Rostam Golmohammadi, Mohammad Hajiakbari, Rashid Heydari Moghadam, Razie Zare, Seyede Khadije Hoseini, Samane Karami,
Volume 2, Issue 4 (3-2015)
Introduction: In an
educational environment, the quality of vision is integral to educational
progress. Creating visual comfort and increasing efficiency and the desire to
study are among the benefits of adjusting the lighting in classrooms and
preventing visual impairment in the students. The present study was conducted
to evaluate the degree of internal lighting in girls' schools across Hamadan in
2006 and 2014 so as to help identify their potential problems.
Materials and
Methods: The present study was conducted in girls' schools across Hamadan on two
different occasions –in 2006 and 2014. On each occasion, the average general
and local lighting on the classroom blackboards were measured by the
recommended methods of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America on
non-sunny days using a Lux Meter and were then compared to the standard limits
recommended in the Health and Safety Code of schools and by the Illuminating
Engineering Society of North America. In addition to the degree of lighting,
certain quality assessment criteria were assessed, including the lighting
layout, lamp maintenance, contrast, internal surface cleaning, lighting system
maintenance, type of lamps and technical suitability of the design.
Results: Taking the
criteria for favorable lighting conditions into account, less than 25% of the
sites examined had favorable lighting on both occasions in 2006, only 16% of
the classes had favorable general lighting and in 2014, the degree of lighting
fell to an unacceptable range in all classes and only 6% of the entire
classroom were covered by a standard degree of local lighting on the
blackboard. The results also show that surface reflection coefficients are
within the desirable range.
Conclusion: The lack of
favorable general and local lighting on the blackboard at schools in 2014 and
its comparison with the results of the 2006 lighting assessment indicate that
providing standard lighting is still a problem for schools. Improper lighting
layouts and the use of incandescents or inappropriate light bulbs are among the
major causes of poor lighting conditions in girls' school across Hamadan.
