As a newly minted member of the Illumination Engineering Society (IES), I was curious to learn about the history of the organization: When did it begin? Who started it? For what reason? Are the topics of debate as relevant today as they were then?

The IES was founded in 1906 in New York City, where it is still headquartered today. The first elected President was a man named L.B Marks. Marks’ inaugural address two months after the organization launched provides great insight into why the organization was formed (part of the Inaugural Address of President L.B Marks is available on the IES website).

According to Marks, the Society was formed out of a keen interest for the advancement of the science and art of illumination. In his address, one can see several themes that are still relevant today:

Efficient vs. Light Quality

In 1906, Marks and the society members saw a great divide between the architect—whose “natural tendency…is to make the economical side of illumination subservient to the aesthetic”—and the engineers—whose natural tendency is to “consider only the question of economy”. Marks hinted the gap between the scientific and artistic side of illumination was beginning to close, but it was still an outstanding problem.

Today there are definitely two divided groups: those whose primary concern is efficiency and those whose primary concern is light quality. Just as in Marks’ time, the gap is closing, but there are still many strong proponents in the ‘quality’ camp, many of whom are lobbying for new ways of measuring the color quality index (CRI) of lamps (see Attention CRI: You’re no longer relevant and Why the LED R9 value isn’t important) and believe is should be given more weight than other lighting specifications.

Health

Marks also identifies a subject matter he considered extremely important in 1906: the effect of unshaded lamps on eye health. “In considering the present status of the science and art of illumination, there is perhaps no question that is in need of more immediate attention than this one”. Experts at the time were concerned about the excessive brightness of direct light to the eye, which could cause permanent injury. The rising percentage of children with vision problems was used to speak to the severity of the problem, with oculists stating strain on the eye caused by bright lights is a “large measure responsible for this condition”. Marks hinted that the direction was moving towards reflected illumination as a means of resolving this issue in 1906.

Today, the effect artificial light has on ocular health is still an issue. Long have we known about the hazards of ultraviolet light (UV), which is present in fluorescent tubes in many commercial, industrial and retail spaces. While LED lamps provide a solution to this problem (see the Spectrum of a Leapfrog Lighting lamp), adoption of the technology has been slow.

Education

Marks laments that the progress of lamp and lighting apparatus invention has made it difficult for engineers to stay current. Furthermore, the lack of authoritative data regarding the “amount and character of illumination best suited for individual conditions” is equally troubling.  I wonder what Mr. L.B Marks would say today about all the new lighting technology available?!?

Today, especially with LED lamps, consumers are confused by terms like lumens and CRI and don’t understand lamp classifications such as PAR and BR. As such, they often select the wrong type of lamp for their space and often times blame the technology or manufacturer (see Why a light bulb isn’t just a light bulb: understanding light bulb nomenclature). Consumers need to be better educated about the technology and both Leapfrog Lighting and the IES are committed to acting as educators.

Energy consumption

Marks identifies the huge (and quick) increase in electric light use in the United States and provides a conservative estimate of consumer spending at over $200,000,000 a year for lighting by electricity, gas, and oil. But the bigger problem is the wasted electricity: “Of this amount I venture to say that he wastes fully $20,000,000 by reason of his failure to properly utilize…” (no further text of Marks’ address is published online).

Wasted energy is still an issue today, though certain government policies (such as removing 100 Watt and 75 Watt lamps from the market) as well as new technology is slowly starting to address this. However, many businesses and home owners are continuing to use incandescent and halogen lamps, both of which are highly inefficient.

What do you think: it is unsettling that many of the issues from 1906 are still issues today?