JUSTIFY YOUR INSTALLATION

Oct 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Shad Arnold, LC.

           

Once the decision has been made to install a lighting system, luminaire types, locations and controls must be determined. Controls include motion sensors, time clocks, photo-sensors and dimming devices. A professional lighting designer should be invited to make these selections, based upon the defined needs of the client and the space. It is important to maintain a firm approach to site integration, whereby all of the needs of the facility are addressed. Personal safety and protection against property loss are only a part of the total site picture.

Site integration in the lighting design process recognizes the importance of security, while addressing other issues such as aesthetics, visual effect, light pollution, light trespass, lamp type and illumination values. Aesthetic components may include the differences between a standard “wall-pack” luminaire and a decorative fixture; or be as subtle as the choice between a pathway light and a landscape bollard.

Locations for a security lighting installation vary widely from project to project, however the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), in its 9th Edition of the Lighting Handbook, has outlined four basic security lighting applications:

• for controlled sites, where there are other defenses including access control;

• for public spaces (such as parking lots) where people may be present at any time, and where there are few or no access controls;

• for single-family homes; and

• for multi-family residences, where each dwelling unit is a private area with few physical defenses and where “common areas” exist.

Within these parameters, a security lighting system should concentrate on the areas frequently traveled — such as public spaces, and common corridors — while addressing the need for lighting in controlled areas, and emergency access zones.

The ability of the system to secure an environment is also based on lamp selection. Specific data related to the defined characteristics of light sources is in most manufacturers' publications. Lighting for Exterior Environments, for example, looks at differences between common lamp types. Understanding the differences is a key component to the overall success of a system, as well as proper site integration.

Mr. Arnold is a lighting designer for Bruck Lighting Systems, Costa Mesa, Calif.

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