28. Optimization of Lighting Design in Classroom to Create Energy-Efficient and Visually Comfort Lighting Scenario

Lighting is a crucial component that has a significant impact, regardless of the nature of the work a person performs. Natural and artificial lighting both play an important role in human activities. When it comes to classrooms, the student’s performance and interests are the most significant factors. Low illuminance in classrooms has been associated with bad posture, slower reading, and long-term visual deterioration. Effective lighting plays a significant role in the attentiveness of students. In order to create ideal learning circumstances, a well-balanced lighting system will take into account a variety of elements, including illuminance, uniformity, glare, flicker, and color. To understand the existing situation, a field study was conducted in the classrooms of Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur. The result shows that there were very low light levels (such as 30.6, 26.4, 32.4 lx, etc.) compared to the standard recommended light level of 300 lx on the reading desks. Also, there was a lack of uniformity in illumination levels which enhances the problem of viewing the teaching board and projector’s screen. Thus, to address these issues various light scenes have been created by DIALux Evo 10 lighting design software. The existing and simulated scenarios were compared, and feedback was taken using a questionnaire. Based on the users’ feedback, the optimal lighting condition was developed. In addition, the energy consumption of the existing lighting condition and the simulated scenarios was compared. It was found that the simulated lighting scenarios were able to optimize the lighting condition by considering the energy-efficiency issue while addressing the visual comfort of the viewers. Furthermore, the findings of the study might be applied to design visually comfortable classrooms in any academic institute of India.