Color Rendering and its Relationship to New Energy-Saving Lighting Solutions

Lorne Whitehead

Professor, University of British Columbia

Lorne Whitehead is the University of British Columbia’s Special Advisor on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Research, and a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Previously he has held the positions of Associate Dean, Dean pro tem, and VP Academic & Provost.  His career has involved sustained innovation in technology, business, and administration. From 1983 to 1993 he served as CEO of TIR Systems, a UBC spin-off company that he founded and which eventually grew to 200 employees prior to being purchased by Philips in 2007. He joined UBC as a faculty member in 1994, and his research focuses on the optical, electrical, and mechanical properties of micro-structured surfaces, a field in which he holds more than 100 patents.  His technology is used in many computer screens and televisions, and he has helped to start six additional companies based on technologies developed in his laboratory.  Dr. Whitehead also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage, based in Vienna.

ABSTRACT

In recent years, considerable technological advances have been made in the lighting industry toward energy-saving lighting solutions, most notably the introduction of lamps using light emitting diode (LED) sources.  Unlike incandescent lamps which intrinsically have excellent color rendering and therefore cause objects to appear the color we generally expect, many new energy-efficient lamps have inadequate color rendering, causing the color of some objects to appear distorted.  Consequently, the introduction of these new sources has required consumers to trade color rendering accuracy for lamp efficiency.  However, recent research has shown that high color rendering accuracy is appropriate and, contrary to a common misconception, does not intrinsically require greater electrical energy consumption.

During this seminar, the speaker will provide an overview of how the human perception of color rendering arises, in terms of the underlying phenomena of light and vision.  Using these concepts, he will then describe the CIE Color Rendering Index (CRI) that is currently used to quantify the color distortion caused by a particular light source, as well as the revised CRI metric under consideration by the CIE to address the limitations of the current widely-used metric.  Lastly, he will describe the relevance of color rendering to newly-introduced LED lighting solutions and describe how they can be used to achieve high color rendering without compromising energy efficiency.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Attendees will be able to describe the concept of color rendering: why color rendering is important, what is being measured by color rendering metrics, and how color rendering influences the design and selection of electric light sources.
• Attendees will be able to analyze data related to color rendering metrics and interpret how these metrics relate to their work as lighting professionals.
• Attendees will be able to identify common areas of misunderstanding related to color rendering and will learn ways to overcome these misunderstandings if they arise in their everyday work.

EVENT SCHEDULE

The Arbutus Club
2001 Nanton Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 4A1 

REGISTRATION
Online registration: iesbc.org/events

Maximum Capacity: 50

Registration will be closed when the maximum capacity is reached.

Please register early to reserve your spot.

QUESTIONS \ COMMENTS

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This Seminar qualifies for 1 LEU through NCQLP and 1 LU through AIA.