Institute’s Low Vision Design Committee Members
Work to Improve Standards for Vision

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently released ASHRAE 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, which contains a number of revisions to its Lighting Power Density (LPD) requirements that could make things a little brighter and, therefore, life a little better for those residing in or visiting facilities for people who are visually impaired. Lighting Power Densities describe the maximum allowable lighting density (in watts/square foot) by code, for a space or an occupancy type.

The new version of the standard sets the definition for “people who are visually impaired” as “a facility that can be documented as being designed to comply with the light levels in ANSI/IES RP-28 and is licensed or will be licensed by local/state authorities for senior long-term care, adult daycare, senior support and/or people with special visual needs.” The new LPD allowances for facilities for people who are visually impaired provide increased lighting levels for corridors, dining areas, lobbies, restrooms, chapels, and recreation rooms/common living rooms.

At the same time, the Institute’s Low Vision Design Committee (LVDC) launched its technical review phase for the NIBS Design Guideline for the Visual Environment. This new guidance was created to inform the regulatory and design communities about the challenges experienced by low vision populations and to provide specific design recommendations regarding the visual environment in order to afford equal access to all facilities through universal design principles. The Guideline also recommends higher LPDs beyond the care facilities themselves, including public indoor and outdoor spaces and the work environment.

“I see the new ASHRAE requirements as a first step of recognition that those with impaired vision need higher light levels, thus requiring a higher LPD,” said Eunice Noell-Waggoner, chair of the Institute's LVDC Codes and Standards Task Group, who worked on adoption of the new LPD requirements in ASHRAE/IES as well as the Institute’s new guideline. “But it is just a first step in a process that needs cooperation and patience. The upcoming NIBS Design Guideline for the Visual Environment is needed to establish a broader approach to serve those with low vision--wherever they live, work, or play. We expect it to become an invaluable reference for anyone involved in the design and development of facilities which support and serve low vision populations.”

Four organizations worked together to propose this change and quantify the higher energy requirements needed for people with low vision. Members of the Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) Lighting for the Aged and Partially Sighted Committee developed a Recommended Practice (RP) 28-07: Lighting and the Visual Environment for Senior Living, which included a Table of light levels for all spaces. Members of the Facilities Guideline Institute (FGI) provided drawings of a variety of care facilities that the ASHRAE/IES 90.1 Committee used to develop lighting plans to meet the Table in RP-28 from which they determined the energy required to reach these light levels. Members of the Institute's LVDC also participated in this work.

The Hulda B. and Maurice Rothschild Foundation supports the LVDC’s work on the NIBS Design Guideline for the Visual Environment, as well as work on the ASHRAE/IES 90.1-13, and the Facilities Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care and Support Facilities. The LVDC’s work also is funded in part by the Jim H. McClung Lighting Research Foundation. The Institute’s Design Guideline will be posted on its website for public review early in 2014.

Learn more about the Low Vision Design Committee’s work at their annual LVDC Symposium on Thursday, January 9, 2014, during Building Innovations 2014: The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C. Registration is now open.