A new LED optical system to illuminate spaces and paths in outdoor environments
Cariboni Group has created BLOS, the Biophilic Led Optical System. This new LED optical system, intended for the illumination of spaces and paths in outdoor environments, is biophilic because it “loves life” (from βίος: life – φιλία: love) and does so by offering the nocturnal environment safe and comfortable spaces for both people and other non-human life forms.
If outdoor lighting – particularly street lighting – is generally designed and regulated based on the peculiarities of the drivers. BLOS represents the ideal solution for the well-being of pedestrians and cyclists and to protect animals and plants from light pollution. People moving on foot or by bicycle encourage slow mobility, helping cities improve urban liveability and air quality. In any case, the lighting required by non-motorists is very different from that for drivers because of travel speeds, visibility requirements and viewing directions. A topic yet to be observed and of great relevance for which Cariboni Group needed to acquire new studies on the definition and measurement of glare in non-motorist users.
The research activities have been conducted in collaboration with the Energy Department of the Polytechnic University of Turin under the scientific direction of Prof. Anna Pellegrino. Thanks to an in-depth technical-scientific and regulatory study on outdoor lighting, have been identified the criteria for evaluating health, well-being and comfort of pedestrians and cyclists who move through artificially lit outdoor environments at night. The results have made it possible to develop an innovative optical system to avoid the debilitating and disturbing glare of those who move slowly.
Protecting biodiversity is a goal that stems from the awareness that the variety of living organisms is a source of food, energy and medicines for human beings. By developing BLOS, Cariboni Group integrates a new solution to its Eco-Centric Lighting offer that adds the control of the light spatial distribution to the pre-existing solutions for modulating spectral distribution and light intensity [DYNAMIC WHITE / BLUE FREE / VIRTUAL MIDNIGHT / MOTION DETECTION]. The new optical system prevents the dispersion of the luminous flux in any direction where no light is needed and is an outstanding solution for pollinate-friendly systems. The lighting world should pay more attention to insect protection: 62% fewer pollinators visit plants in an artificially lit area than plants in a dark area, and daytime pollinators cannot compensate for the pollination deficit that occurs at night.
BLOS has been declined in different asymmetrical and symmetrical distributions, each of which is available in the variant BLACK characterized by a strong distribution and a dark-light or WHITE effect and has a diffuse emissive area and soft light.
