Talk to any professional about their field, and you’ll probably find yourself wading through alphabet soup after a while. Acronyms: we all use them, but sometimes we forget that the wider public might not have a firm handle on our favorite abbreviations.
In this month’s blog, we’re looking at 10 common acronyms you might run into when speaking with a lighting designer, so that you won’t feel left out of the conversation.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute (pronunciation: ann-see)
ANSI is a non-profit organization that oversees the development and use of voluntary consensus standards for United States products and services. The organization does not write standards themselves, rather they accredit standards developed by other organizations, agencies, and consumer groups. ANSI accreditation signals that an organization’s standards were developed through a process that meets benchmarks for openness, balance, consensus, and due process (i.e. that the standards are reliable having gone through an appropriate development process).
2. BUG Rating: Backlight, Uplight, Glare (pronunciation: bug, like the critter)
In order to describe and quantify the amount of light emitted in an unwanted fashion, the BUG (backlight, uplight, and glare) rating is calculated. Backlight refers to light directed behind the fixture, which impairs visibility of objects in front of the light source (think of how hard it is to see someone clearly on a Zoom call if they are sitting in front of a window). Uplight refers to the light that escapes above a fixture, which is typically inefficient, wasted light, contributing to light pollution when outdoors. Glare refers to directed light that makes it hard to see when it hits the eye (think of when the sun hits the windshield of a car outside your window at just the right angle so that it feels like a laser is shooting into your eye). The BUG scale runs from 0-5 for each component, with 0 indicating minimal light going in unwanted directions (meaning the desirable front light is maximized by the fixture), and 5 indicating that the emitted light is not controlled, creating effects that are not eye-friendly.
3. CCT: Correlated Color Temperature (pronunciation: C-C-T)
CCT refers to the range of how blue or yellow the color of a light source appears. The temperature in CCT indicates the temperature to which one needs to heat a black object in order to glow with that same color (as opposed to the actual temperature of the light source). CCT values range from 2700K, creating a yellow glow associated with a warm, relaxing environment to 4000K, resulting in a neutral white tone associated with balance between relaxation and concentration, to 6500K, generating a faint blue tinge, considered to have an energizing effect.
4. CRI: Color Rendering Index (pronunciation: C-R-I)
CRI measures how colors look under a light source when compared to natural light. CRI is measured from 0-100, with 100 being a perfect score for accuracy of naturalness. In lighting design, CRI is something noted on nearly every fixture and an important concept to consider in lighting design. Lights with a CRI measuring more than 80 are considered acceptable for most projects. However, lights measuring greater than 90 are considered “high CRI” and offer the highest level of natural color accuracy.
5. HID: High Intensity Discharge (pronunciation: H-I-D)
HID lamps produce light via an electric arc that passes between two electrodes contained inside a pressurized tube that also contains noble gas and various metallic additives to vaporize and release large amounts of light. Due to their high output of visible light per unit of electric power consumed (i.e., luminous efficacy), HID lamps offer a great deal of energy efficiency and work particularly well when it comes to brightly illuminating large spaces, such as stadiums or arenas.
6. LED: Light Emitting Diode (pronunciation: L-E-D)
LED is one of those acronyms we all use regularly but might not quite know exactly what it stands for. An LED is a semiconductor light source that emits light when it is exposed to an electric current, causing electrons to recombine with electron holes and release energy in the form of photons (which in turn determine the color of the light). LEDs are widely used for their longer lifespan, smaller size, and lower power consumption.
7. LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (pronunciation: lead, as in leader)
LEED is an international green construction certification program that rates design, construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings as motivation for owners/operators to use resources in environmentally responsible ways. LEED certification is often required or rewarded by government agencies when it comes to new construction and can also be used in marketing as a selling point, as environmentally conscious consumers often recognize the name.
8. OLED: Organic Light Emitting Diode (pronunciation: both O-L-E-D and oh-led are used)
We just saw in #6 what an LED is, so let’s get a bit more technical with OLEDs. What sets these light sources apart is the use of an organic compound in the emissive layer, allowing for flexible polymers to spread the light source across a surface, rather than emitting at a specific point. OLEDs are used for personal electronic device displays, such as cell phones, gaming devices, or TVs.
9. S/P Ratio: Scotopic/Photopic Ratio (pronunciation: S-P ratio)
The S/P Ratio measures different types of lumens, as relates to how our eyes perceive light. Scotopic light levels engage the rods, which occurs at lower light levels. At these lower levels, our vision loses a great deal of its capacity to distinguish different colors. At higher light levels (aka, photopic), our cones are engaged and our ability to distinguish colors works at its best. The S/P ratio quantifies how much useful light is emitted by a light source. The higher the ratio, the better the light source is for simulating human eyesight, which can help reduce light pollution and keep energy consumption down.
10. SSL: Solid State Lighting (pronunciation: S-S-L)
Solid state lighting uses LEDs to produce light, rather than electrical filaments, gas, or plasma, creating light in a way that generates less heat and allows less energy to dissipate. SSLs are increasingly used in streetlights, on building exteriors, for vehicle lights, as well as in entertainment lighting.
At CharterSills, we believe that when lighting is designed correctly, it can add dimension to the simplest of spaces. Lighting can turn an ordinary space into a work of art. Whatever design challenges clients present, CharterSills responds with a solution that exceeds their expectations. Contact us today at (312) 759-5909 or by email at info@chartersills.com.