Abstract
Ornamental plants are often used in indoor environments as part of biophilic design to improve the health and wellbeing of occupants, and to support sustainable, green architecture. Unfortunately, many plants do not thrive and need to be continuously replaced, which is economically unsustainable. The wavelengths and spectrum ratio of commonly used light sources such as light emitting diode (LED), and the lack of an appropriate light dark cycle (photoperiod), appear to be crucial influencing factors. Therefore, this study focuses on determining the optimal action spectrum of LEDs for visually and biologically effective illumination for plants, and humans as end users. This practice-based research study applies critical analysis of literature, photographic evaluation of the appearance of plants under various LED lighting in the form of a visual assessment questionnaire-based survey, and provides various measurements that record the properties of light including correlated color temperature (CCT), color rendering index (CRI), spectral power distribution (SPD), peak light wavelength (λP), photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and daily light integrals (DLI). Research confirms the LED lighting used for horticultural food production cannot be applied to ornamental indoor plants due to fundamental differences in purpose. Such illumination provides fast growth for market consumption and usually makes plants appear unnatural, whereas ornamental plants in an indoor environment should grow at an appropriate speed which reduces maintenance costs and they should have a natural appearance. These new findings, supported by evidence and data, can help investors, clients, architects, landscape and lighting designers, as well as luminaire manufacturers, make improved, biophilic-sustainable lighting design choices.
Highlights
IntroductionThe concept of biophilia (a deep affiliation humans have with Nature) has received a great deal of attention from designers and planners, investors and end users [1,2,3,4]
In recent decades, the concept of biophilia has received a great deal of attention from designers and planners, investors and end users [1,2,3,4]
This study examined the quantitative and qualitative characteristic of light emitting diode (LED) illumination to best meet the requirements for the visual appearance and biological health of indoor ornamental plants
Summary
The concept of biophilia (a deep affiliation humans have with Nature) has received a great deal of attention from designers and planners, investors and end users [1,2,3,4]. For the purpose of this paper, we will refer to biophilia to mean the beneficial characteristics of the natural world that improve human health, well-being and productivity, in relation to indoor ornamental plants [8]. There are numerous reasons that have instigated the above changes in design of the human-made environment. This includes: increased urbanization, environmental concerns that directly impact human health and wellbeing, and new research from fields such as Sustainability 2019, 11, 2642; doi:10.3390/su11092642 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability. This research consisted of a thorough review of published building standards and certification systems, lighting standards, books, scientific research papers and reports, interviews with a plant specialist, as well as the investigation of a number of realized green, sustainable architecture and biophilic design projects around the world
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