• Uncategorized

    When Light Becomes Quantified — From Space to Human Perception, the True Starting Point of Healthy Lighting

    November 13, 2025

    In design and architecture, we constantly discuss “Healthy buildings” and “Human-centered spaces”, yet one core element is often overlooked—the lighting environment.

    Most lighting design still relies on fixture specifications: color temperature, brightness, CRI, and so on.

    However, what truly affects human health and perception is not the data printed on a luminaire box— but the actual light people receive.

    And that light is continually shaped by installation height and illumination angle, reflected surfaces, color absorption, control settings, and how illumination shifts throughout the day.

    In other words—the light shown in a design plan is often different from the light the human body actually perceives.

    Therefore, the designer’s role is to translate specifications into a “light environment at eye level” (or “light environment from the eye’s perspective”).

    Delivering not just the “Luminaire List”—but also the “Light Health Report.”

    Before (Pre-design)

    • Pre-assessment: Simulate spectral and illuminance distribution
    • Support designers in planning the circadian lighting recipe

    During (Design and Construction)

    • On-site verification: Vertical illuminance, m-EDI, S/P ratio
    • Identify gaps immediately between specifications and real-world performance

    After (Post-delivery Verification)

    • User Confidence:
      • Benchmark lighting performance against WELL v2 and national standards
      • Provide clients with a Healthy Light Environment Report
    • Designer Benefit:
      • Visualize outcomes and strengthen professional credibility

    💡 Why measure light on-site?

    The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) highlighted in its latest report:

    “Investing in health pays back.”

    On average, every $1 invested in healthier environments returns 3–6× improvements in productivity and wellbeing.

    And the first step toward these returns is quantification.

    Only through on-site measurement can we verify:

    • Whether the space’s circadian-effective light dose (m-EDI / EML) meets requirements
    • Whether flicker, contrast, or color distortion create visual stress
    • Whether spectral quality supports mood, alertness, and sleep

    This is the crucial gap between healthy lighting design and the products used.

    To make “health” more than a marketing slogan—it must be data-driven and measurable.

    ⚙️ In.Licht Ultra:

    A full optical laboratory in your hand

    Developed by Lighting Recipe Studio (LRS), the In.Licht Ultra Healthy Light Spectrometer was created to bridge this gap.

    It is the world’s first handheld spectrometer certified by IWBI’s “Works with WELL” program, capable of measuring 23 core lighting parameters, including:

    📊 Comprehensive Light-Quality Metrics: CCT, illuminance, CRI, TM-30 Rf/Rg, Duv, SPD

    🌙 Circadian Metrics: m-EDI, EML, CS, CAF

    ⚡ Flicker Safety: Pst LM, SVM, Percent Flicker

    🧠 Physiological Impact Analysis: S/P ratio, RG blue-light risk classification

    Designed specifically for real-world environments: handheld, desktop-ready, or mountable on the WELL calibration stand.
    This allows accurate measurement on tabletops or at eye-level vertical planes— the exact requirement for WELL Performance Verification (PV).

    🧾 Professional Certification & Annual Calibration

    In.Licht Ultra is officially calibrated by:

    • Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology (SIMT)
    • East China National Metrology Testing Center

    Measurement traceability is aligned with national standards, ensuring full credibility for project acceptance, WELL scoring, and international research.

    LRS also provides annual factory calibration with TAF-accredited reports, enabling designers, light-source manufacturers, control-system suppliers, and WELL APs to maintain long-term professional reliability.

    📺 From BBC to Real Projects:

    Bringing “light quality” into global awareness

    In early October, the BBC Morning Live program invited lighting expert Dr. Shelley James to compare commercial “SAD lamps” with natural daylight using In.Licht Ultra.

    Her measurements revealed that the essence of healthy lighting is not brightness alone—but spectrum and circadian impact.

    The broadcast sparked widespread discussion across the UK healthy lighting community, making In.Licht Ultra a key example linking optics, wellness, and real life.

    Watch the full video here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002khvm/morning-live-series-7-07102025

    🌈 The Future: Integrating Light & Health into Every Space

    In.Licht Ultra is more than an instrument— it is a bridge between luminaire engineering, design creativity, and human physiology.

    • For LED manufacturers, it is a tool for quality validation and standardization
    • For designers and WELL APs, it is the foundation for design and performance verification
    • For building operators, it is a dashboard for ongoing health-performance monitoring

    When design no longer relies solely on product data but centers on human experience, the value of healthy lighting will finally be quantifiable and visible.

  • Uncategorized

    Light as Medicine: Redefining Healthy Spaces | Lighting Recipe + Sunricher Special Session Leading a New Era in Lighting

    November 10, 2025

    Light has long surpassed the simple function of “seeing”; it is an invisible force that directly affects our body and mind. Lawrence Lin, Founder and CEO of Lighting Recipe Studio, presented cutting-edge research on light and health during a successful, in-depth special training session at Sunricher in Shenzhen, unveiling how to use “light” as a powerful remedy to create a whole new chapter of healthy living.

    From “Seeing” to “Sensing”: Redefining the Value of Light
    The training began by challenging conventional thinking. We explored the dual visual and non-visual pathways of human perception. Traditional lighting focuses solely on the “visual” — enabling us to see clearly. Healthy lighting, however, targets non-visual effects, directly regulating our physiological and psychological states through ipRGCs (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells).

    DLMO: Keys to Circadian Rhythm Design

    1. Core Parameters

    • DLMO (Dim Light Melatonin Onset): The core concept in nocturnal chronobiology, used to mark the phase of the body’s endogenous biological clock. DLMO is not only an indicator for basic research but also the cornerstone for clinical measurement of nocturnal melatonin secretion. Its accurate determination requires integrating the physiological mechanism, measurement standards, and individual application scenarios to realize the “translational value of biological medicine.
    • CS (Circadian Stimulus): Quantifies the stimulus strength (0-1) to the circadian rhythm system, based on the sensitivity of “ipRGCs” to blue light.
    • Duration: Integrates light intensity and the cumulative effect of the relative phase shift.
    • Age Correction: Considers lens status light transmittance (17% in the elderly compared to young adults) and retinal development (high sensitivity in infants).

    2. Time Segmentation (Suggested Model)

    • Morning (6:00-9:00): High CS values promote circadian rhythm phase advance and alertness.
    • Afternoon (12:00-16:00): Maintains a moderate CS value for recognition.
    • Evening (18:00-21:00): Low CS values reduce melatonin suppression.
    • Bedtime (After 21:00): Close to zero light exposure (CS < 0.05).

    DLMO Model and Design Standards
    Based on the DLMO (Dim Light Melatonin Onset) model developed in collaboration with Professor Lin Yandan, we proposed quantifiable standards for circadian lighting design: during the day, M-EDI should exceed 250 (or EML 275), while at night it should remain below 50 M-EDI, and after sleep onset, ideally below 10 M-EDI, creating a truly “dark environment” for the body.

    Spectral Codes for Mood
    Using fMRI technology, we observed how different light spectra activate the brain’s emotional centers, enabling us to create precise “light prescriptions” tailored to various scenarios, such as focused work or relaxation.

    On-site Diagnostics and Interaction
    Participants took part in hands-on assessments that directly addressed “suboptimal light health” conditions.

    Theory Must Be Validated Through Practice
    We conducted on-site demonstrations and measurements using professional devices such as In. Licht Ultra and In. Licht Well.

    The common complaint — “not bright enough during the day, not dark enough at night” — was confirmed: measurements revealed that the vertical illuminance at the meeting venue was far below the CIE-recommended standard of M-EDI > 250 for daytime.

    Quantifiable Healthy Spaces Through the Five Senses
    We applied the WELL Building Standard and clearly demonstrated the coordinated design of the five senses: sound, light, thermal, air, and water.

    Finally, we systematically summarized the fundamental differences between traditional lighting and healthy lighting, and outlined a new design logic priority sequence:

    A. Based on national or international standards for safety, task performance, and energy efficiency (Safety & Visual Tasks)
    B. Predefined scenarios using circadian lighting design (Circadian Support: CS, EML, M-EDI, DLMO)
    C. Priority scenarios based on activity needs (Activity Adaptation: learning, work, rest)
    D. Optimization scenarios for emotional lighting (Emotional Optimization: color, dynamics, personalization)

    Finally, Lawrence reiterated that, from supporting infants’ visual development to ensuring restful sleep for the elderly, light should serve as a lifelong remedy for health.

    With the exchange of ideas and consensus reached, the special training session concluded successfully. We sincerely thank our partners at Sunricher in Shenzhen for their professionalism and enthusiasm! We firmly believe that every renewed understanding of light is a step toward a healthier and more human-centered future.

    Lighting Recipe is not just about illumination—it is a prescription for health.

  • Uncategorized

    What Makes In. Licht Truly Different?

    November 6, 2025

    For years, the lighting industry has measured light the old way — by pointing a sensor directly toward the light source. But is that how humans actually experience lighting in real environments?

    Not at all.

    In real-life spaces, our eyes rarely look directly into the light. We perceive light perpendicularly or vertically across surfaces, and through the surrounding environment — influenced by materials, reflections, shadows, and multiple layered light sources.
    Yet most measurement methods don’t reflect this reality.

    And that is the gap In. Licht was created to solve.

    Why In. Licht Is Unique in the Market

    In. Licht is the first brand designed from the ground up to measure light the way humans truly see and experience it — not just the way engineers traditionally measure it.

    What sets us apart:

    ✅ Human-centric light measurement, not just technical metrics
    ✅ Built on life science and neuroscience research on how light affects mood, alertness, and cognitive performance
    ✅ Aligned with WELL Building Standard (IWBI) to support healthier spaces
    ✅ Balances sustainability AND human wellbeing — not one or the other

    In. Licht integrates science, medical studies, and building health standards to redefine how we measure and design lighting for people.

    Why This Matters Today

    Many still focus only on energy-saving targets, forgetting that lighting directly influences our health, sleep, emotions, and performance.

    Yes — sustainability matters.
    But human health comes first.


    A truly future-ready lighting approach balances:

    🌱 Energy efficiency
    👤 Human wellbeing
    🏢 Healthy building environments

    This is the future of lighting — and In. Licht is here to lead it.

  • Uncategorized

    Simplifying WELL Certification with Smart Light Measurement

    November 5, 2025


    On the journey toward WELL Building Standard certification, managing light environment metrics is often one of the toughest challenges for project teams. Today, we’d like to introduce a professional tool that significantly improves certification efficiency: the In. Licht Ultra Spectrum/WELL Meter.

    As WELL professionals, we know the complexity of performance verification:
    ➡️ L02 Visual Lighting Design – illuminance requirements
    ➡️ L03 Circadian Lighting – EML and m-EDI metrics
    ➡️ L07 Visual Balance – color temperature consistency and contrast
    ➡️ L08 Electric Light Quality – SVM, PstLM, Ra, Rf, Rg, and more

    Every detail demands precise control. The In. Licht Ultra addresses these challenges by covering all PVGB performance verification metrics and detecting most non-PVGB requirements. It works like a real-time health monitoring system for your project:
    ✅ Immediate on-site data via mobile devices
    ✅ Early pre-testing during construction to prevent non-compliance
    ✅ Official verification-ready reports for internal quality control and decision-making

    For teams pursuing WELL certification, this tool makes a complex process manageable and efficient.

    Choosing In. Licht Ultra is more than selecting a measurement device — it’s choosing a professional solution to ensure healthy buildings and smooth the path to WELL certification.

    www.lightingrecipe.com