Electrical lighting in open-plan offices. A laboratory study and simulations on lighting preferences and enegy use.

Sammanfattning: The need for energy use reduction raises the question of electrical lighting use especially in the non-residential sector. Office spaces are particularly sensitive in this area, as lighting is quite essential, and connected to satisfaction, mood and performance. Literature suggests a wide variety of preferred conditions, although most of the studies refer to older ways of working. This thesis explored the lighting conditions’ preferences through a laboratory study, by exploring the switch-on probability of task light when working in low illuminance levels. On a second level the results of the laboratory study were used to feed simulations on illuminance levels, uniformity and energy use in a hypothetical open-plan office. Through this project, it was revealed that a reduction on illuminance levels is possible and with daylight implementation can lead to remarkable savings in energy. Finally, lighting preferences are crucial to be investigated further.