Can different forms of office lighting affect the performance and well-being of employees?
Set Up: An office was furnished as a typical open plan workplace for nine workers. Two experiments were conducted with six different lighting conditions. Both experiments collected data from temporary office workers, who were hired to work under one of the lighting installations for a complete day. Participants carried out tasks involving many forms of clerical and cognitive office work, evaluations of the physical environment, and assessments of their moods. Key Findings: Lighting designs that provided uplight (indirect lighting) and wallwashing were rated more comfortable by 81 to 85 percent of participants. Designs that provided only downlight (2-by-4 troffers) were rated comfortable by 69 to 71 percent of participants. Indirect lighting, wallwashing and occupant dimming control of the overhead lighting for their workstation was rated most comfortable at 91 percent. The presence of personal control had a measurable impact on the motivation of office workers to perform tasks. It incr
