,

BSS (Questions)
Daylight factor
In architecture, a daylight factor is the ratio of the light level inside a structure to the light
level outside the structure. It is defined as:
DF = (Ei / Eo) x 100%
where, Ei = illuminance due to daylight at a point on the indoors working plane, Eo =
simultaneous outdoor illuminance on a horizontal plane from an unobstructed
hemisphere of overcast sky.
It is impracticable to express interior daylighting in terms of illumination actually
obtainable inside a building at any time. For practical purposes Daylight Factor (DF) is
used.
Its the percentage ratio of the instantaneous illumination level at a reference point inside
a room to that occurring simultaneously outside in an unobstructed position.
Daylight factor is measured as the ratio of illumination at the working plane inside a room
to the total light available outside. This is called daylight factor which is expressed in %.
DF includes the following :
Sky component (SC): direct light from a patch of sky visible at the point considered
External Reflected Component (ERC):
then reaching the point considered

light reflected from an exterior surface and

Internal Reflected Component (IRC):

light entering through the window but
reaching the point only after reflection from an internal surface.

Glare & Types of Glare

The term 'glare' refers to a certain course (state) of vision at which there appears a
sensation of discomfort or the capacity of recognizing objects is reduced or when both
these effects are present due to an incorrect distribution of luminance, inappropriate
range of luminance or excessive spatial and time-related contrasts.
As regards its effects, there are the following types of glare:
disturbing - reduces vision capability for a very short but perceptible time, without
causing discomfort. The excessive amount of light that reaches the eye is dispersed in
the optical centres of the eye, which causes superimposition of the so-called veiling
luminance on a correctly focused image of the observed object. An example of this type
of glare is when after observing the bulb glower for a short time we try to thread a
needle. The fact of perceiving "scotomata" (veiling luminance superimposed on the
observed image) for a short but perceptible time makes it impossible to perform this
action;
annoying - causes unpleasantness, discomfort or irritation and lack of concentration
without reducing vision capability. Immediately after removing the cause of glare the
discomfort ceases. This glare depends on: the luminance of the particular sources of
glare, luminance of the background of the sources, the angular diameters of those
sources, their positions in relation to the observer and the number of sources in sight. An
example of this type of glare is when we observe an open space evenly covered with
clean snow on a sunny day. In every direction we look the white snow seems to dazzle
the eyes and causes discomfort;
blinding - strong enough to make any object impossible to be seen for a perceptible
period of time. This is an extreme case of interfering glare. An example of this type of
glare is when in an unlit road at night, from the opposite direction there suddenly
appears a car with its headlights on. As a result of the glare, we lose vision for a short
but perceptible time.

LED
LED lights are widely used as replacement of bulbs in general lighting.

Extremely energy efficient and extremely long-lasting light bulbs. An LED light bulb can
reduce energy consumption by 80-90% and last around 100,000 hours.
They even light up faster than regular bulbs. They are more expensive presently.
Widely used in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, jewellery showrooms, exhibitions, art
galleries, cosmetic counters, museums, factories, gymnasiums, yards, advertising
boards, streets, buildings, lawns and gardens, house holds and places where spot
lighting is needed and other general lighting.
LED lights save energy and is green which is why it is important to convert to LED - also
helps us to control the global warming up to some extent.
Advantages:
Energy consumption 1/10 of incandescent.
High levels of brightness and intensity.
Low voltage and current requirement.
Low radiated heat - Low operating temperature - (vs. halogen which can be over 600F).
High reliability (resistant to shock and vibrations).
Instant cold start.
Reduced maintenance.
Contains no mercury (fluorescent has 10 - 40mg Hg per bulb).
Compatible with dimmer switches can be easily controlled and programmed.
Long source life.
Contain no toxic elements, and last so long that disposal is not much of an issue.

Color Rendering Index

Color rendering describes how a light source makes the color of an object appear to
human eyes and how well subtle variations in color shades are revealed. The Color
Rendering Index (CRI) is a scale from 0 to 100 percent indicating how accurate a "given"
light source is at rendering color when compared to a "reference" light source.
The higher the CRI, the better the color rendering ability. Light sources with a CRI of 85
to 90 are considered good at color rendering. Light sources with a CRI of 90 or higher
are excellent at color rendering and should be used for tasks requiring the most accurate
color discrimination.

It is important to note that CRI is independent of color temperature (see discussion of

color temperature). Examples: A 2700K ("warm") color temperature incandescent light
source has a CRI of 100. One 5000K ("daylight") color temperature fluorescent light
source has a CRI of 75 and another with the same color temperature has a CRI of 90.
The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is composed of radiation with
wavelengths from approximately 400 to 750 nanometers. The blue part of the visible
spectrum is the shorter wavelength and the red part is the longer wavelength with all
color gradations in between.

Visible Spectrum
Spectral power distribution graphs show the relative power of wavelengths across the
visible spectrum for a given light source. These graphs also reveal the ability of a light
source to render all, or, selected colors.

Correlated Color Temprature

The correlated color temperature (CCT) is a specification of the color appearance of the
light emitted by a lamp, relating its color to the color of light from a reference source
when heated to a particular temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin (K). The CCT
rating for a lamp is a general "warmth" or "coolness" measure of its appearance.
However, opposite to the temperature scale, lamps with a CCT rating below 3200 K are
usually considered "warm" sources, while those with a CCT above 4000 K are usually
considered "cool" in appearance.
The correlated color temperature (CCT) designation for a light source gives a good
indication of the lamp's general appearance, but does not give information on its specific
spectral power distribution. Therefore, two lamps may appear to be the same color, but
their effects on object colors can be quite different. Examples of the CCT of some
common light sources are:

Tungsten Halogen

3000 K

"Cool White" Linear Fluorescent

4200 K

High Pressure Sodium

1900 K

"Warm" Compact Fluorescent

2700 K

Luminaire
A luminaire is defined in Article 100 as, a complete lighting unit consisting of a lamp or
lamps together with the parts designed to distribute the light, to position and protect the
lamps and ballast (where applicable), and to connect the lamps to the power supply.

Efficency of a Luminaire
Luminaire efficiency is the ratio of light output emitted by the luminaire to the light output
emitted by its lamps. Another way of looking at it: Luminaire efficiency is the percentage
of light output produced by the lamps that are in turn emitted by the luminaire.
Not all light produced by the lamps will exit the luminaire; some will remain trapped
inside and dissipate as heat. The luminaires physical characteristics will affect how
much light will exit and how much will be directed at the workplane.
Luminaire efficiency is important because while you can have a very efficient lampballast system, if the luminaire itself is not efficient at delivering lumens, then the lighting
system overall is not either. Factors that affect the efficiency of the luminaire include its
shape, the reflectance of its materials, how many lamps are inside the luminaire (and
how close they are to each other), and whether shielding material such as a lens or
louver is used to soften or scatter the light.
While a high level of luminaire efficiency should be valued, overemphasizing it can lead
to poor lighting quality and angry users. After all, a bare lamp offers 100 percent
efficiency, but is hardly a good choice. In reality, the most efficient luminaires are often

candidates for direct glare, particularly unshielded luminaires with direct distribution at
lower mounting heights typically found in offices, classrooms and similar applications. In
such cases, light may exit the luminaire very efficiently, but the luminaire itself is a glare
bomb, and users are likely to resort to wearing baseball caps.

Luminance
Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light
travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through, is
emitted or reflected from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI
unit for luminance is candela per square metre (cd/m2). A non-SI term for the same unit
is the "nit". The CGS unit of luminance is the stilb, which is equal to one candela per
square centimetre or 10 kcd/m2.
Luminance is often used to characterize emission or reflection from flat, diffuse surfaces.
The luminance indicates how much luminous power will be detected by an eye looking at
the surface from a particular angle of view. Luminance is thus an indicator of how bright
the surface will appear. In this case, the solid angle of interest is the solid angle
subtended by the eye's pupil.

Illuminance
In photometry, illuminance is the total luminous flux incident on a surface, per unit area.
It is a measure of how much the incident light illuminates the surface, wavelengthweighted by the luminosity function to correlate with human brightness perception.
Similarly, luminous emittance is the luminous flux per unit area emitted from a surface.
Luminous emittance is also known as luminous exitance.[1]
In SI derived units these are measured in lux (lx) or lumens per square metre
(cdsrm2). In the CGS system, the unit of illuminance is the phot, which is equal to
10000 lux. The foot-candle is a non-metric unit of illuminance that is used in
photography.
Illuminance was formerly often called brightness, but this leads to confusion with other

uses of the word, such as to mean luminance. "Brightness" should never be used for
quantitative description, but only for nonquantitative references to physiological
sensations and perceptions of light.
The human eye is capable of seeing somewhat more than a 2 trillion-fold range: The
presence of white objects is somewhat discernible under starlight, at 5105 lux, while
at the bright end, it is possible to read large text at 108 lux, or about 1000 times that of
direct sunlight, although this can be very uncomfortable and cause long-lasting
afterimages.

Incandesent Lamps
Incandesent BulbsMost commonly used.
Least expensive
Their soft, warm glow is reminiscent of candle light.
Least efficient lighting source approx. 90% of the electricity goes into heat generation
rather than light production.
Bulbs convert power into light by passing electric current through a filament of tungsten
wire. The wire consists of minicoils.
The current heats the tungsten filament until it glows.
The glass bulbs are filled with an inert gas mixture primarily of argon and nitrogen.
The bulb can be clear, diffuse, tinted or coloured.
It gives out attractive warm yellow light.
Also called GLS General Lighting Service Lamp used for domestic purpose.
Standard incandescent lamps last about 750 1000 hours.
Advantages
Low initial cost
Creates an inviting environment
Immediate starting
Easily dimmed
Variety of shapes,sizes and applications
Easy to Install

Disadvantages
High operating cost
Fragile
Short life
Low lumen per watt
High heat output

Halogen Bulb
Slightly different shape & thicker heavier glass bulb.
An incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament contained within an inert gas and a small
amount of a halogen such as iodine or bromine.
In ordinary incandescent bulb the filament evaporates over time & bulb wall blackens slowly as
tungsten is deposited on it.
The combination of the halogen gas and the tungsten filament produces a chemical reaction
known as a halogen cycle which increases the lifetime of the filament and prevents
darkening of the bulb by redepositing tungsten from the inside of the bulb back onto the
filament.

Fluorescent Lamps
Introduction in 1938
Aesthetically they are second class unpopular with interior designer
Widely used because they are more efficient than incandescent lamps.
Glass tubes coated on interiors with phosphor a chemical compound that emits light
when activated by ultraviolet energy.
Air in the tube is replaced with argon gas & a small amount of mercury is added.
When f. lamp is turned on, the electricity heats cathodes at each end causing them to
emit electrons, which in turn create an electric arc between the cathodes. The electrons
in this arc collide with mercury vapour & argon or other gas atoms to produce invisible
ultraviolet rays. These rays excite the fluorescent phosphor coating, producing visible
light.
Fluorescents are highly efficient because 80% of their light comes from the phosphor
coating.
BASIC COMPONENTS OF A FLUORESCENT LAMP

BULB:
usually a straight glass tube - can be circular, U-shaped, or curved .
PHOSPHOR: coating inside the bulb that transforms ultraviolet radiation into visible
light. The colour of the light produced depends upon the composition of phosphor.
BASE:
used to connect the lamp to the circuit & support it in the fixture.
CATHODE:
located at each end of the lamp. Cathodes are coated with a material that
emits electrons & usually are made of coiled coil or single coil tungsten wire.
GAS:
argon or a mixture of inert gas at low pressure krypton sometimes is
used.
MERCURY: a minute quantity of liquid mercury is placed in the bulb to furnish mercury
vapour.

-------Reverberation
Reverberation is the collection of reflected sounds from the surfaces in an enclosure like
an auditorium. It is a desirable property of auditoriums to the extent that it helps to
overcome the inverse square law dropoff of sound intensity in the enclosure.
Reverberation, in psychoacoustics and acoustics, is the persistence of sound after a
sound is produced. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound or signal is
reflected causing a large number of reflections to build up and then decay as the sound
is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space which could include furniture,
people and air. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections
continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they reach zero amplitude.
Reverberation is frequency dependent: the length of the decay, or reverberation time,
receives special consideration in the architectural design of spaces which need to have
specific reverberation times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity.
[3] In comparison to a distinct echo that is a minimum of 50 to 100 ms after the initial
sound, reverberation is the occurrence of reflections that arrive in less than
approximately 50 ms. As time passes, the amplitude of the reflections is reduced until it
is reduced to zero. Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it exists in forests
and other outdoor environments where reflection exists.

Echo of Sound
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo (plural echoes) is a reflection of
sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the
echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room
and an empty room. A true echo is a single reflection of the sound source. The time
delay is the extra distance divided by the speed of sound. The word echo derives from
the Greek (ch),[1] itself from (chos), "sound".[2] Echo in the folk story of
Greek is a mountain nymph who loved her own voice. Animals that use echoes are
cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and bats.

Sound Masking
Sound masking is the addition of sound created by special digital generators and
distributed by normally unseen speakers through an area to reduce distractions or
provide confidentiality where needed. The sound is broad band random that conveys no
information about itself to a listener. It is often referred to erroneously as white noise or
pink noise; the sound spectrum and level is specially shaped to provide the degree of
privacy desired by occupants. Masking operates by covering up or masking unwanted
sounds, similar to one-way windows that block the ability for a person to see persons
behind them, or perfume that covers up other body odors. This is in contrast to the
technique of active noise control which attempts to eliminate the unwanted sound. Sound
masking is used in homes, commercial offices, medical facilities, court rooms, and in
secure facilities to provide secrecy. It also can be used outdoors to restore a more
natural ambient environment.

Hearing Sensitivity of a human ear

The human ear can respond to minute pressure variations in the air if they are in the
audible frequency range, roughly 20 Hz - 20 kHz. It is capable of detecting pressure
variations of less than one billionth of atmospheric pressure. As we get older, or exposed
to loud sounds which damage our ears (such as loud rock concerts), the upper limit
decreases.

Sound Intensity
Sound intensity also known as acoustic intensity is defined as the sound power per unit
area. The SI unit of sound intensity is the watt per square metre (W/m2). The usual
context is the noise measurement of sound intensity in the air at a listener's location as a
sound energy quantity.
Sound intensity is not the same physical quantity as sound pressure. Hearing is directly
sensitive to sound pressure which is related to sound intensity. In consumer audio
electronics, the level differences are called "intensity" differences, but sound intensity is a
specifically defined quantity and cannot be sensed by a simple microphone. Sound
energy passing per second through a unit area held perpendicular to the direction of
propagation of sound waves is called intensity of sound.

Decibel Scale
The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to express the ratio of two values of a physical
quantity, often power or intensity. One of these values is often a standard reference
value, in which case the decibel is used to express the level of the other value relative to
this reference. The number of decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio
of two power quantities, or of the ratio of the squares of two field amplitude quantities.
One decibel is one tenth of one bel, named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell; however,
the bel is seldom used.
The ear has the remarkable ability to handle an enormous range of sound levels. In
order to express levels of sound meaningfully in numbers that are more manageable, a
logarithmic scale is used, rather than a linear one. This scale is the decibel scale.

Sound absorbants/Sound absorbing materials

Acoustic absorption refers to the process by which a material, structure, or object takes
in sound energy when sound waves are encountered, as opposed to reflecting the
energy. Part of the absorbed energy is transformed into heat and part is transmitted
through the absorbing body. The energy transformed into heat is said to have been 'lost'.
When sound from a loudspeaker collides with the walls of a room part of the sound's
energy is reflected and part is absorbed into the walls. As the waves travel through the
wall they deform the material thereof (just like they deformed the air before). This
deformation has mechanical losses which convert part of the sound energy into heat
through acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the wall's viscosity. The same attenuating
mechanics apply for the air and any other medium through which sound travels.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media
and is a function of frequency and the incident angle.Size and shape can influence the
sound wave's behavior if they interact with its wavelength, giving rise to wave
phenomena such as standing waves and diffraction.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic
insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such
as metals) reflect most.

Threshold of Pain
Some sources quote 120 dB as the pain threshold and define the audible sound
frequency range as ending at about 20,000 Hz where the threshold of hearing and the
threshold of pain meet.
The pressure at which sound becomes painful for a listener is the pain threshold
pressure for that person at that time. The threshold pressure for sound varies only
slightly with frequency and can be age-dependent. Additionally, people who have been

exposed to more noise/music usually have a higher threshold pressure.Threshold shift

can also cause threshold pressure to vary. Prolonged exposure to sound at levels
evoking pain can cause physical damage, potentially leading to hearing impairment.
The volume in acoustics refers to loudness. It is a common term for the amplitude of
sound, the sound pressure level or the sound pressure. Different values for pain
threshold pressure level and pain threshold pressure are found in the literature.

Threshold of Audibility
The minimum effective sound pressure of a specified signal that is capable of evoking an
auditory sensation in a specified fraction of the trials; the threshold may be expressed in
decibels relative to 0.0002 microbar (2 10-5 pascal) or 1 microbar (0.1 pascal). Also
known as threshold of detectability; threshold of hearing.