Solutions to light pollution

It was only a matter of time before somebody added light to our growing list of pollutants.

But to do that, light as a facet of pollution had to be described, a task the € 300 million, Germany-based lighting solutions company Erco was able to do with its dark-sky technology.

In simple terms, any spill of light above the horizon creates a "blindness" that robs cities of views of the night sky. If, on the other hand, light can be used as an architectural devise without wastage and spills, then it can be used to light up objects and spaces without the glare that results in light pollution.

K Venky, head of Erco's planning and marketing division based in Dubai (for the Middle East and South Asia), is concentrating on training people in India -- architects, interior designers, electrical designers -- on Erco lighting philosophies that shy away from traditional concepts of quantitative lighting in favour of qualitative lighting.

"Quantitative standards have fixed standards of lighting levels irrespective of elements such as tasking areas, or those where natural light is present, or such spaces as walking areas that need only half the illumination, and therefore tend to be wasteful."

Qualitative lighting relies more on the tools of the craft based on perceptions and hierarchies of usage so the result is "architecturally neater, functionally simpler".

Having entered into an exclusive agreement with Delhi-based Vis-a-vis (which markets Alessi and Flos in the region), Erco is using the training/teaching route to awareness, for creating interest in Erco's range of 6,000 products.

The arrangement reached three months ago has the potential for growing far beyond the somewhat modest 14 projects currently on the block.

Since, typically, clients are architects and designers, Erco products will need to be ordered as "solutions" from its catalogues, though a studio is planned, and a large exhibition of Erco lights is slated for January 2005 in the capital.

The 1930 architectural lighting company that has 64 branches around the world and employs 1,400 people, has also created unique concepts that include vertical lighting and wall washing lights, and has developed dark lit reflectors that screen off sources of light.

"You can walk into a room and not see any source of light, even though the space will be evenly lit," explains Venky. This is also true of directional luminaires, where beams can additionally be lengthened through control mechanisms inbuilt into the luminaires.

Four years ago, Erco moved into landscape lighting as well. "Light," explains Venky, who will probably travel to India every other month from Dubai to grow the initial market in the country, "is the fourth dimension of architecture. Light fixtures should be tools to enhance architecture, and not be a part of architecture."

That Erco concentrates on "lights, not luminaires" could be the reason it has become one of the world's best-acknowledged solution providers in the industry.

Internationally, Erco has been used for museums, shops and in large architectural projects. Already, in India, where awareness for lighting solutions is low, interest in Erco has taken into account restaurants, interior projects, and residences.

And Venky, for whom "the lamp is the soul of lighting", promises that project consultancy -- an otherwise expensive exercise -- will come free, at least initially, to popularise Erco in India.