Measuring the Lighting Quality in Academic Institutions: The UPM Faculty of Aerospace Engineering (Spain)

Abstract

This article analyzes the current status of the lighting quality at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio (ETSIAE), the aerospace engineering faculty at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), and evaluates possible improvement actions based on the use of DIALux® lighting simulation software together with measured data. The results show rather low levels of measured illuminance on classroom desks and blackboards in one of the buildings comprising the faculty. The improvements proposed (a new coat of paint on the walls and replacement of luminaires) were simulated in four individual classrooms representing all rooms in two of the ETSIAE buildings (where the lower illuminance levels were measured). In order to study these improvements, the current situation of the four selected classrooms was simulated using DIALux® and fine-tuning attenuation of the luminaires to take into account their wear and tear. The correlation between the DIALux® simulation and the test results was analyzed with quite good results. The results clearly reveal a need to fully replace the classroom lighting systems in ETSIAE building A (the oldest building, dating back to 1955). According to the results from the selected classrooms, the average lighting over the desks can be greatly improved by using LED technology in order to meet UNE 12464-1 standard (that is, 500 lx, from an initial situation with much lower illuminance values: 129 lx to 295 lx). This article represents an innovative way to perform lighting improvement projects as real measured lighting data is used as initial input for the lighting simulations.