American Medical Association Warns of Lighting Risks

Major cities are now responding to an announcement made in June by the American Medical Association (AMA) that states high-intensity LED streetlights, often surrounding hospital and commercial buildings, emit unseen blue light that can disturb sleep rhythms and possibly increase the risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. The AMA also cautioned that those light-emitting-diode lights can impair nighttime driving vision.

The city of Lake Worth, Fla., is replacing its sodium streetlights with about 4,150 LED lights with an amber glow and Mark Hartman, Phoenix’s chief sustainability officer, said that the city is planning to move towards a mix of intense lights for major intersections and ballpark areas that need very bright light and a softer light for residential areas, according to a statement from the Washington Post.

Lighting designers and building managers describe a similar phenomenon in their own lighting systems. As they specify modern, energy-efficient lighting systems or retrofit older buildings with LED fixtures, they run smack into high costs and harmful blue light transmissions.

For building managers, the intent behind installing LEDs can help improve the health of anyone who is uses energy on a daily basis. Today’s LEDs save users 50 percent to 70 percent of the cost of traditional lighting, and occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting capabilities significantly reduce energy use.

The problem lies in the proprietary software systems that control the LEDs. First, they’re extremely expensive. LEDs cost about $120, and the cost of the controlling system adds around $135, adding up to a whopping $255 per fixture. The costs are due to the need for hardware like gateways and servers, plus commissioning and software licenses.

An alternative to software-dependent lighting systems is building intelligence into the fixtures themselves that allow for customized design that avoids high-intensity rays. Such software-enhanced systems from Magnum Energy Solutions allow for a high degree of granularity, allowing each cubicle user to specify the lighting level. Costs are much lower for these systems, ranging from $35 to $60 per fixture, depending on how granular the desired control level.

For some buildings, the lower cost and greater integration potential of software-enhanced lighting systems can improve health and justify the cost of new lighting and having to stay with outdated, inefficient fixtures.

Mike Giorgi is the CEO of Magnum Energy Solutions located in Hudson, Ohio.