Renewed indoor lighting standard EN 12464-1 entered into force: the update directs to increase light on surfaces

The indoor lighting standard EN 12464-1, which provides recommendations for good lighting practice, has been updated.

The standard addresses several factors that determine the visual environment, such as illuminance, glare, light direction, color, and color rendering properties. It contains many general guidelines for achieving good lighting, and visual comfort and power in offices, schools, industry, and warehouses, among others.

The standard provides a good starting point for assessing the current state of lighting and in renovation projects, when the goal is user-oriented, high-quality lighting in accordance with work tasks.

What has changed in the lighting standard for indoor workplaces?

The last time the standard was updated was in 2011, after which the technology has been renewed at a tremendous pace. Among other things, the development of LED technology has increased the possibilities for design and brought more options, for example, for directing light, which is now taken into account in the standard.

The updated standard won’t currently change the usage level values for the previously defined basic lighting intensities but is mainly a matter of supplementing and clarifying the data. One of the most significant changes in the standard is that the lux levels of both wall and ceiling surfaces are more prominently displayed than before. The updated standard guides you to design the lighting so that the lighting is even on the surfaces, which makes it easier to see, reduces glare and makes the spaces most comfortable.

EN 12464-1 also takes some position on lighting control and energy efficiency. It encourages consideration of people’s well-being and makes it possible to change, among other things, light levels, and color temperatures, and to make use of daylight where possible. So far, the prevalence of human-centered lighting in the implemented solutions and the emphasis also on the standard is quite moderate, but in the future the solutions will become more and more common.

The lux required by the EN 12464-1 standard can be realized with good uplight properties

Whether it is building a new site or upgrading existing lighting, Purso’s SNEP® luminaires also meet the requirements of the renewed standard for quality lighting in schools, offices, and other public spaces.

Designed, for example, for office spaces, the SNEP® LX luminaire has good uplighting characteristics, which makes it easy to implement lux levels in line with the indoor workplace standard. SNEP® LX is particularly suitable, for example, as a workstation luminaire for rooms where general lighting is implemented with linelighting or panel luminaires, for example. It’s also at its best in high spaces such as libraries, where an installation height of more than 3.5 meters can be reached.

Also, thanks to Aari and Novem, the newest members of the SNEP® office lighting family, the updated standard is even easier to carry out than before.