Abstract
Two of the many decisions which have to be made when a new factory is to be built are the method of lighting to be adopted and the level of illumination. Illumination can be provided during daylight hours either by glazing or by artificial lighting. The effects of these methods on the internal environment differ so that lighting cannot be treated as an isolated element in the design either of the building or of the production plant-it is closely related to both. Its relationship with other factors and the complexity of taking account of all of them is described.
When decisions are made their financial implications should be known and investment in lighting should be judged by the returns from it. At present this is made difficult because, although the relationship between visual acuity and illumination has received a good deal of study, the relationship between illumination and profitability is likely to vary with social conditions and is only vaguely known. It is suggested that much more investigation is needed in this field and that the results should be presented in strictly comparable financial terms.
When considering alternative designs it is insufficient to calculate only the capital and running costs of each because of the differing times at which each alternative may bring costs or benefits and because of the application of Investment Grants and Taxation. The Present Value method of comparing alternative designs is described and illustrated by example. A hypothetical example of the use of the Discounted Cash Flow technique is used to illustrate the comparison of benefits between expenditure on alternative levels of illumination and investment in other productive plant.
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