Reduce Light Levels
You can often reduce light levels without reducing light quality by the following procedure:
- Redesign visual tasks. For example, begin using a better printer with darker lettering, or install light filtering shades to reduce glare.
- Reduce light levels where there are no visual tasks. Provide minimum light necessary for safety, security, and aesthetics.
- Reduce light levels for visual tasks where those levels are currently excessive.
If you want to cut lighting energy consumption, while enhancing light quality, consider the following:
- Paint and decorate using light colors.
- Establish ambient illumination at minimum acceptable levels.
- Provide task lighting at optimal level, depending on the difficulty of visual tasks-for example, sewing requires more light than cooking.
- Replace lamps, ballasts, and fixtures with more efficient models.
- Buy and use CFLs.
- Improve light quality by reducing glare and brightness contrast.
- Use daylight.