So we completed some of our first lighting projects using Western norms for road or public lighting. See, we even copied some European poles with the single pole and multiple head projectors. It's very stylish in Europe and our clients were not very satisfied with the results. These were their comments oh, it's too dark, looks haunted. The lighting color is too yellow. The marketing guys are not too happy because they're not able to light up their banners or signages well enough with this level of light. It's too dim, it looks sad. They feel threatened. So these were the comments that we've received. We had to go back to the drawing board and rethink again a good intersection between international lighting standards and what our clients would be happy with welcome back to the virtual lighting design community podcast, a global platform that empowers, inspires, educates and connects the lighting design community.

This podcast is brought to you by our premium supporters Aero Hospitality Lighting, creative Lighting Asia, erco, the Signify Lighting Academy and Philix Lighting. In today's episode, we join Jinky DeJesus, design principal of Lightplan Inc in the Philippines. We revisit an insightful presentation by Jinky recorded a year ago at the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition, where she shared wisdom on the importance of lighting for health and well-being. Titled Some Like it Bright, it considered the influence of Western lighting schemes, the challenges faced in implementing international standards and the transformative impact of innovative lighting design on communities. How can lighting choices shape our environments, influence well-being and create a sense of safety and security A fresh perspective on the intersection of culture, technology and lighting design.

For anyone wanting a visual experience, please do check out our YouTube channel, where you will find the video version of this episode, as well as many other great interviews and presentations by our industry thought leaders. Our YouTube handle is at VLDcommunity and, of course, it wouldn't be complete without mentioning our online platform, where the magic happens. Join us and your fellow lighting enthusiasts, where you can gain access to the complete array of presentations, interviews, stories, ongoing conversations, a host of resources and much more so. Please do check that out and explore the community. Now on with the show.

Enjoy good morning everyone I have grown up in Good morning everyone. I have grown up in this lighting industry getting inspiration from dimmer lighting schemes from the West, so attending conferences and conventions, the concepts about relating to dark sky and keeping our street lighting minimal and keeping our street lighting minimal, avoiding light pollution, using warm color temperatures for street and facade lighting we're all very inspiring and impressive and I wanted to bring home this school of thought in the Philippines and apply it to our projects. So I looked to our local lighting standards and that time, when we started getting work in 2013-2014 with lighting master plan projects, I looked at the local lighting standard and I felt that it was not comprehensive enough for me to do a job that I was satisfied with. So I found American and European standards and I was happy very complete, comprehensive. We had to pick a road classification and, based on that road classification, we just tick the boxes, input it in dialogues and everything would be okay and that's what we thought right, and so we completed some of our first lighting projects using Western norms for road or public lighting. See, we even copied some European poles with the single pole and multiple head projectors. It's very stylish in Europe and our clients were not very satisfied with the results. Right, these were their comments. It's too dark, looks haunted, the lighting color is too yellow, the marketing guys are not too happy because they're not able to light up their banners or signages well enough with this level of light. It's too dim, it looks sad, they feel threatened. So these were the comments that we've received and obviously we had to go back to the drawing board and rethink again a good intersection between international lighting standards and what our clients would be happy with.

So we thought about the stuff that we were using and you can see here in the first column that in the Philippine lighting standards these are the illumination levels in candela per square meter. So in the first column I just want to highlight that we don't get to use actually the lighting levels for the collector and minor road because these just feel too dim. And, if you can also observe, the Philippine lighting standards are actually based on American lighting standards, which is the ESNA, and even if we've picked up the higher threshold of these lighting level standards, based on mock-ups and what you get in the visuals, they're still not satisfied with the higher threshold of ESNA. So we moved on to BSEN, which was brighter. Yes, you can see. But then again, in actual projects we don't really get to use M4, m5, m6, which are collector or minor road classifications, because this just feels too dim. So in our experience and what we've observed, the client is usually happy with about 1.5 to 2 candela per square meter. That's quite bright actually, and even so, observing the projects that we've done over the years, we've slowly but surely increased illumination levels in our projects. So you can see, in the beginning we've adhered to M4 standards, which is for collector roads. We've applied 0.7 candela and then slowly, through mock-ups, through tests, this is what our clients like and you can see the last column, 26th Street, bgc. Four candela per square meter is really a lot of light for road and public lighting. You can just imagine how bright the intersections and the conflict zones are in this case. But again, they wanted something energetic and bright. So this is what we went with. Well, not all preferred super bright lighting. As you can see, makati City, maseya and Magzingal projects that we did also adhered to what was per the norm. So why do we like it bright and why do others don't like it bright?

And I can speak for the Philippines. The primary reason, I think, is more simple than what we think it is. It's the high crime rate index that we have in the country. Theft is the number one reason, or the number one top crime. Second is rape and the third is physical injury, and we all know that bright lighting deters crime. And so for us, you know, when I stroll along the streets of, let's say, europe and Germany, I would like to stroll in a small street with dim lighting, with nice facade lighting, but in the Philippines that's not the case. We are averse to dark streets. We get threatened Don't go into the dark street because something bad might happen to you. So I think that is the primary reason why we do like it bright. Second is our culture. The Filipinos are very happy, festive and warm people and I think this also shows in our build preference for facade lighting buildings. A lot of our clients prefer to have RGB colors over white light. White light is usually for luxury projects and I think this really reflects also and speaks about the lighting preference of the Philippines.

The third point is called horror vacui. It's actually used more in interior design. It's the fear of empty spaces. So you can see it very common in normal homes in Manila where the interiors are filled up, there's no negative space or blank space. People are also averse towards shadows, so I think the preference for more uniform and bright lighting is related to this horror vacui.

The fourth point is about progress. So I know that now developed countries are gearing towards cutting back on energy consumption, cutting back light levels, preferring to have darker spaces. But in a developing country like ours, in the Philippines, we're still thinking about bright is equal to progress, so it's a sign of things are moving. There's prosperity, and I think that's the fourth point. There's prosperity, and I think that's the fourth point. And the fifth one is that we are used to long hours of daylight. Our climate is such, and this also relates to why we prefer bright spaces. And the last reason is budget.

A lot of the products we have in the local market are bright, so high lumen output, bright, but they don't really regard or prioritize things like good optical control, color quality, glare, a lot of the times when we have mock-ups, as long as it's bright, then it's okay. But we do also like dim spaces and we can also design dim spaces. We just don't design everything in a bright way. So I think when new developments, where we have the opportunity to design from scratch and to dictate light levels to gradually increase as the master plan expands. In a matter of 25 or 50 years, then dimmer lighting levels are recommended. Then dimmer lighting levels are recommended. Of course. Resorts, obviously, and the luxury market are places where dim lighting are welcome and interior lighting. Actually, in interior lighting it's more accepted to have dimmer lighting schemes than the public or road lighting. But again, the client would always say we want something flexible, we want it to be dim when we want to and at times we want it very bright. Then we want that flexibility.

So just to share a few projects with you guys, this is a town up north, a Spanish colonial town, and the problem was that there were many accidents happening in this area and the mayor wanted us to do the proper lighting. So we applied the right standards and he wanted a very warm color to accentuate the old feel of the Spanish colonial town, and after that the people felt secure and safe to go out. The accidents decreased, actually it didn't happen anymore, and something as simple as that, you know, could be very powerful for the people. Bridgetown is a development with many parks within its development, and the reason for that is that the developer wanted to encourage the people to move and exercise. So we thought, okay, perfect. The Philippines is actually a very hot country, so when you guys go there, a lot of the people are always staying away from the sun. We have umbrellas, we slather on a lot of sunblock and even in the buildings that are designed with the highest end glazing with low E, people have their shades down and they don't want the light. So what does that mean? They usually do their physical activities and exercise at night, and we wanted to maximize this opportunity to design a good lighting scheme where people will feel like they will be encouraged to go out and exercise and get healthier at night. So that's why, hence, the bright light levels as well.

These next projects are more building or public lighting, and I think you can see the context around it. This project is situated in a very humble and kind of poor neighborhood in Manila and the client is actually it's a school. They wanted to do something for that neighborhood, to uplift it and to make the residents feel safer and more secure. So he said he wanted to do something with lighting. So it was so random, out of nowhere in this very low-key neighborhood, that you have this type of facade lighting. But it actually worked because the kids started to go out and play at night, the mothers with their babies come out to socialize, and so even Christmas events they would have tree lighting here. So they made it like a stage or the center of that simple neighborhood and that expanded to the next project. As you can see, there it's really a full-on market right in front and an airport that we did also gave a lot of national pride.

And this retail lighting is actually an interesting story because when we did the lighting scheme, the original design was so far. We had designed something dramatic, dimmer, dynamic, but in the end, with budget constraints, we had this up and down linear lighting that was just uniformly lit. So I was like okay, but then when it was finished, a lot of people were saying like, wow, that's a nice project, great. So I was like, oh, really Okay. And this goes to show that we really get attracted or drawn to bright spaces.

So I think that light for health and well-being and public lighting doesn't have a universal approach. Designing a space where people are comfortable, feel safe in it depends on culture, environment, climate, technology, peace and order, to name a few. Point seven Candela is okay for me might not be okay for the next person. So as we continue to develop our own lighting culture, preference and standards in the Philippines, I will still continue to look into Western concepts and approach for public lighting. We are lucky to have access to comprehensive and well-researched international norms and standards, but we need to understand the lighting culture in a country to be able to strike the right balance. Thank you.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and you've gained some insight or inspiration that you can take away or perhaps apply. If you enjoyed this episode, it is always appreciated if you could take a moment to share the podcast with your peers and friends or leave a review on your favorite podcast app. Consider subscribing to the podcast and our YouTube channel to stay up to date with our latest content. Do check out our online platform as well at vldcommunity. If you would like more, why not go back and listen to some of our previous episodes and hear more from our thought leaders? Thanks for listening and we will be back with more great presentations or interviews very soon. Until next time.