Member to member

From Jennifer Veitch, recent research in lighting at National Research Council of Canada

One recent project was a literature review and research agenda concerning the effects of daylght and view through residential windows. Here is its abstract:

A 2004 report from the International Commission on Illumination introduced the concept of a necessary daily light dose that contemporary life in industrialized countries does not deliver, but to which better use of architectural daylighting could make a valuable contribution. Nearly a decade has passed since the last substantive reviews of the health and well-being effects of daylight and windows, making it time for a renewed examination of the literature. Moreover, there has been scant attention paid to the role of daylight in residential buildings, which is the focus here. This review identified three broad processes through which residential windows and skylights can affect people in their homes, for good and ill: visual processes, acting primarily through light detected at the retina by rods and cones; non-visual ocular processes, acting primarily through light detected at the retina by intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells; and processes occurring in the skin. This qualitative review revealed that there is no shortage of research questions facing photobiologists, psychologists, architects, lighting designers and others in the broad lighting community, whether their interests are general or specific to daylighting for residences. The report includes a detailed research agenda aimed at furthering the use of daylighting and windows in the service of human well-being.

You can read a short summary of this work (written for construction industry professionals) in my organization’s quarterly newsletter, or you can download the full report (PDF, 1.17MB).

On Thursday, December 6, I will present a one-hour webinar about this work, primarily aimed at the lighting and architectural professions. The free webinar is offered through the OSRAM Specifiers series. If you wish to join in, you must register.

From Thomas Doherty, President-Elect, Division 34

I am soliciting interest in participating for Division 34 Committees for 2013-2014. Identifying members and Chairs-Elect now will give newcomers a chance to observe current activities and have a more efficient transition. I have spoken to several members individually and would like to make sure I am capturing all those who are interested. There are some standing committees that need members or chairpersons, including the Election, Membership, Conference Program, Student, and Fellows Committees. For my presidential year, I am also interested in provisional committees or task forces looking at social media and marketing, and at creating a Division 34 liaison to the APA corporate sustainability office.

I am also in interested in locating a member who can contribute graphic design expertise for the 2014 Call for Papers and for other Division 34 projects.

All committees are open to students. The best candidates will be creative self-starters who can independently move projects along and maintain good, collegial communication.

Best Regards, Thomas