Lighting with LEDs: A New Study Suggests That Facility Managers Should Replace Old Bulbs in Medical College Classrooms

An empirical study that was conducted by a group of five researchers at the Jhargram Government Medical College and Hospital, a Medical College in West Bengal that is affiliated to the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, suggested that LED lighting is the most suited option for classroom lighting in medical colleges due to energy efficiency and lower running monetary costs. Their research work, published in the peer-reviewed journal Facilities, a publication of the academic publisher Emerald Publishing Ltd., compared traditional lighting options like incandescent lighting bulbs and fluorescent tube lights with white LEDs through field measurements of electrical as well as lighting parameters and a survey with student participants of the same college.

Their study, entitled ‘Evaluation of candidate lighting solutions for a model medical college classroom and insights for lighting system design in educational institutions’, was performed over two days in a model classroom at the same college, which had three separate functional lighting systems installed. On the first day, the research involved 24 student participants in the age group of 20 – 25 years who took three classes one after another, each illuminated by a different lighting system, and at the end of each class, filled up a questionnaire created by the researchers to provide their responses on visual comfort and perception. On the second day, the researchers took measurements of electrical parameters such as lamp power consumption, energy demand, current flow, etc., and lighting parameters related to colour and light level.

The researchers performed statistical analysis with the data they collected through the administration of the questionnaire-based survey and indicated that incandescent lighting could be considered the least favoured choice, and the participants generally viewed LED and fluorescent lighting more favourably. The electricity consumption of LEDs was the least, and the annual energy cost was the lowest of the three choices. The LED-based classroom lighting system was also found to provide higher levels of illumination on vertical surfaces with good colour rendering properties. However, the first author argued that the selection of LED-based products must be done considering glare, colour rendering properties, light output depreciation, and reliability of driver circuits rather than focusing on wattage reduction alone.

In the conclusion section of the study, the authors made several recommendations for upgrading facility management practice in colleges and educational institutions, such as the adoption of LEDs for good illumination at higher light levels, the replacement of old and outdated incandescent light bulbs with ‘cool white’ LEDs, and the performance of surveys with student participants to assess their preferences. Also, they suggested that facility management officials may consider keeping energy usage data and surveying lighting use patterns of the occupants to optimize indoor lighting design.

About the Researchers

Sourin Bhattacharya, M.Tech., is a Public Official who is a Visiting Faculty at the School of Illumination Science, Engineering and Design, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, where he is also pursuing a Ph.D. programme. His research interests include lighting ergonomics, road lighting, daylighting, and indoor lighting.

Susmita Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor and current Principal of the Jhargram Government Medical College and Hospital, Jhargram, West Bengal. With over 25 years’ experience in the West Bengal Medical Education Service (WBMES), she has published a number of research papers in peer-reviewed journals and chaired several international conferences.

Abhishek Das, M.D., is an Associate Professor at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jhargram Government Medical College and Hospital, Jhargram, West Bengal. He has over 15 years of academic experience and has published over 50 papers in journals and conferences.

Shibsankar Mahata, M.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jhargram Government Medical College and Hospital, Jhargram, West Bengal, and acts as a resource person for GCP and BCME courses.

Sujash Biswas, M.D., is a Professor at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jhargram Government Medical College and Hospital, Jhargram, West Bengal. He has over 12 years of experience and has published over 25 papers in journals and conferences.

The study can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1108/F-10-2024-0146

Citation: Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharya S, Das A, Mahata S, Biswas S (2025), "Evaluation of candidate lighting solutions for a model medical college classroom and insights for lighting system design in educational institutions". Facilities, Vol. 43 No. 5-6 pp. 397–415