Jul 28, 2016

IES Position Statements are approved by the Society’s Board of Directors and reflect the Society’s official position on lighting-related issues that affect our community or the general public interest. They are often interpretations of content or use for IES Standards, however, they can also represent official IES positions on lighting issues generated outside of the Society. These position Statements are developed by technical experts within our Standards committees and the Board of Directors, and are free to use and disseminate.

PS-13-21: IES Position Statement on NEMA LS 20001-2021, White Paper on Unified Glare Rating (UGR)

On October 29, 2021, NEMA published LS 20001-2021, White Paper on Unified Glare Rating (UGR), which explains the original intent of the Unified Glare Rating (UGR), its proper uses, and common misuses of the Standard.
The IES has recently issued TM-30-18, IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition. This Technical Memorandum (TM) documents a comprehensive method for evaluating light source color rendition. It is a revision of IES TM-30-15 containing three modifications that achieve consistency with the International Commission on Illumination’s (CIE) recent publication CIE 224:2017.
The American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) has issued two reports related to nighttime lighting since 2012. The 2012 AMA Report CSAPH 4-A-12 report, Light Pollution: Adverse Effects of Nighttime Lighting, resulted in AMA Policy H-135.932, noting in particular the “need for further multidisciplinary research of occupational and environmental exposure to light-at-night”, the recognition of how interior lighting and the use of electronic media affect sleep disruption especially in children and adolescents, and the need for work environments operating in 24/7 fashion to have employee fatigue risk management plans in place. The IES supports the 2012 AMA Policy H-135.932.
This Position Statement provides guidance from the Society’s Board of Directors to establish a framework under which TM-24 should be used and the application of TM-24 in luminous environments and the lighting design process. TM-24 as a Technical Memorandum is merely a vehicle to disseminate a focused topic of technical information, which could have an impact on lighting product designs and/or applications per the limited scope of TM-24. TM-24 is not a Design Guide or Recommended Practice, and should not be used as such.