Sparks Electrical News June 2022

LIGHTING

14

Ardagh Glass Packaging Africa donates 10 000 solar jars to Thembisa schoolchildren

Ardagh Glass Packaging Africa (formerly Consol Glass) donated 10 000 Consol Solar Jars to learners in Thembisa, on the East Rand of Gauteng. The donation is a continuation of Project Khanya, a CSI project launched by Consol Glass in 2015 to bring free, rechargeable light to children who are battling with resources to do their homework at night. “We recognise the challenges that our young people face but learn ing should not be one of them and we are proud to be able to play a role in assisting eager young minds to grow and develop,” says Thami Mkhuzangwe, Senior Executive: Human Resources and Corporate Af fairs, Ardagh Glass Packaging - Africa. The well-known and versatile Solar Jars are an eco-friendly lighting solution that are handmade in South Africa. The jar’s longer lasting battery allows light to shine for up to 12 hours on a single charge. It also has a day/night switch which keeps the LED light off under ad equate lighting conditions to conserve power until it’s needed, a USB charging feature, and a useful ‘find me’ loadshedding function which activates for 60 seconds when electricity is suddenly turned off. “While our aim with Project Khanya is to enable learning for young people in impoverished local communities, we also hope that through this donation, we can raise awareness about the importance of con serving energy and thus protecting our environment,” added Mkhu zangwe, who handed over the Solar Jars to five secondary schools in Thembisa on Thursday, 5 May 2022.

Enquiries: www.consol.co.za

F lam & Luce Luminaires is a registered brand owned by By classy Lda, a Portuguese company with headquarters and production facilities in Pataias, Portugal. The company was founded in 2011, after the acquisition of the brand from a French company. The Flam & Luce brand is available in over 100 coun tries and the company is headed by its Portuguese CEO, Silvia Fernandes. The Flam & Luce brand incorporates decorative light ing pieces designed and conceptualised by European designers including Olivier Toulouse, Didier Versavel, Luc Deflandre, Florence Bourel, Sylvain Vialade, Luigi Cittadini and others. The brand re leases two collections per year, launched during Maison & Objet in January and September. These sought-after, high-end yet still affordable lighting pieces are suitable for the residential, hospital ity and corporate markets. Johannesburg-based LightStore.co.za (the online division of Touchstone Lighting) is headed by managing director, Walter De Lima. The company is widely regarded as South Africa’s premier online lighting store and enjoys a nationwide distribution capability. LightStore.co.za and Flam & Luce’s common synergies and prod uct offerings will benefit both the South African interior design and the high-end residential markets. “I am very excited to have found a solid partner in South Africa in Touchstone Lighting and LightStore.co.za,” said Flam & Luce CEO, Sílvia Fernandes. “I further believe that I have found a com pany that shares our same philosophy and values. At the end of the day, companies are only as good as their people and the peo ple I have found at Touchstone and Lightstore.co.za will represent the Flam & Luce brand well in South Africa.” LightStore.co.za’s Walter De Lima believes that this partnership will boost the local interior design market with some unique and reasonably priced original lighting pieces. “Unique and quality dec orative light fittings are no longer just light fittings, they are now considered pieces of art and attract considerable interest from discerning buyers,” say De Lima. He further adds, “We are incred ibly proud of this partnership and are very confident that the South African market will see value in the Flam & Luce brand.” Flam & Luce, enters the South African market Iconic international decorative lighting brand,

H ere we are again, another month into the year 2022 and about to reveal what lighting topic awaits you. I recently read an interesting quote: “Part of what drives us to explore and discover is the in tangible: expanding our horizons, feeding our cu riosity, finding the unexpected things, and trying to answer those profound questions discussed in previous chapters”. We will continue where we left off last month with our look at the Visual Functions of the human eye. Effect of Ageing Unfortunately no part of the human body re mains the same as at the time of birth. The eye particularly changes over the life of a person and it is important to recognise this. Age has many effects on the eye. Opacity increases which affects the light transmittance through the eye itself. Typically if we accept 100% transmittance for a person of 20 years of age this can reduce to 50% at the age of 55 and to only 25% at the age of 75. In the same way sensitivity to detail also deteriorates although to a slightly lesser extent. Colour vision becomes slightly modified by yellowing of the lens and central portions of the retina which results in a decreased sensitivity to the blue region of the spectrum. Changes in the ability to focus the eyes on an object also occur during ageing. Generally the ‘near point’ of vision recedes, which can be detected by the change in the distance at which a book is held to read, as a person ages. The eye also requires longer to adapt to changes in luminance and, probably most important, there is reduced resistance to glare. As we cannot write off our population when they reach the age of 50 or 60, or 75 for that mat ter, we must recognise these facts and design our lighting installations accordingly. We cannot set standards for younger users only but must allow as many people as possible to detect and inter pret their visual needs within an adequate margin of safety. It is interesting to note that from an in vestigation carried out in the USA, the average age of the total population is 57 years. The Visual Field Accepting the visual limitation and reactions of the human eye as explained above, we need to understand the human eye and we need to understand the visual responses which can be Light and the human eye SHEDDING LIGHT WITH PHILIP HAMMOND

created by light and colour. Brightness contrasts in lighting design can create a sense of visual direction and focus in space. A great variation in contrast will create fixed focal centres and thereby generate local attention and even increases circulation of peo ple anxious to see each and every highlighted point. On the other hand, if we produce a more diffuse or low contrast environment all surfaces will tend to become equal in emphasis which will encourage more casual or loosely con trolled circulation allowing individuals to select their own points of interest. Armed with this knowledge the lighting de signer can greatly influence the appearance of a room or an individual’s surroundings. By varying brightness, movement and colour con trasts, it is possible to create suitable model ling of sculptures and architectural features. It can create specific atmospheres of warmth or coolness or it can create moods of relaxation or activity. On the other hand if the position ing and focusing of the light sources are not properly controlled visual clutter can be cre ated. Under these conditions the light sources would be conspicuous not only by their num ber but also by the contrasting brightness of the source and the controlling reflective sur faces as well as light patterns on or near the object being illuminated. This aspect of lighting will be amplified later in the course when actual installations are dis cussed. Fundamental Factors of Vision In order to understand the requirements for rapid and accurate sight, it is necessary to rec ognise that there are four fundamental factors. These are:

1. The size of the object to be seen. 2. The visual contrast between the object be ing viewed and its background. 3. The brightness of the object itself. 4. The time available to see the object. Theoretically if all the above factors were equal we would be at the visibility threshold, i.e. just able to detect the object. However, under most night sight conditions this circumstance is un likely to occur. To increase visual acuity into the supra-threshold region it will be necessary to increase at least one of the visual factors. Sometimes we would be restricted to achieve this as one or more aspects may be beyond our control, e.g. the time available to see the object. In order to provide the correct type or quantity of light the designer must therefore be able to analyse the visual requirements and design the lighting around the selected factor to achieve the most economical installation. This is par ticularly applicable under low levels of lighting such as on roadways. These aspects will also be considered in more detail when we deal with actual lighting design. Next month I will begin a new series essential to good practise in lighting design. That is the subject of Standards and Compliance. During this series, I will address South African National Standards (SANS) versus the best International Standards covering the same topics and will re veal the shortcomings of our SANS. This is one of those not to be missed topics. Once again, I am always prepared to assist any of the readers and give basic advice about lighting to minimise their risk of non-compliance. Until the next episode in the fascinating journey into light and lighting next month, stay safe!

www.lightstore.co.za or https://flametluceluminaires.com/en

Enquiries: phil@bhalighting.co.za

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

JUNE 2022