Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Lighting for Reading: Designing an LED Luminaire for Homes and Offices
EPA Grant Number: SU834340Title: Lighting for Reading: Designing an LED Luminaire for Homes and Offices
Investigators: Drab, Theodore
Institution: Oklahoma State University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2009 through August 14, 2010
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The research question addressed by each of individuals participating in this project could be stated as follows: How can the potential of solid state technology currently manifested in light emitting diodes (LEDs) be harnessed to help people around the world, promote global prosperity, and contribute to human efforts to save our planet from the negative impacts of climate change. Faculty members focused undergraduate students on these issues in three different courses as the project progressed, dealing with sustainability, commercial interior design, and environmental design (including lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning). The graduate student spearheading the project collected information on the manufacturers currently involved internationally in developing LED lamps (bulbs) and luminaires (fixtures), obtaining product literature and physical samples for demonstration and testing. The graduate student also collected product information and physical samples of materials currently available from international sources that possess potential for fabrication into LED lamp housings and luminaire bodies. Undergraduate students used the collected information as a starting point for their own research into LED technology and sustainable materials, designing and building a task light intended to solve a particular problem associated with reading.
All of the prototypes utilized LED sources, all were constructed of sustainable materials, and all dealt with a basic human need, the requirement of light for reading. While some solutions addressed very specific reading tasks, others were more general in nature. All were intended to have global application. Reaction and evaluation by individuals outside the project team will be collected during a public exhibition of the prototypes on campus in mid April and later at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The rapid development of LED technology appears to mimic that of computer technology, in that new products and applications are being continuously introduced into the marketplace, often rendering earlier introductions obsolete. The development of LED’s since their first use 40 years ago has been increasingly rapid over the past 5 years. Applications that started as signal lights on electronic instruments have been expanded to include widespread use in outdoor signage and display, exploiting the LED’s earlier life as a brilliantly colored rather than white light. As white light in several cool and warm tones has been more recently perfected, LED utilization in interior spaces, both homes and offices, has become feasible. As the color of LED light has been refined to replicate the color range of incandescent and fluorescent light sources, its significantly lower level of energy use has motivated applications that replace these earlier light sources.
Students involved in this project learned of these ongoing developments in classroom presentations, on a field trip to a lighting design office and its LED installations, and in their independent exploration of LED applications. The potential of introducing consumers to LEDs by applying retrofit lamps to existing luminaires in the home or workplace was explored alongside opportunities to exploit the lower voltage requirements of LEDs by using the various types of readily available batteries. Fitting the implementation of this new light source into the lifestyle of people unwilling or unable to change their existing lighting systems was balanced in this project with designs providing innovative solutions to providing illumination for reading.
Some product designs intended for residential use applied the new technology to traditional lighting solutions. These included an LED enhanced lampshade that can be used atop any attractive vase, pedestal, or sculpture to provide both a decorative accent and illumination for reading. Another decorative accessory developed was an arrangement of artificial flowers outfitted with concealed LED lamps. A third design utilizes bamboo and TerraSkin, a new limestone-based paper substitute, to provide a decorative and functional table lamp easily modified to reflect the personality of its owner. Exploiting the relatively small size of LED lamps, other prototypes explored the potential for miniaturization, producing versions of the conventional desk lamp for home or office that would be impossible to produce using current incandescent or fluorescent light sources. Luminaires intended for commercial applications also utilized the LED’s relatively small size in developing an illuminated restaurant menu, a portable X-ray reader suitable for physician/dentist offices, hospital, or emergency field hospital applications. Achieving easy portability due to LEDs’ small size, low voltage requirements, and low weight, other design solutions include a stuffed animal to provide illumination (and companionship) for a child and a pocket-sized lightsource utilizing paper-thin organic LEDs (OLEDs).
Conclusions:
While all of the student designs utilized LED technology and sustainable materials, most solutions related rather narrowly to the demographic makeup of the student designers. Though it is hardly surprising that a relatively small group of 18 young women of similar age coming from middle class homes in Oklahoma and closely neighboring states were unlikely to produce a wide range of design solutions in their first attempt at this sort of assignment, the goal of exploring the full range of possibilities for LED application was not attained. While all of the designs addressed the needs of people, they tended to focus mostly on people like Oklahoma State university interior design majors and their parents and friends. The market audience for most of the designs produced could be characterized as one seeking the latest trend, the newest gadget, the most technologically focused accessory for the contemporary lifestyle. It is, however, likely that the design of products initially focused on a niche market can later develop into solutions applicable to a much wider audience. Just as computer technology was earlier restricted to the use of wealthy corporations and has become more widespread as it has become more affordable, lighting provided by LED technology might have its first application in smaller markets. Its size, low voltage requirements, and simplicity of operation, however, are qualities that give it the potential of global application. LED technology can benefit people around the globe. It can contribute to prosperity in many countries while saving precious resources and demonstrating sustainability.
Supplemental Keywords:
Ecological effects, Heavy metals, life-cycle analysis, sustainable development, clean technologies, innovative technologies, waste reduction, conservationThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.