DOE publishes Gateway research on tunable LED lighting in education

　　The US Department of Energy (DOE) has conducted a Gateway trial of tunable LED lighting in three Carrollton, TX classrooms, and teachers felt that the solid-state lighting (SSL) installation improved the educational environment. Interestingly, the school district has decided not to invest in tunable LEDs on a widespread basis at this point due to the cost premium relative to non-tunable LED lighting. However, the district did say it would reevaluate tunable technology as more data becomes available documenting positive impacts in student learning outcomes and teacher satisfaction directly attributable to tunable lighting. And the report lacks quantifiable detail on aspects such as productivity improvement that have been associated with so-called human-centric lighting (HCL).

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　　The Gateway project took place in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFB). As with all DOE Gateway projects, commercially available LED lighting products were installed for evaluation in a working setting. The SSL installation included one 5th-grade math and science classroom, one 4th-grade reading and language arts classroom, and one 8th-grade science laboratory at three different CFB schools. In each of the schools, there was a very similar classroom nearby that was lit with legacy fluorescent lighting, and those classrooms served as a comparative reference case to the tunable lighting installations.

　　The DOE installed SSL and control products from Acuity Brands, including Lithonia-branded LED-based BLT Series troffers and nLight controls. Acuity has demonstrated such a system going back to at least LightFair International in 2016 when we covered the announcement of what the company called Mainstream Dynamic technology. The control system offers preset scenes for different activities such as test taking or book study.