A component of biophilic design is the consideration of the wellness aspects of a building's design. There is a growing body of evidence that supports that we, as biological beings, are more healthy if our circadian rhythms are in sync with the natural cycle of the day. Unfortunately, electric lighting enables us to be active 24/7 can seriously affect the ability to keep our rhythms aligned.
A recent publication by the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the world's leading center for lighting research and education, stated that "...exposure to a CS of 0.3 or greater at the eye, for at least one hour in the early part of the day, is effective for stimulating the circadian system and is associated with better sleep and improved behavior and mood." The authors go on to say that it's important to pay attention to both horizontal and vertical illumination values, "Design for vertical (≈ corneal) illuminance (Ev) at the eye, not just horizontal illuminance (Eh) on the workplane." Highly diffuse luminance emanating from a large area is a key biophilic design objective that SoftForm Lighting's basic white fabric product type addresses. If you haven't already, I suggest reading the blog post A New Lighting Design Paradigm for more information on this biophilic design aspect.
The charts below detail the illumination (Fc) values need at specific color temperature values to achieve the 0.3 CS threshold. Our 3000K and 5000K LEDs can achieve CS at about 25 Fc while 3500K and 4000K reach the threshold at about 40 Fc.
