on occupant health and wellness.

3. Most people who buy commercial lighting are facilities managers and building owners who are mostly concerned with minimizing the cost of the lighting installation and getting the electric utility bill as low as possible.

4. Most government regulators at the Department of Energy are so obsessed with increasing lumens per watt. a false measure of energy efficiency, that they have banned low-blue incandescent & halogen lights, and are now seeking to ban most healthy circadian lights.

5. Most of the general public takes lights for granted and is generally unaware of the dangers of using the wrong light at the wrong time.

Campaign for Healthy Lighting

All over the world people are signing up to the Campaign for Healthy Lighting. If you haven’t already done so, we invite you to join us.

Because of the multiple causes for our worldwide epidemic of junk light our campaign has to be multi-faceted and address each of the stakeholders.

1. Lighting Industry

The massive $150 Billion global lighting industry has been driven by consumer demand for lowest price, energy efficiency and aesthetics to the point that static blue-rich LED lighting has become a commodity. Many people in the lighting industry are aware that serious health concerns have been raised about the harmful effects of blue-rich LED lighting in the evenings, but have not yet taken action.

As I warned the lighting industry in LEDs Magazine in 2023¹

Many industries have been confronted with inconvenient truths about newly discovered harmful effects of their products or business practices. How they responded and managed the issue played a large role in determining whether they avoided public relations and market setbacks, cumbersome regulations, or expensive legal judgments. Whether we are discussing the carcinogenicity of flame retardants in fabrics, PFAS chemicals in nonstick Teflon pans, or the ozone layer destruction by the fluorocarbons used as air-conditioner refrigerants, the responses from industry typically can be described in one of three ways:

1. Denial — with or without denigrating those who raise the health concerns.

2. Acknowledge but ignore — stating that the data is inconclusive and needs further research.

3. Accept — and proactively develop a solution or replacement and communicate it effectively.

The first two responses may be reasonable if the data is limited or questionable. However, if pursued too far, such strategies can result in asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations, if the scientific community broadly agrees a health hazard exists but is subsequently ignored.

Ultimately, it is consumer demand from the Buyers of Commercial Lighting or the General Public that will drive the lighting industry to offer healthy lighting products. If manufacturers don’t see a market, they won’t invest in developing healthy lighting.

In the meantime, they must respond to Government regulators who are driving the requirement for maximizing lumens per watt, which disincentivizes healthy lighting.

2. Government Regulators

Government policies addressing climate change and global warming have sought to reduce the energy consumed by residential light bulbs. Unfortunately, they have seized upon lumens per watt to measure “energy efficiency.” This is a false metric. Lumens only measure the brightness of a light source, which is predominately determined by the intensity of green and yellow wavelengths. Any energy used to create the violet, blue, red, or near-infra red-light wavelengths essential for health is treated as wasted energy. So, when lumens per watt minimums were driven up to 45 lumens per watt in 2023, low blue incandescent and halogen lights were effectively banned. And in 2028 the latest regulatory standard of 125 lumens per watt will drive out many other healthy lights.

Reversing government regulations is challenging. Even though the Notice of Final Rulemaking² is riddled with errors and false statements, they can only be changed by political action or by litigation. We are laying the groundwork with a petition to the Department of Energy (DOE) in the USA, and other members of the Campaign for Healthy Lighting are addressing the issue in their own countries.

3. Architects and Lighting Designers

Lighting is typically budgeted at 1% of the cost of a commercial building. Architects and Lighting Designers strive to maximize the aesthetics of lighting installations within the budget that building owners are willing to pay. When cost overruns inevitably occur, it is often the lighting budget that is trimmed.

My colleagues and I have made presentations to many of the leading architectural firm, and have found lighting designers and architects fascinated by the breakthroughs in healthy circadian lighting. But they ultimately work for the buyers, and the budgets of their uneducated buyers too often preclude healthy lighting installations.

4. Buyers of Commercial Lighting

Ultimately, the lighting budget will be determined by how aware the building owner is of the economics of healthy lighting. They need to be educated that healthy lighting, even though it adds to the cost of lighting installations, can provide a marketing advantage and lead to a substantial return on investment in terms of higher rents.

5. Users of Commercial Lighting

They are one of the most important targets. If you can explain the benefits of healthy lighting to employers in terms of creating a healthier high-performance workplace, with improved employee morale, reduced errors and accidents, reduced sickness absenteeism. and reduced employee turnover you can make a strong case for healthy lighting.

We were able to introduce circadian dynamic lighting with zero/low blue nocturnal light and blue-rich daytime light into over 65 Fortune 500 companies in North America and Europe by educating managers who were responsible for workforce operation, health, and safety. The key was to arm them with precise lighting specifications that guarantee the building owner or facilities manager orders evidence-based circadian lighting.

6. General Public

The easiest place to start is with the health-conscious segment of the general public. Huge consumer investments are made in nutrition, diets, sleep aids, and exercise equipment, but these consumers need to know that the most important purchase for a healthy lifespan may be getting the right lighting.

My book THE LIGHT DOCTOR is aimed at this audience, and I am a guest on a lot of podcasts in the USA and internationally to help spread the message.

To achieve a breakthrough on this vital topic, I suspect we will need a documentary on a major streaming channel or broadcast network. Please let me know if any of my readers have contacts who could help make this happen.

1. https://www.ledsmagazine.com/lighting-health-wellbeing/article/14291387/industry-insights-industry-has-what-it-takes-to-standardize-circadian-lighting-approach

2. Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 77 / Friday, April 19, 2024 / Rules and Regulations pages 28856-28965)