摘要
INTRODUCTIONSustainability is, as the name implies, a movement to ensure long-term, effi cient utilization of resources. Sustainabilitydoes not imply that resources should be restricted nor that resource utilization should be subsidized. BillMcDonough (McDonough and Braungart 2002) has described sustainability in terms of the three E’s: environment,equity, and economy. In the last quarter century the lighting industry has dramatically improved the energy effi ciency(environment “E”) and life-cycle cost of lighting (economy “E”). Much less attention has been given to the equity “E.”Lighting standards are still set primarily in terms of illuminances (lumens per square meter) and lumens per watt,both of which are based upon the implicit assumption that the value of lighting can be characterized by the lumen.The lumen is, however, unrelated to other non-visual effects of light, such as the circadian system, and is only indirectlyrelated to our perceptual system. In particular, our current architectural practices do not adequately support themost fragile segments of the population. And no matter how much energy is conserved or how much value engineeringis applied, we are not designing or implementing sustainable lighting because we are not supporting many of thepeople in our built environments. In fact, the role of lighting as it affects human perceptual and circadian functionsis almost completely ignored in standards. Arguably, the failure to consider these two human domain functions canbe ignored in many modern applications because of the inherent fl exibility and robustness of the human species. Onesegment of construction where the equity “E” should always be more seriously considered, however, is healthcare applications.These applications contain our most fragile humans, and lighting has been shown, for example, to demonstrablyaffect the lives of seniors and premature infants. But there are no standards to assist architects and engineers insupporting the well-being of these fragile people. To illustrate this assertion, this article focuses on sustainable lightingfor healthcare applications where good lighting in all three human domains, visual, perceptual, and circadian, can bebest documented.
