LED Lighting Sets the New Standard in Healthcare

LED Lighting Sets the
New Standard in Healthcare
Improving Sustainability, Performance, and Patient Wellbeing in
Hospitals with a Simple Switch
CURRENT STATE
OF HEALTHCARE
LIGHTING
For over a century, fluorescent bulbs have been
the groundbreaking technology in lighting. Since
the 1940s, we have been treating patients under
fluorescent lights in our healthcare facilities, worked
under them in offices, exercised under them in
gymnasiums, and educated under them in our
schools. With the advent of the compact fluorescent
bulb, we even brought them into our homes.1
Fluorescent lights are gas-filled tubes with a
coating on the inner surface. Electricity, regulated
by a ballast, ignites a filament and vaporizes small
amounts of mercury within the tube, causing them
to emit ultraviolet (UV) light. The inner surface
coating absorbs the UV light and converts it to
visible light, producing a ‘white-ish’ glow.1
Lighting is a necessity in our lives. Fluorescent
lights have become essential due to the lack of
competitively-priced technology with comparable
light output and efficiency.
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The Hospital Environment
We all use healthcare facilities, and
thankfully, we can always rely on
them to be open and functioning. The
rotation of workers, from cleaning
crews to doctors, run on a 24/7 basis
through these facilities, making
sure hospitals and treatment clinics
are always in working order for our
times of emergency and moments of
healing.
The rate of running a facility on the
scale of a large hospital is astounding.
Electricity, air quality, ventilation and
temperature control all contribute
to the costs of keeping these
buildings operational. Although
healthcare facilities only account for
<1% of all commercial buildings in
the US, they consume 4.3% of the
total delivered energy used by the
commercial sector.2 As hospitals grow
to accommodate more patients, their
costs rise concurrently.
Current Impact of
Fluorescent Lighting
on Patients
Fluorescent tubes create silent
competing elements in hospitals that
are harmful to patients’ health and
wellness both from a physical and
physiological perspective. Fluorescent
tubes contain a mixture of mercury
and other gases, and a broken
fluorescent tube carries the risk of
mercury entering the body through
the lungs (via breathing in the gas)
or the skin (from coming in contact
with mercury residue on the inner
glass surface).3 Mercury is a hazardous
material and in the unforeseen event
that a fluorescent light bulb shatters,
anyone in the vicinity will be exposed
its dangers, making it an instant safety
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hazard in any facility that actively uses
them.
Fluorescent bulbs produce UV light,
which is partially, but not completely,
converted to visible light. UV
radiation, unseen, is emitted from the
fluorescent bulbs and penetrates our
skin and eyes. UV radiation has more
energy than visible light and is able
to degrade many materials, causing
damage to materials such as plastics,
skin tissues, and eye lenses and
retinas. Prolonged exposure can result
in a clouding of the lens, commonly
known as Cataract formation, and is
a contributing factor to Age-related
Macular Degeneration (damage to the
retina) - the leading
cause of blindness.4 Young people are
especially at risk to the hazards of UV
light, as a protective layer of yellow
pigments in the eyes occurs with
age, slowing the amount of radiation
reaching the retina in older adults.5
In addition to invisible UV light, the
visible light emitted by fluorescent
sources consists of three inconsistent
color spikes (magenta, yellow-green,
and orange), with negligible other
colors contributing to the output.6
The human visual system transmits
those light signals to the brain, which
must ‘fill in the gaps’ to process the
picture. Patients being treated in
poor-spectrum fluorescent lighting
environments often do not have the
ideal conditions for proper emotional
and psychological healing due to
these constant flash of color spikes.
In the case of patients with extremely
sensitive vision, particularly in the
scotopic (low-lit) range, low-spectrum
lighting can trigger similar visual
responses. Patients can be subjected
to dizziness, headaches and nausea
caused by the spikes and gaps in
fluorescent light output.7 Patients with
special needs are particularly sensitive
to visual fluctuations. As light flickers
out of the fixture, the bright spikes
and missing gaps from fluorescent
lights appear as a strobe light to them,
which can range from distracting to
painful.13,14 Leading companies in LED
lighting technology are going the
extra mile and spending the extra
dollars on the engineering of their
LED lighting products to omit flicker
altogether.15
Cost Savings and EarthFriendly Behavior
By executing small changes, both in
existing facilities and new building
development, we can effectively create
a sustainable environment, allowing
the healthcare industry to put their
sole focus on caring for patients. These
changes can start with something as
simple as changing the lightbulbs.
Hospitals in the US spend, on average,
$1.67 on electricity per square foot.
Lighting alone accounts for 15% of
a hospital’s electricity budget.8 For
an average sized hospital building
(75,000 square feet) that’s $18,000.00
for lighting alone. For a large hospital
building (650,000 square feet), that’s
$160,000.00 going towards keeping
the lights on.
White LEDs require less energy
to produce more light than other
systems.9 Moreover, high quality LED
lighting products can last at least
5 years at 24/7 hour operation.9 As
the technology improves, so will the
efficiency and lifespan.
Not only do LEDs diminish electricity,
maintenance, and replacement costs,
but the superior quality and efficiency
reflect in a healthier environment.
and an overall lesser impact on the
energy grid- decreasing the need for
fossil fuels.10,11 Furthermore, the light
output of LEDs is the closest spectral
match to sunlight, providing the safest,
whitest, easiest light to see.12
The LED Lighting
Technology Alternative
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are a
cutting-edge solid-state technology
that are predicted by the US Department of Energy to replace almost all
artificial lighting in the United States
by 2030. While the basic technology
has been available for years, recent
developments have driven down cost
and made LEDs more widely-available
to the general public. Available as alternatives to everything from industrial and landscaping feature lighting, to
residential settings, to the ubiquitous
fluorescent tubes in schools and offices, LEDs provide a number of benefits
over their predecessors.
Known primarily for their energy
efficiency, LED bulbs produce more lumens per watt, resulting in less power
needed to produce more light output.
LEDs are also superior when it comes
to quality of light output, as white
tubular LED lamps provide the closest
color match to sunlight (Graph 1), with
no spikes or gaps in color output. And
unlike their fluorescent counterparts,
LEDs are 100% visually efficient; that
is, they only produce radiation in the
visible range, with virtually no harmful
UV or wasted infrared.
Additionally, LED bulbs contain no
mercury or hazardous waste, and are
100% recyclable. High-quality LED
products can last up to 20x longer
than any other artificial light source,
reducing the time, cost, and effort of
maintenance.8 These factors combine
to make LED lights the clear choice
over fluorescents.
Graph 1. 13
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Benefits of LED Lighting for Patients
Good lighting aids treatment in many ways. This is especially important in the case of children and elderly or disabled patients as
well the healthcare providers who are able to see more clearly to provide care.
Physical Utility
The even distribution of colors provided by LED result in more saturated, vivid, discriminable color rendering and effortless visual
acuity. Fully directional down-lighting also provides more illumination on working surfaces, rather than the diffuse glow produced
by the gas-filled fluorescent tubes. The color temperature, color rendering, and efficiency of LED lights combine to improve
visibility to create a better environment as vision is a major contributing factor to an individual’s ability to receive and respond to
treatments.
Cognitive Utility
Not only does LED provide higher quality lighting for patients’ emotional wellbeing, studies have also shown LED lighting can
enhance surgical, procedure and diagnostic settings as well.
Most healthcare providers encourage patients to get a full eight hours of sleep to help their recovery. A healthy sleep/wake cycle
(or Circadian Rhythm) is crucial to mental cognition and physical wellbeing. Our bodies’ roughly 24-hour cycle is governed by
hormonal responses that are triggered by full-spectrum light - light provided by sunlight and LED, but not fluorescent.14
We have all experienced the relief of leaving a fluorescent-lit hospital room and stepping outside back out into the natural
sunlight. The spectral output of fluorescent lights is to blame. In the bleak winter months, many people are diagnosed with
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), while many more self-diagnose their yearly “winter blues.” LED lighting is used in the treatment
of SAD, and also has been shown to improve mood, decrease stress, and create a generally healthier and happier environment –
all because the lighting spectrum mimics that of natural sunlight.15
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Conclusion
LED lighting is the best choice for healthcare facilities that want to foster a safe, healthy, comfortable, and “green” environment for
patients and staff. The benefits range from monetary savings – lessened electricity costs – to increased sustainability, improved
patient health, and ocular safety for all. These lights best eliminate lighting-related competing elements in hospitals that physically
affect the vision while physiologically affecting our ability to give and receive proper treatment. Just like the societal revolution, LEDs
are no longer the future of the lighting industry. They are the present, and should be the source illuminating our healthcare facilities.
Sources:
1. Edison Tech Center. “The Fluorescent Lamp” http://www.edisontechcenter.org/Fluorescent.html.
2. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Energy Characteristics and Energy Consumed in Large Hospital Buildings in the United States in 2007”
http://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/reports/2007/large-hospital.cfm 2012
3. United States Environmental Protection Agency “Health Effects of Mercury Exposure” http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mercury/docs/
HealthEffectsMercury.pdf.
4. Roberts, Joan E. “Ultraviolet Radiation as a Risk Factor for Cataract and Macular Degeneration” Eye & Contact Lens Vol 37 No 4. 2011.
5. Pokorny et al. “Aging of the human lens” Applied Optics Vol 26 No 8. 1987.
6. Ellis et al. “Auto-tuning daylight with LEDs: sustainable lighting for health and wellbeing” Drexel University and Philadelphia University.
7. Irlen Institute. “What is Irlen Syndrome?” http://irlen.com/what-is-irlen-syndrome/.
8. E Source Companies LLC. “Managing Energy Costs in Hospitals” http://www.nationalgridus.com/non_html/shared_energyeff_hospitals.pdf
9. US Department of Energy “Solid-State R&D Plan” May 2015.
10. United States Environmental Protection Agency “Health Effects of Mercury Exposure” http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mercury/docs/
HealthEffectsMercury.pdf
11. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data” http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html
12. Popular Mechanics: The Ultimate Light Bulb Test http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/g164/incandescent-vscompact-fluorescent-vs-led-ultimate-light-bulb-test/
13. Graph 1: Popular Mechanics: The Ultimate Light Bulb Test
14. Lucas, Robert J et al. “Measuring and using light in the melanopsin age” Trends in Neurosciences Vol 37 No 1. 2014.
15. Meesters, Ybe et al. “Low-intensity blue-enriched white light (750 lux) and standard bright light (10000 lux) are equally effective in treating SAD.
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