Sparckel wants to bring more light into people's lives

Maarten Voorhuis, director and founder of Sparckel in Eindhoven, has developed 'healthy' lighting for offices and nursing homes. During the LED Lighting & Technology conference gives Voorhuis a reading about the development of innovative LED technology.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

With Sparckel, Voorhuis has been pioneering the development of so-called biodynamic light systems since 2011. He proudly talks about that period: “We came up with these products ourselves. The development process is controlled from Eindhoven, the city of light. Now we have a collection of fixtures with a partner in production.”

The goal that Voorhuis wants to achieve with Sparckel is clear: “Our core activity is to help as many people as possible with the healthy aspects of light. I used to work at the global market leader in this area. There I learned that there are clear scientifically proven positive aspects of good lighting on people. I became frustrated because it was far too difficult to get off the ground in the market. The business case was just too difficult.”

Voorhuis also had to explain to many parties again and again the benefits of integrating biodynamic lighting, where the LED light adapts to the time of day and emits less red or blue light. He says: “The technology contains many building blocks, which meant that many parties in the construction world became involved. Architects thought something of it and the engineering firm said; 'that much light is not necessary based on the standards'. Then I explain: we don't do that for sight, but for the biological clock. The end user also did not understand why they should invest more in the right lighting, because they could not experience it themselves in advance. And the installer found it difficult to install this lighting everywhere. Then we came up with the idea for an installation that does not require turning an entire building upside down. We actually turned it into a piece of furniture: plug it in and the sun comes up.”

Sparckel's focus came to be on floor-standing luminaires. The question was whether the effect of such lighting would remain intact with serious light spots (instead of a completely luminous ceiling). That turned out to be the case and in 2013 a first prototype was introduced at the Dutch Design Week and the lighting was delivered in 2014.

1,000 lux

According to Voorhuis, humans need approximately 1,000 lux vertically on the eye to consider light as healthy. That is three to four times more than in a regular office environment. Such light output has a beneficial effect that sometimes has unexpected aspects, says Voorhuis: “In a prototype, the parents stated: children suffer less from ADHD. An architect said: there is more to come from my hands. We measured that extra productivity at 10 percent. The sleep/wake rhythm is significantly disrupted in people with dementia. Instead of 11 times, they get out of bed five times a day with biodynamic lighting. And they sleep almost 1.5 hours longer on average. This results in significantly lower costs.”

Although 10 years ago there was little or no attention to the positive aspects of healthy light, things are different now. Voorhuis predicts a revolution in the market: “Healthy light, it will happen anyway, the question is when it will really make a big breakthrough. We all need to make better lighting plans. Let's do that in healthcare, for example. And first let's meet all the conditions for basic lighting. Then we crank up the light levels so our eyes think I'm outside. The challenge is to do this sustainably, because we need up to four times more light and the energy bill doesn't like that. We can do this intelligently and turn off or dim the light at the right time.”

Moreover, the market for lighting products must take steps, says the Sparckel director: “The lighting industry is in difficult waters. In recent years, competition has only been on Lumen per Watt. Margins are under pressure and there is a shakeout in the market. Only companies that offer added value will survive. And I think this is the added value.”

Convince of healthier light

During his lecture at the LED Lighting & Technology conference, he hopes to convince his colleagues and customers that he is right: “This is the opportunity for lighting designers and consultants to broaden their expertise. It is not an easy matter. The marketing challenge is even more difficult: we have to tell people that we have a light shortage. People don't yet realize there is a problem. But there is a healthy element to outdoor light that makes our biological clock especially happy. Think of that holiday feeling: in addition to less stress, we also get more daylight and sleep better. A lack of light is actually a kind of silent killer, we don't actually know how good we can feel indoors.”

Would you like to attend Maarten Voorhuis's lecture? Register for free for a visit to the LED Lighting & Technology event.