Dengue Fever and Mosquito Repellent Lotion

Dengue is an infection caused by a virus. You can get it if an infected mosquito bites you. It does not spread from person to person. It is a tropical disease and is commonly spread during rainy seasons. In the Philippine, dengue is reported as one of the leading causes of childhood hospitalizations. And even Adults with weak immune system are not safe with this virus. Different researches were already conducted and are still on process to find new ways on how to completely solve this dreadful virus. Some researchers are working on making a vaccine that would immune the body against it.Insect repellent on the other hand are one of the preventive measures that would decrease the risk of getting insect-bourne diseases such as malaria and dengue which are brought about by mosquitos. An insect repellent is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces which discourages insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. They are commercially sold and used. Mosquito repellent may come in the form of Lotion, Oil, bar, soap, fabric conditioner, spray and the like.Some are chemically made and the others are made out of organic materials that possesses insect repellent properties like Lemon grass, orange and rosemary to name a few. They are all garden plants and most likely available in every garden settings. This study is focused on the use of Calendula officinalis or commonly known as â€Å"Marigold† and Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) in the form of insect repellent lotion, specifically, against the harmful bite of the known specie of mosquito within the genus Aedes, or principally known as Aedes aegypti which are the dengue virus carrier.Why lotion? Lotion is medicated ointment which is spread on the skin(Pharmacology); cream, liquid preparation for beautifying or soothing the skin (Wikipedia English ). Lotion are widely used for cosmetics and even medicinal purposes. Someone can actually wear it throughout the day leavi ng the skin protected from different harmful factors. Skin is the only part of the body that is most vulnerable to mosquito exposure. If a mosquito repellent is applied on skin, it will discourage mosquitos and bugs from landing on it, making the person at low risk of getting the dengue virus.Statement of the Problem The main objective of this investigatory project is to produce an Insect repellent lotion, specifically, Mosquito repellent lotion made from the combination of infused Marigold and rosemary oil mixed with base lotion with the same effectiveness compare to over the counter Mosquito repellent lotion. Specifically it sought to meet the following objectives:To test the effectiveness of Marigold, Rosemary infused Mosquito repellent lotion in terms of:Mosquito repellent effectiveness.Odour †¢Moisturizing effect.Lasting effect ( including the number of mosquito bite after application).Texture on the skin Significance of the studyThere is nothing we can do to stop mosquito from sucking onto their prey. This is their only way of survival. They carry insect Bourne diseases like malaria and dengue virus which are very dangerous once they have passed it to human body. Dengue Symptoms include a high fever, headaches, joint and muscle pain, vomiting, and a rash. In some cases, dengue turns into dengue haemorrhagic fever, which causes bleeding from your nose, gums, or under your skin.It can also become dengue shock syndrome, which causes massive bleeding and shock. These forms of dengue are life-threatening. There is no specific treatment. Most people with dengue recover within 2 weeks. Until then, drinking lots of fluids, resting and taking non-aspirin fever-reducing medicines might help. People with the more severe forms of dengue usually need to go to the hospital and get fluids. In our country, everyone is familiar with this kind of disease. Most of its victims are children from schools or houses from rural to urban places being exposed to mosquito carr ying dengue.It has already taken many lives which might have been prevented if most people were properly oriented bout mosquitos’ behaviour and on how they could destroy and eliminate them for the safety of everyone. There are lots of preventive measures which are effective and safe like using mosquito repellen lotion that makes mosquitoes repel on your skin taking you out from the high risk of dengue infection. The feasibility of plant material specifically â€Å"marigold† and â€Å"rosemary† as an effective Mosquito repellent lotion is safe, easy to prepare, timely and economically.Scope and LimitationThis study is particular with the use and effects of Marigold and Rosemary which are readily available in the community or any part of the country because they are widely use as farm plants or companion plants for growing crops. The investigatory project was done at Pampanga Agricultural College. Tests, experimentations and discussions were under the supervision of PROF. REGINA D. LORIA. Questionnaires were used and answered to get the survey of the effectiveness of the study. Review of Related Literature Extracts from In a Nutshell ‘Marigold' by Jill Rosemary DaviesA popular garden plant, Marigold has been valued for many centuries for its' exceptional healing powers and is particularly remarkable in the treatment of wounds. When used for medicinal purposes, it is commonly referred to as ‘Calendula'. In appearance, Marigold looks like a large yellow or orange coloured daisy, each floret being about ?† (1. 25cm) long. A hardy annual, the plant produces its' bright flowers throughout the summer and the flower heads may grow up to 3†³ (7cm) in diameter. Marigolds' simple fruits are closely curled in the middle of the flower head, almost in the form of a ring.Hence in Germany, its' common name is ringelblume, meaning ringed flower. The plant grows to a height of approximately 20-28†³ (50-70cm). The stem is erect and branched, bearing alternate, light green, lance-shaped leaves and both stem and leaves are covered with fine hair. Marigold is described by some as without a marked scent, but others find its' odour rather heavy, while its' taste is bitter. Calendula officinalis, the botanical name, originates from the Latin word calends (which comes from calare, to call). A History of HealingMarigold has a long history of medicinal use, stretching back to the Roman's and the ancient Greeks, who drank Marigold tea to relieve nervous tension and sleeplessness. It has also been used in cooking, dying cloth and skin care and was a well-known symbol of good luck. Ancient Uses and Folklore Originally a native plant of ancient Egypt, and first introduced into Britain by the Romans, Marigold is one of the earliest cultivated flowers. It was also known to the ancient Greeks, who used it's petals for decoration, to colour foods and cosmetics and as a material dye, in addition to its medicinal uses.An infusi on of the herb was drunk to alleviate the symptoms of nervous tension and to prevent sleepless nights. Marigold has been cultivated in European gardens since about the 12th century. By the 14th century, the plant had become endowed with almost magical powers. A medieval author called Macer, who described Marigold in his Herbal, thought that merely to look at it would improve eyesight and draw out evil ‘humours' from the head:How Marigold can help:Ideal of healing cuts, scrapes, lacerations, surgical wounds and scars, small infected wounds, animal bites and scratches.Useful for skin conditions such as acne, shingles, chickenpox, dermatitis, eczema sores, impetigo spots and other systemic fungal, bacterial and viral conditions.An effective aid to healing minor first degree burns, such as sunburn.Helps to soothe bee, wasp and insect stings.An aid to healing cold sores.An antiseptic remedy for mouth and throat infections.Soothes toothache.Has a wide number of uses in childbirth, i ncluding the healing of episiotomies. Relieves sore nipples in nursing mothers.Ideal for complaints such as candida, leucorrhea and trichomoniasis.A safe remedy for babies' complaints, such as diaper rash or an inflamed navel or penis. †¢Antiseptic action helps speed children's recovery from mumps and measles. †¢A useful remedy for bruises.An excellent treatment for varicose veins and ulcers. (http://www. herbs-hands-healing. co. uk/books/online-books/in-a-nutshell-marigold-calendula-officinalis) Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis Linn. ) is a common dense, evergreen, aromatic shrub grown in many parts of the world. Historically, rosemary has been used as a medicinal agent to treat renal colic and dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation).It has also been used to relieve symptoms caused by respiratory disorders and to stimulate the growth of hair. Traditionally, rosemary has been used for improving memory, and has been a symbol of remembrance and friendship for centuries. In Moroc co, rosemary has been used to treat diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). The most researched constituents of rosemary are caffeic acid and its derivative rosmarinic acid. These compounds are thought to have antioxidant effects and are being studied as potential therapies for cancer, hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity), and inflammatory conditions.Currently, available studies show some promise for rosemary in the treatment of anxiety/stress (aromatherapy) and alopecia (hair loss). Current cosmetic uses of rosemary include treating cellulite and wrinkles, and normalizing excessive oil secretion of the skin. Germany's Commission E has approved rosemary leaf for treatment of dyspepsia and rosemary oil (used externally) for joint pain and poor circulation. Evidence These uses have been tested in humans or animals. Safety and effectiveness have not always been proven.Some of these conditions are potentially serious, and should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare provider. Alope cia areata (hair loss): Rosemary oil is reported to increase circulation and possibly promote hair growth in patients with alopecia areata. Additional study is warranted to confirm these findings. Anxiety/stress: Rosemary extract is frequently used in aromatherapy for treatment of a variety of conditions, including anxiety, mood enhancement, alteration of pain perception, and to increase alertness.Early study has shown benefit in reducing stress levels and increasing alertness. More study is needed to draw a firm recommendation. Tradition The below uses are based on tradition, scientific theories, or limited research. They often have not been thoroughly tested in humans, and safety and effectiveness have not always been proven. Some of these conditions are potentially serious, and should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare provider. There may be other proposed uses that are not listed below.Abortifacient, air purifier, analgesic (pain reliever), anthelmintic (expels worms), antia ging, antibacterial, anticoagulant (blood-thinning), antifungal, antioxidant, antispasmodic, appetite stimulation, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), baldness, bronchial asthma, cancer prevention, cataracts, colic, dandruff, diaphoretic (promotes sweating), diuretic, drug withdrawal (morphine), dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation), dyspepsia (upset stomach), gout, hepatoprotection (liver protection), HIV infection, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), hyperglycemia, hypertension (high blood pressure), immunostimulation, inflammation, ischemic heart disease, joint pain, lice, liver cirrhosis, memory enhancement, muscle relaxant (smooth muscle), nerve regeneration, osteoporosis, paralysis, peptic ulcer disease, peripheral vascular disease, photoprotection, poor circulation, preservative, quality of life, renal colic, respiratory disorders, rheumatism, skin care (cosmetic), skin conditions (excessive oil secretion of the skin, cellulite), sperm motility, tonic, wound heali ng, wrinkle preventionCatnip, marigolds, and rosemary are other popular and familiar mosquito repellent plants. These herbs are scented with oils that mosquitoes and other bugs find unattractive. The insects avoid the plants, which hopefully translates to a reduced mosquito population in the immediate area. Catnip is a perennial herb that will come back year after year, while marigolds are annual and must be planted fresh each spring. Rosemary is a tropical plant, and it must be brought indoors during the cooler weather. The mosquito plant was designed by a Dutch botanist, who combined the mosquito repellent properties of citronella with a geranium.The result was a compact, easy to grow indoor/outdoor plant that smells of citronella, yet is ideal for the home garden. The mosquito plant requires full sun and well-drained soil. Like rosemary, it must be brought indoors during the winter, as it cannot tolerate frost and low temperatures. In addition to providing a barrier outdoors in t he garden or patio, mosquito repellent plants can also be turned into a natural bug spray. An individual can pick the leaves, flowers, and stems of the plants and crush them to release the oils. The foliage can then be mixed with alcohol, body oil, or rice vinegar, and applied to the skin. (Piontek A. 2013 What Are the Different Types of Mosquito Repellent Plants?Definition of Terms 1. Marigold-Any of about 30 species of annual herbaceous plants that make up the genus Tagetes in the composite family, native to southwestern North America. -The name also refers to the pot marigold (calendula) and unrelated plants of several families. Marigolds include popular garden ornamentals such as African marigold (T. erecta) and French marigold (T. patula), which have solitary or clustered red, orange, and yellow flowers and usually finely cut leaves. Because the strongly scented leaves discourage insect pests, marigolds are often planted among vegetable crops. 2.Rosemary-Small perennial evergre en shrub (Rosmarinus officinalis) of the mint family whose leaves are used to flavour a wide variety of food. -The bush grows 3–7. 5 ft (1–2. 3 m) tall and has short linear leaves that resemble curved pine needles, dark green and shiny above, white beneath. Bluish flowers grow in small clusters. Bees are particularly fond of rosemary. In ancient times rosemary was believed to strengthen memory; in literature and folklore it is an emblem of remembrance and fidelity. Native to the Mediterranean, it has been naturalized throughout Europe and temperate America.  © 2007 Encyclop?dia Britannica, Inc. 3. Virus-Microscopic, simple infectious agent that can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants, or bacteria.Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and consist of a single-or double-stranded nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein shell called a capsid; some viruses also have an outer envelope composed of lipids and proteins. They vary in shape. The two main classes are RNA viruses (see retrovirus) and DNA viruses. Outside of a living cell, a virus is an inactive particle, but within an appropriate host cell it becomes active, capable of taking over the cell's metabolic machinery for the production of new virus particles (virions). Some animal viruses produce latent infections, in which the virus persists in a quiet state, becoming periodically active in acute episodes, as in the case of the herpes simplex virus.An animal can respond to a viral infection in various ways, including fever, secretion of interferon, and attack by the immune system. Many human diseases, including influenza, the common cold, and AIDS, as well as many economically important plant and animal diseases, are caused by viruses. Successful vaccines have been developed to combat such viral diseases as measles, mumps, poliomyelitis, smallpox, and rubella. Drug therapy is generally not useful in controlling established viral infections, since drugs that inhibit viral d evelopment also inhibit the functions of the host cell. See also adenovirus; arbovirus; bacteriophage; picornavirus; plant virus; poxvirus.Dengue-or breakbone fever or dandy feverInfectious, disabling mosquito-borne fever. Other symptoms include extreme joint pain and stiffness, intense pain behind the eyes, a return of fever after brief pause, and a characteristic rash. Dengue is caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, usually A. aegypti, which also carries yellow fever. There are four strains of virus; infection with one type does not confer immunity to the remaining three. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms. Patients should be isolated during the first three days, when mosquitoes can pick up the disease from them. Prevention relies on mosquito control.Malaria-A serious relapsing infection caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium (see plasmodium), transmitted by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. Known since before the 5th century BC, it occurs in tropi cal and subtropical regions near swamps. The roles of the mosquito and the parasite were proved in the early 20th century. Annual cases worldwide are estimated at 250 million and deaths at 2 million. Malaria from different Plasmodium species differs in severity, mortality, and geographic distribution. The parasites have an extremely complex life cycle; in one stage they develop synchronously inside red blood cells. Their mass fissions at 48-or 72-hour intervals cause attacks lasting 4–10 hours.Shaking and chills are followed by fever of up to 105  °F (40.  6  °C), with severe headache and then profuse sweating as temperature returns to normal. Patients often have anemia, spleen enlargement, and general weakness. Complications can be fatal. Malaria is diagnosed by detecting the parasites in blood. Quinine was long used to alleviate the fevers. Synthetic drugs, such as chloroquine, destroy the parasites in blood cells, but many strains are now resistant. Carriers of a gen e for a hemoglobinopathy have natural resistance. Malaria prevention requires preventing mosquito bites: eliminating mosquito breeding places and using insecticides or natural predators, window screens, netting, and insect repellent. See also protozoal disease.Mosquito-two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals(hypernym) dipterous insect, two-winged insects, dipteran, dipteron(hyponym) gnat(member-holonym) Culicidae, family Culicidae © 2007 Encyclop?dia Britannica, Inc. 7. Lotion-medicated ointment which is spread on the skin (Pharmacology); cream, liquid preparation for beautifying or soothing the skin Wikipedia English – The Free Encyclopedia. Methodology Collection of Plant Materials Sample plant materials were gathered at Alternative Low Input agricultural System(ALIAS) at Pampanga Agricultural College, Magalang Pampanga.Quality leaves of Marigold and Rosemary were cut from the area to be used for the making of Mosquito repellent. Plant samples were thoroughly washed with distilled water and air dried. Preparation of the Marigold-Rosemary Mosquito Repellent Lotion 20 grams of air dried Rosemary leaves (Rosmarinus officinalis) and 20 grams of air dried Marigold leaves (Calendula officinalis) were separately diffused using two beakers each containing 100 ml of Mineral oil (one of the processes of extracting Essential oils from plants, known as Oil Diffusion Method. ) with the use of heat source, so as to my experiment I used oil lamp and tripod. Oil solutions obtain from both processes were filtered using filter paper and left alone to cool.To make the obtained oils from the extraction a material that can be used for the application for skin, I used base lotion that would carry out the active components of marigold and rosemary extracts with it, making it a mosquito repellent Lotion. Base lotions are sold on the market. Commercial fragrance free lotions are also possible to be used as base lotion. Extracted oils from the sample plants were gently and slowly added with continuous stirring to a 600 ml Base lotion. After the extracted essential oils and base lotion were completely mixed, they were put to clean containers and were labelled as â€Å" Marigold-Rosemary Mosquito Repellent Lotion† Determination of its Effectiveness.To determine the effectiveness of the Marigold-Rosemary Mosquito Repellent Lotion, volunteers were asked to test the product . Five to ten (5-10) respondents, each will be given Marigold-Rosemary Mosquito Repellent Lotion that they will use for its purpose and a table/questionnaire to be answered by the respondents concerning about the effectiveness of it. The questionnaire comprised the questions pertaining to its; odour; lasting power or time of reapplications; mosquito repellent effects and other relative observations which are not related to its main purpose; its texture as applied to skin; and personal comments. All results and answer will be treated fairly and will be accepted as part of the general result and experiment.Analysis and observation of data will be the main priority. Results and Discussion 1-Very not satisfied/effective2- Not Satisfied/effective3- Satisfied/effective4- Very Satisfied/effective By average: 1-Very not satisfied/effective2- Not Satisfied/effective3- Satisfied/effective4- Very Satisfied/effective The data gathered shows that by average Rosemary-Marigold mosquito repellent Lotion obtained a satisfactory rate with regards to its overall effectiveness. Nine respondents tested the products and by analysing the data- its odor, lasting effect, mosquito repellent effect and Texture to the skin got mean average of ;2. 57, 3. 28, 3. 20 and 3. 11 respectively.Conclusion and RecommendationFrom the light of the findings, data proved that the infusion of Rosemary and Marigold oil to be used as lotion is effective as mosquito repellent. From the overall average it got a satisfactory rate as t o its effectiveness. The statements above are the bases of recommending the following suggestions: 1. Other plants that display the same characteristics of Marigold and Rosemary might also be tested. 2. A comparative test shall be used to distinguish its effects from the commercial products, 3. Laboratory test shall be conducted to accurately determine its potentials. 4. Propagation of marigold and Rosemary shall be considered.

Marketing Research for Costa Cafe Essay

Costa Coffee is one of the most famous coffee chains in the UK. It was founded in 1971 in Italy by two Italian brothers: Sergio and Bruno Costa. Costa company which introduced the first Costa coffee shops in the UK in the early 1980`s, had as a main objective to create and serve the finest authentic Italian coffee. Costa became part of Whitbread PLC in 1995 and has followed an expansion program, so to become recognized nationally. Despite that figures, Costa faces some problems, related to their competitors. A recent survey conducted by Allegra Strategies indicated that Starbucks Coffee (one of the main competitors of Costa), has the highest consumer brand recognition of all the chains, being recognized by a staggering 77% of coffee shop visitors followed by Costa Coffee with 72%. Naturally the management of Costa is very concerned. As Marketing research agency, we are about to conduct a marketing research to identify who are the typical customers of coffee outlets and ascertain their needs, expectations and buying behaviour. The decision problem that Costa Coffee management is facing is why Costa is losing customers from its main competitors. An appropriate research design has been conducted. Justifications will be given in order to prove why specific approaches were used. Background research in order to fully understand the problem at hand has also been conducted. Furthermore, a questionnaire has been designed so as to help us identify the typical customers of branded coffee shops and view their opinions and perceptions concerning the coffee market. In addition to the questionnaire, an observation technique has been followed in order to have a better perspective of customers’ buying behaviour and compare the efficiency of different coffee shops. Moreover, in order to fully address the components of the research a focus group has been conducted as well. Research findings are properly analysed in the form of tables and charts and the results of observation and focus group have been clearly presented. According to our analysis Costa coffee is the second favourite coffee shop after Starbucks. The needs, expectations and buying behaviour of the typical branded coffee shops have been identified and presented properly. Therefore Costa coffee management team can use this data in order to make several conclusions and implement new strategies that will satisfy the needs and expectations of typical coffee customers and become the leading UK coffee shop as to attract as many typical Costa prides itself on providing a genuine Italian real coffee experience, particularly as real espresso coffee originated in Italy. Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa established Costa in 1971.At that time they first started importing and roasting beans, which was long before the current growth in coffee bars. The brothers began roasting and grinding coffee for wholesale to the catering market. From the very beginning, Sergio and Bruno Costa insisted on slow roasting beans in a traditional Italian drum roaster to give a quality of coffee that is recognized by their customers as superior to others. Costa samples, tests and selects beans which have the best flavor characteristics, and which are suitable for their authentic style of roasting, whether as a single variety, or as part of their selected blends. As real coffee experts they have created their reputation from the expert blending of Arabica and Robusta coffee, which they import from Indonesia and Brazil. Only by the right blending can the Arabica beans be correctly balanced by Robusta beans to create a coffee with great aroma, body and golden cream. This unique combination of beans is the original Costa blend and is why coffee lovers always visit Costa stores. The recipe, acclaimed for producing great tasting coffee with a distinctively rich fragrance and taste, is their most prized secret. Beans from 6 specially selected Arabica varieties are combined with those from a single Robusta to create just the right amount of ‘edge’ for the perfect espresso. Costa Coffee Store Espresso is the authentic Italian Pick-me-up and from listening to lovers of real coffee, they tend to agree! The four factors that influence the making of the perfect espresso at Costa (4 Ms) are:  ·Miscela: The coffee blend  ·Macinatura: The grinding of coffee  ·Macchina: The use of the correct machine and equipment  ·Mano: The hand skills of the barista In addition they only slow roast beans, this process takes at least 18 minutes-far longer than is the case for the majority of roasters. Slow roasting provides a fuller flavor and significantly reduces the presence of harsh and bitter acids. The wide appreciation of their secret coffee blend led to the opening of the first coffee UK Costa stores in the early 1980’s. This promoted the popularity of coffee bean sales and revitalized the trend towards drinking authentic Italian espresso, cappuccino and other espresso based drinks. Many coffee companies specialize in only one element of the coffee supply chain. For example: importing only, roasting only, wholesaling or retailing only. At Costa, the coffee production process starts from the stage of importing  the beans, to taking control of the whole process to ensure that standards are applied at all stages. They import beans to their specification, roast beans in their own roaster to the highest standard, they create their own unique blends of the finest coffees, they package and distribute to their outlets to ensure the highest quality and freshest product. The aim is to create and serve the finest authentic Italian real coffee experience every time. When entering a Costa Store, with its Continental ambience, a coffee lover will not just be able to consume the finest cup of real coffee around, but will be able to buy all the necessary equipment and coffee products required to repeat the Costa experience at home. Costa is expanding, opening stores in many locations such as high streets, airports, railway stations, shopping centers, office developments and leisure complexes. The Costa Wholesale division is also expanding nationwide, promoting sales of roasted coffee and coffee equipment in hotels, restaurants, multiple catering outlets and supermarkets. Now Costa can be experienced by a greater number of people in more ways than ever before. Costa became part of Whitbread Plc in 1995 and immediately established Whitbread as the market leader in the premium coffee shop sector. Before Whitbread acquired the company, thus between 1978-1994 there were 41 Costa outlets selling coffee as well as coffee beans. The first store being established in Victoria station in London-where it still runs successfully keeping up to the traditional coffee preparation methods. Since then, Costa has embarked on a major expansion programme in support of its Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ To become recognized nationally as the people to come to for the best Real Coffee Experience†. The company’s four values encompass everything they believe, how they should behave and act:  ·Cuore-(Kwor-reh)-sharing a love for coffee, making and serving the best coffee in the world. The roasting and blending knowledge, the coffee making skills and the dedication to service.  ·Onore-(On-or-reh)-Individual responsibility and sense of personal duty. People who take pride in what they do, in being able to achieve sales and profit targets, maximizing the potential of available resources and maintaining an excellent standard of guest and customer service.  ·Eccellenza-(Etch-el-n-zah)-Making the perfect coffee every time. Costa’s skilled Baristas are trained to create a coffee masterpiece in every cap they serve, within a strong retail merchandise environment. Its due to this focus in training that Costa has become well known throughout the UK for a perfect coffee every time, with a stylish and contemporary Italian ambience.  ·Audacia-(Aw-dah-chee-a)-Being challenging and innovative. Taking initiative, tackling tough issues and looking at the business with a critical eye. Costa offers thoroughly rewarding and stimulating environment for people who have the ability to make things happen. 4 At the heart of Whitbread’s strategy is the drive to provide experience, which its customers enjoy, appreciate and consider good value for money. It is this strategy, which has taken the company from brewing, into pubs, pub food, restaurants, hotels, and Leisure and also into high street retailing. Some of Whitbread’s businesses include Bella pasta, Pizza Hut (UK) Ltd, TGI Fridays, The Dome, Cafe Rouge and David Lloyd Leisure. Recently, Whitbread Plc is stepping up the overseas expansion of its Costa coffee brand with plans to open at least 55 new stores across Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain5. At the time being, there are 265 stores worldwide including countries such as Dubai, Kuwait and Germany. Samuel Whitbread, a brewer, founded Whitbread Plc in 1742. It became a public company in 1948. Over the years, the company became a restaurateur, an hotelier and (in 1995) an operator of healthy and fitness clubs in addition to its original status of brewer and pub owner. At the turn of the millennium, Whitbread was the country’s leading restaurant operator, number one in budget hotels and sports, health and fitness, first in the pub  restaurant and a clear winner in high street coffee shops6. The UK is becoming a nation of coffee drinkers, with coffee overtaking tea as the most popular drink outside home.7 A decade or so ago an Englishman would have balked at the idea of sitting at a table in his free time with a coffee rather than a beer in his hand. Coffee was a work pick-me-up or a post-meal sober-me-up, its taste and aroma just trivial distractions.8 But times change. And as Britain has become more cosmopolitan, consumers have realised that coffee does get more sophisticated than a jar of Cafà © Hag and that sipping a cappuccino while chatting with friends does not make you weird. Or Italian.8 It is a fact that the UK branded coffee shop chain sector has evolved into a multi-million pound industry after experiencing explosive growth over the past 4-5 years.9 In March 2001 market research firm Mintel compiled Coffee Shops/ Bars, a snapshot of the branded coffee market.8 It estimated the market for branded coffee to be worth more than  £65million, a 16-fold increase on 1994.8 Moreover according to a management consultancy, Allegra Strategies, the branded coffee chain segment currently represents 20.5% of the total UK coffee shop market, and is forecasted to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%, from 1,532 units in June 2001 to 2,435 outlets by December 2003.9 High street coffee bars have sprung up with such voracity that there is now talk of over-saturation, particularly in the London area.8 With just one branded coffee bar per 65000 people the UK is still playing catch up with the US, where the penetration levels are one per 27000.10 Four operators who control 63% of the branded coffee shop market dominate the UK coffee scene.8 Whitbread-owned Costa Coffee with 300 sites and US giant Starbucks Coffee Company with 294 account for the lion’s share, outstripping Caffe Nero and Coffee Republic who have 107 and 85 outlets respectively.8 Furthermore, the fact that Starbucks now has sites in Sainsbury’s stores and Waterstones bookshops, while Costa Coffee can be found on Abbey National  premises, shows that the new coffee houses have been recognised by leading UK companies as adding value to the experience of visiting them.7 The competition is very high as coffee chains, like Costa coffee, Starbucks, Coffee Republic, Cafe Nero and Prà ªt a Manger struggle for the top. Costa coffee has been a victim of this hard competition and faces a number of problems. According to recent findings from a consumer research conducted by Allegra Strategies Ltd, Starbucks has the highest consumer brand recognition of all the chains, being recognized by a staggering 77% of coffee shop visitors followed by Costa Coffee with 72%.9 Naturally, the management of Costa Coffee is very concerned. Their decision problem is what must be done in order to serve more consumers with different segmentation criteria, so they can overcome their main competitors, and therefore become the number one branded coffee shop in the UK. 2.MARKETING RESEARCH QUESTION/ OBJECTIVE 2.1.Research Objective The main research objective is to identify who are the typical customers of coffee outlets and ascertain their needs, expectations and buying behaviour. 2.2.Component questions of this research:  ·What are the key demographics and psychographics of branded coffee shops customers in the major centres in UK?  ·What is customer’s opinion on various branded coffee shops? Has it changed throughout the years?  ·What are the main criteria people use to decide on which coffee shop to go?  ·What do customers look for and expect from a coffee shop?  ·Have customers habits changed towards coffee in the past and how? 2.3.Decision outcomes On completion of this research, Costa management will know the typical customers of coffee shops, their needs, expectations, buying behaviour and opinions towards various branded coffee shops. Based on the research findings Costa management can implement new strategies in order to gain more customers and therefore, overcome its competitors and take the lead of the branded coffee shop chain sector. 3.RESEARCH DESIGN The research project will be carried out in two main phases utilising both exploratory and descriptive research techniques. We will begin by using exploratory research techniques in order to conduct further background research, as well as gathering information for the research project as a whole. The key methods of exploratory research that we will use will be, conducting secondary research, observation and focus group. These techniques involve qualitative research methods as they rely on a great deal of interpretation by the researcher and also because they generally involve smaller non-representative samples. It is more the nature of how the research is gathered and interpreted than of size of the samples that make a study qualitative. The first phase of our research is exploratory in nature that will allow us to gain insights about the typical customers of coffee outlets, their needs, expectations and buying behaviour. This information will give us the opportunity to build a better questionnaire, one that respondents can understand. Secondary research will first be conducted to find background information from internal and external data in order to diagnose and understand more precisely the research problem and to formulate an appropriate research design. When the secondary sources of data fail to provide the information necessary to meet the research objectives, primary data is going to be gathered. Further an exploratory and qualitative research in the form of observation will be carried out. We want to understand coffee drinking behaviour and brand dynamics and the best thing to do is to get as close as possible to real behaviour as it happens. Observation will be carried out under normal conditions, in a controlled environment. Three or more different coffee shop chains will be subject to this technique. During this procedure we will observe coffee being ordered, served, consumed on its own with snacks or pastries, consumed in a group setting, with the mood and atmosphere changing, with different types of consumer drinking different brands. The queuing system, the hygiene of the coffee shop and employee’s actions will be also observed, so that we can get an overall picture of each coffee shop and point out its advantages and disadvantages. Within a full-scale project we would conduct three to six observations in different times of the day so an objective overall picture of each coffee shop will be formed instead of being judged by one observation only. In order to sufficiently address our component questions a focus group will also be conducted. The group will include a maximum of ten people excluding the moderator and observers. We feel that in a focus group â€Å"group members ‘feed’ off each other and creatively reveal ideas that the researcher may not have thought of or dared to tackle† . The focus group will be useful to us in finding out what the current customer’s attitudes and perceptions regarding coffee are, as well as their needs and expectations towards branded coffee shops in UK. Within a full-scale project we would used three  to five focus groups consisting of a maximum of ten people each simply because we would have no time restrictions, this would make the results from various focus groups a lot more reliable to interpret than having just one focus group to study. Once we have carried out exploratory research we will be in position to proceed with the descriptive research- using quantitative techniques-, which will help in formulating a decision for the research question. In order to get reliable information a survey questionnaire will be developed, † The questionnaire must motivate the respondent to cooperate, become involved, and provide complete, honest and accurate answers† . We will use questionnaires consisting of around eighteen questions each and will be given out to 30 coffee drinkers divided into 15 male and 15 female, who visit branded coffee shops in London. This research will be conducted outside Brent Cross shopping mall, Middlesex University and among friends, family and work colleagues. This form of quantitative research will give us a more refined response and allow us to make resource allocation decisions, because we talk to more people who represent a larger portion of the target population, making our research more reliable. This technique will also augment the observation and focus group results and provide primary information about the purposes of research. The population group for our research is defined as UK male and female coffee drinkers, who have been to coffee shop chains within the past three months. The element for this population will be men and women coffee drinkers aged between 17-75. The extent of the population will be all coffee shop customers within London. Finally the time frame will be within the past three months. For this research project we will use a non-probability sampling method as we do not have a complete list of our population, and therefore clearly understand that we risk not having a representative sample. The sampling  technique that we will use will be that of quota sampling, a non-probability sampling procedure that ensures that various subgroups of a population will be represented on pertinent characteristics to the exact extent that the investigator desires. Ideally our sample size should be determined statistically -probably 1000-, but our restrains will limit us to only 30 branded coffee shop customers . Within a full-scale project sample size should be determined by statistics, according to the market’s current situation. Even though we will carry out the research face to face the research administration method we would have used if this were a full scale survey would have been Mail surveys, simply because mail surveying remains a popular data collection technique in commercial marketing research. In fact, more and more people participate in mail surveys than any other type of survey research . On first consideration, mail appears to be an attractive way to collect data. There are no interviews to recruit, train, monitor and pay. The entire study can be sent out and administered from a single location. Hard to reach respondents can be easily surveyed and can fill out the questionnaires in their spare time and wherever they like, whether they are at work or in the comfort of their own home. Mail surveys appear to be convenient, efficient and inexpensive. Like self-administrated questionnaires, mail surveys encounter problems with not having an interviewer present. In particular, no one is there to probe responses to open-ended questions, a real constrain on the types of information that can be sought. However probing responses to open-ended questions will hopefully not be much of a problem for our questionnaire, as it only consists of one open- ended question. Response rates in mail surveys may run anywhere from less than 5% to more than 50%, depending on the length of the questionnaire, its content, the groups surveyed, the incentives employed, and other factors. Those who operate mail panels claim that response rate in the vicinity of 70%4. Response rates can be enhance by implementing strategies such as advance postcard or telephone call alerting respondent to survey, premiums such as  pencil, pen, key chain, coffee mugs etc, self-addresses stamped return envelope, personalised address and well written and personally signed cover letter, and drawings or prizes. Finally once we have gathered our data, we will then be in position to analyse the expectations, needs and buying behaviour of the typical coffee shop customers and make suitable recommendations to Costa Coffee management group as to how it can improve its outlets in order to gain a competitive advantage and become the number one branded coffee shop in the UK.

What's Under the Veil - Ottoman Women Research Paper

What's Under the Veil - Ottoman Women - Research Paper Example What many people might find interesting is that these women probably wore and owned the most extraordinary and stunning jewelries and clothes of their time. In this research paper, I want to go back in time to the Ottoman Empire and examine what the traditional Ottoman woman wore - jewelries, clothing etc. - and show that there is so much more to discover about them under the veil. Over the centuries, the most important feature of a Turkish female dress was that they wore traditional clothing. We know about the various aspects of a woman’s dress between the 12th to 14th centuries because of tiles, miniatures and the stone carvings that they have left behind and have been discovered. Ottoman clothing is the fashion followed and worn by the Ottoman Turks. It changed over time, but it remained as lovely as ever. Even though the women covered themselves with the ferace – a black long upper dress like a cardigan with full sleeves and no collar – before going outside, they were dressed up beneath this layer (Inal 263). They wore the most beautifully made clothes with exquisite jewelry. The styles and designing of the clothes were the same, the class and religious difference only being apparent due to the quality of the cloth used to make their clothes. The rich made their dresses of a fine cloth called barami. Guillaume Postel, a professor, was sent to Istanbul by King Francois the First. He kept a travel log in which he has written: â€Å"The materials used are gold and silver satin, brocade, damask and many kinds of silk. These are the fabrics chosen by the rich and the city aristocrats, the city poor and villagers dress very badly† (Ministry of Culture and Tourism). The women, in hopes for making a way for themselves in the Empire, did embroidery. They wove intricate designs and used these cloths as headscarves, etc. They were quite proud of their appearance and wanted to look their best. Later in the period, they started wearing a two- layer long entari, too, which is a gown. They also wore tul, a shawl of velvet around their heads. Even later on in the century, an entari was worn inside beneath a caftan-shaped dress which was short-sleeved (Besse and Morris 176). The basic accessories worn by the Ottoman women were jeweled belts made of gold, crystal, silver, mother-of-pearl or even ivory. Belt buckles were worn around the waist or at times over the hips. These had floral or geometric designs and were bedecked with gems like diamonds, turquoise, emeralds and others. Beneath it they wore salwar  ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a kind of loose pants (Inal 252). These were mostly made of taffeta. They wore leather shoes which were usually yellow in color, probably because of the gold embroidery (Kia 216) and the toes were quite narrow and so very tight. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the English ambassador to Turkey had this to say about their clothing whilst her stay over there: â€Å"The first piece of my dress is a pair of drawers, very full, that reach to my shoes and conceal the legs...They are of a thin rose color damask brocaded with silver flowers, my shoes of white kid Leather embroidered with Gold. Over this hangs my Smock of a fine white silk Gause edg'd with Embroidery...The Antery is a waistcoat made close to the shape, of white and Gold damask, with very long sleeves....My Caftan of the same stuff with my Drawers is a robe exactly fitted to my shape and reaching my feet...† (Kamps and Singh 101) As Muslim women have been advised to cover themselves in front of any male who is not their husband or close relative, the women used to wear veils or, at least, covered their heads. These were made of silk for the summers and of wool, lined with fur for the colder seasons. Over time

The role of the school principals in the care of gifted students Dissertation

The role of the school principals in the care of gifted students - Dissertation Example Now, there are many ways of assessing how children perform, interact with their learning and solve different problems, beyond just reading and writing, to find out who is gifted (Murray, 1994). The definition of giftedness according to Marland report (1972) as cited in Klein, et. al (2007, p. 574) is "Gifted and talented are those ... with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in ... (a) general intellectual ability, (b) specific academic aptitude, (c) creative or productive thinking, (d) leadership ability, (e) visual and performing arts, and (f) psychomotor ability.† This definition now include skills which are not easily manifested, and to successfully and credibly label someone as â€Å"gifted† many processes are necessary than mere parental observation. Research indicates that the gifted individuals form a diverse group and it is not something which can be associated with a single trait. The giftedness of a child is associated with the psychological well -being of a gifted child, the matching of his skills with education provided, and the personal characteristics of the child, for example, his life situations, his nature and/or self-perceptions (Niehart 1999, p. 15). 1.1 Context Saudi Arabia puts a premium on education based on their belief that one’s principal duty in life is to acquire intellectual and spiritual perfection in his thinking, perceptions and belief (Gulen 2004, p. 202). Hence, the Ministry of Education was established in 1953. It sets overall standards for the country’s educational system and assumes responsibility for policy making and planning curriculum, teacher and superintendent training and special education (Al-Hamdan, n.d., p. 2). The system consists of twelve years. The educational ladder begins with six years of elementary school, three years of intermediate school and three years of high school. The educational aim of schools is to develop students’ different skills, abilities and crea tivity (Al-Hamdan, n.d., p. 3). Gifted education is incorporated in the system stemming from two administrative branches in the Ministry of Education that are tasked to identify and serve the gifted. They consist of four units namely the programs unit; the planning, coordination and training unit; the identification unit and the administrative communication unit. Special programs are provided for the identified gifted students. These include Thursday programs, summer programs and enrichment programs for the gifted within the school day (Al-Hamdan, n.d., p. 3). As stated by Aljoghaiman (2007) one example of enrichment programs is the one developed for elementary schools. Programs include teacher training for gifted students so specialized programs can be effectively implemented through appropriate teaching methods for the enhancement of gifted abilities in all areas. One example is the grouping of gifted students for a period of time during the school day when they engage in activiti es while passing through four levels of the program. â€Å"The first level concentrated on preparation and it included basic thinking skills, such as brain storming, some of the skills in the CoRT Program for Thinking, and Scamper Strategy. The second level included teaching the Creative Problem Solving Program. The third level consisted of the Future Problem Solving Program, and in the fourth and last level, gifted students went through the research program: a comprehensive program of self regulated learning that included different thinking skills. This program

Sharing Your World Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sharing Your World - Coursework Example On the other hand, discrimination is an act that denies participation to groups or categories of people due to prejudice. It also includes the act of treating a member of a given group based on the fact that they’re from a given category of people in the society. My elder brother wanted to become a pastor when he was in college. My parents have used the same preconceived idea to judge me, thinking that I might also come up with the same thought of becoming a pastor when I reach college. I’ve felt so bad that my parents can use what happened to my brother to judge me. The prejudices in myself are such like, the fact that my elder brother passed so well in college and became the top in their class, I feel that I would also follow its footsteps and be the best in my class. I need to overcome this prejudice by believing in my own work and discovering that my brother and are two different

Good and Evil - An analysis of the characters in Schiller's 'Die Essay

Good and Evil - An analysis of the characters in Schiller's 'Die Ruber' and Lessing's 'Emilia Galotti - Essay Example The subject of good and evil has been covered extensively by the world of theatre and literature where several eminent and noble minds have contributed immensely to the discussion and review of the issue. Several notable productions such as ‘Jackyll and Hyde’ and the Apollo Victoria Theatre in Australia have made an attempt to highlight a comparison between these two virtues. However, the subject has been a case for discussion since times immemorial and has become the subject of intense scrutiny in theatrical works over the past 300 years. German theatrical works have played an immense role in this area by helping produce some of the most magnificent works that deals with the good and the evil things in this world. Among them, the plays ‘Emilia Galotti’ by Lessing and ‘Die Rauber’ by Schiller have stood out in terms of their intricacy in projecting the subject that has worked wonders over the years in highlighting the issue. The current paper is an attempt at highlighting the same by discussing the subject in several perspectives of good and evil wherein each shall be discussed in separate sections. Lessing has always been one of the most famous playwrights in contemporary German literature. His 1771 play titled ‘Emilia Galotti’ has been the subject of intense scholarly debates for several centuries. There have been several interpretations of Emilia Galotti, which fall into three basic categories namely the traditional, scholarly association with the Roman legend of Virginia and as a father’s dilemma over securing and convincing the innocence of his daughter. There has been some opinion among a few scholars who view the play as a mere testimony of the struggle of the bourgeoisie (middle classes) against emancipation. However, the play is further very interesting to examine given that it provides a deeper insight

Regression Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regression Analysis - Essay Example Lastly, regression analysis will be performed on statistically significant pairs of variables and regression line equation(s) of best fit will be written. Using Excel’s Data Analysis-Sampling, random number for data for country was generated (Figure 1) and corresponding records were taken from population. Table 1 in appendix shows the sample for correlation and regression analysis. Figure 3 shows the scatterplot of the GNP per head and the number of commercial vehicles. The relationship between the GNP per head and the number of commercial vehicles appears to be moderate (correlation, r = 0.556). Table 2 shows the correlation matrix for variables GNP per head, Cars per head and number of Commercial vehicles. The correlation for ‘the GNP per head and the cars per head’ and ‘the GNP per head and the number of commercial vehicles’ is significant at level of significance, ÃŽ ± = .01. Since, the correlation for GNP per head with the cars per head and the number of commercial vehicles is significant; therefore, there is strong possibility that GNP per head can be used to predict the cars per head and the number of commercial vehicles in any country. Table 3 shows the regression analysis output for the GNP per head and the cars per head using Excel. The higher value of F statistic suggests that regression is significant. GNP per head explains about 80% of variation in the cars per head. GNP per head (US $) significantly predict the cars per head,  ÃŽ ² = 0.00005,  t(28) = 10.54,  p   The slope of the regression equation suggest that each US $ increase in GNP per head adds an average of 0.00005 cars per head. The intercept is not meaningful as zero GNP per head implies negative value for the cars per head that is not possible. The regression equation can be used for predicting the cars per head of any developing

David Thoreau and the Doctrine of Disobedience Essay

David Thoreau and the Doctrine of Disobedience - Essay Example The paper tells that the questions that emerged from Thoreau’s famous night in jail resulted in an essay originally entitled â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government,† which probably more accurately describes his position and the course of action he adopted in response to what he considered the depredations of the U.S. government. Thoreau expressly refused to pay taxes to the state of Massachusetts as a form of resistance to the federal government’s tacit support of slavery and its expansionist war against Mexico. However, it is generally forgotten that Thoreau specifically consented to the right of Massachusetts to assess and collect taxes, provided that those monies were to be used for just and moral ends. In his article â€Å"Thoreau: A Civil Disobedient?,† W.A. Herr contends that the term â€Å"civil disobedience† has been used to describe a broad range of socio-political activities, ranging from revolutions to hunger strikes, an expansive perspecti ve on what was for Thoreau a simple matter of refusing to comply with immoral government policies. As the concept exists today, civil disobedience evokes images of widespread, organized initiatives aimed at forcing profound political change. Herr notes that there is no available evidence that Thoreau ever actually used the term â€Å"civil disobedience†, at least not in his writings. In his famous essay, Thoreau ponders a matter of individual conscience; he is not a â€Å"call to arms,† nor is it a manifesto, as some have claimed. ... Published in 1849, â€Å"Civil Disobedience† is Thoreau’s reaction to an America that he believed had failed to live up to the constitutional promise of equality and justice. The burden of labor in the South was shouldered by enslaved human beings; in the North, wealthy industrialists and factory owners held exploited workers in a state of thralldom that approximated slavery. America was brutally enforcing the doctrine of ma nifest destiny in the West while using its military power to wrest vast territories from Mexico. Thoreau wrote that this ran counter to the true business of government, which is to uphold civil rights, to protect the populace and provide opportunities for people to live the good life. Citizens of conscience should counter the policies of governments, which do more harm than good. His key point is that the individual is every bit as justified to act as a government, that the only true obligation of the citizen is to follow the dictates of his conscience. Thoreau could not countenance obeying a government that supported the institution of slavery. As such, the government could have â€Å"no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it†. The evolution of government to a more enlightened version, such as democracy, is profoundly a matter of preserving individual rights, he argues. As such, the citizen is compelled to exercise one’s rights by refusing to support the betrayal of the natural contract between the individual and government. Much of what one reads in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† sounds quite familiar, particularly to a native American.

Helping Others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Helping Others - Essay Example This work has led me to another volunteer opportunity and I presently volunteer at the community senior citizens’ home where I am a valued member of the non-permanent staff. Global warming is an international phenomenon with planet-wide repercussions. Although very controversial, with detractors arguing that global warming does not exist and alarmist headlines warning us that the end of the planet is near, global warming is an environmental phenomenon which has just recently received near-universal acceptance by the scientific community. Climate change is a hot topic these days and has been a key issue all over the world. Critics of the global warming phenomenon argue that global warming is in fact not an environmental crisis but a manufactured issue artificially created for a variety of unsavory and politically-inspired reasons. Despite the shrinking number of detractors, global warming is a phenomenon which affects our planet every single day. Global warming and climate change are two terms which are often used interchangeably. Has a link between global warming and climate change been established? Yes, global warming is caused by an increase in greenho use gases in the atmosphere and the effects of global warming include changes in atmospheric temperatures and rainfall, which can lead to climate change. Global warming is most generally described as an average increase in the Earth’s temperatures. Importantly, global warming is not only a present phenomenon but is perceived as something which is expected to continue and increase annually. Global warming is the reputed cause of climate change on an international scale leading to extreme weather, ranging from uncharacteristic snowfall in autumn to extremely mild winter temperatures, major changes to precipitation trends, glacial retreat, species extinction, desertification and a rise in sea  levels.  Ã‚  

Making Dreams Come True Essay Example for Free

Making Dreams Come True Essay As a child, did you ever wish upon a star? Did you ever dream of being a prince or princess in a magnificent castle? Or dream of being able to fly high above the tallest buildings? I know I did, I had many dreams. Many children dream of magical places they want to go, people they want to be, and things they want to feel. The Walt Disney Company has strived to make these dreams of children a reality. Whether it is getting to meet a princess, or getting a new pair of shoes, The Walt Disney Company wants to make every child feel special. The founders, Walt and Roy Disney, originally strived to create animations of fantasy worlds filled with scenes that would make anyone feel warmth. They continued their works by creating physical worlds of excitement; ones that children and their parents could enjoy together. Past and present, Disney also has helped out the community in numerous ways. Today The Walt Disney Company is still making dreams come true. On December 5, 1901, the creator and backbone of Disney, for many years, was born. Walter Elias Disney was most famous for his contribution to the entertainment world in the twentieth century. He went on to become very well known for his motion pictures. Walt Disney created many short films and full length animations; he also was the mind behind the world famous Disney theme parks. Throughout his career, he won 26 Oscars, 37 other awards, and 41 nominations. Walt still holds the record for the most awards ever (Walt). Although Walt Disney is most famously associated with Disney, he was not the only one in on the business. Roy Oliver Disney was Walter Disney’s older brother. Roy was born on June 24, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. He co-founded Disney along with his brother and served as the chief executive officer of Disney for most of his life. He contributed to all the work that was done with Disney up until his death in 1971. Unlike Walt, Roy was alive to see the opening of Walt Disney World three months before he passed away (Roy). The Walt Disney Company started in a small Los Angeles office in 1923 by the Disney brothers. Their first real production was The Alice Comedies. The Alice Comedies grew popularity quick, and The Disney Company began to flourish. Five years later, the most famous Mickey Mouse was born; Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and other Disney characters soon followed. Then in 1937 Disney’s first animated movie was produced; Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was pure success worldwide. Over the next few years, Disney decided to expand his ever-growing company, so he moved to Burbank to build a new studio. There, during the 1940s and 1950s, he along with his team created some of the classic Disney animations including Bambi, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan (History). Mickey Mouse has a long history; he celebrated his 80th birthday in 2008. Oswald the lucky rabbit was the original character. He starred in a black and white short film cartoon, where he had long black ears, a round pudgy belly, big goofy feet, and a huge but thin smile. He wore high white shorts, with white shoes and white gloves. Walters’s idea of Oswald came after The Alice Comedies series, but was influenced by them. The design came from Alice’s husband Charles Mintz. Walt later decided he wanted to give Oswald a makeover, so he decided to turn him into a mouse. At first he named this mouse Mortimer, but the name did not last. To this day, no one really knows the reason the mouse’s name was changed, but the most popular story is that Walter’s wife did not really care for the name. I am sure Disney was happy that he changed the name, seeing what success would come from the new revised character. After much debate, the character was created and named Mickey Mouse (Suddath). Mickey’s first couple appearances were not a success. All doubts were put to rest when Steamboat Willie hit the big screen, starring Mickey Mouse. The film was the first animation with synchronized sound effects and music. Mickey Mouse’s career had begun, and it was just the beginning. A little over ten years later, animator Fred Moore had an idea to make over Mickey once again; this was another brilliant idea in my eyes. Mickey was originally designed out of circles, therefore limiting his movements. The new Mickey was hoped to move more freely across the screen. Moore also proposed the idea of making a cuter Mickey. As a result, he gave him a pear-shaped body, eyes with pupils and a cute shortened noise. The new Mickey first appeared in one of the earliest and well-known classics, Fantasia; and for the first time, he appeared in color. Mickey continued to appear in short films throughout the years (Suddath). Today Mickey is not as popular in animated films, but I would not hesitate to say he is still alive in the Disney atmosphere. Mickey and Minnie are still recognized worldwide today. After the initial years of getting the Disney Company started, a lot of progress happened very quickly. In 1937 Disney made history by making the first full length animated motion picture; it was titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The famous film was written based on the tale Snow White by Brothers Grimm (Snow). To follow were many Disney classics that children still enjoy watching today. Some of my favorites include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and The Beauty and the Beast. Disney has created 96 animations and is still created them today. Of those 96 movies, 45 of them are considered classics (The Walt Disney Company). Many of these Disney characters are the focus of two main theme parks that Disney created for everyone to enjoy first hand. To many children and even adults, the Disney parks are magical places. Nothing says it better than their slogan, â€Å"Where all dreams come true. † This is exactly what Walt Disney wanted; he wanted to create a place of magic for both children and their parents. Disneyland is located in Anaheim, California and Disneyworld is located in Orlando, Florida; they are the two amusement parks in the United States. There are also four other parks around the world, along with a Disney cruise line (Walt Disney). Disneyland was the first of the two to be created; it was the only park that Walt Disney himself actually got to witness being built and finished. Construction of the park was started on July 17, 1954, and was opened exactly one year later. Disneyland was a hit from the beginning, opening day was said to be a disaster because it was so overcrowded. The original park cost a massive 17 million dollars to complete. In the 1990s The Disney Company decided to expand the park. It was transformed into a park along with a resort. Along with the Disney Resort, Disneys California Adventure Park, Downtown Disney, and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel were created. Inside of Disneyland, there are a handful of mini lands, or at least this is how I see them. I would describe these as brief, but nonetheless powerful and exciting places that are seen around the world or in Disney productions, all composed inside one theme park. One that I particularly remember is the Haunted Mansion which is found in the New Orleans section of the park. The Haunted Mansion was constructed to look like an old southern plantation; inside it, it was created into a haunted adventure. These marvelous attractions draw many guests from around the world every year. As of 2007, Disneyland had been visited by over 14,800,000 people (Disneyland). In 1959 Walt Disney thought about creating another theme park. His main concern was the location because most of the people who came to Disneyland were from the west; which was a downfall because at the time most people lived in the east. Therefore, he wanted to open the Disney experience up to the whole nation by creating a new park closer to those on the east coast. The process of just getting approved for a large piece of land took many years. He had been denied numerous times. Finally, Orlando, Florida was chosen as a site for the new park. Sadly, Walt died in 1966, five years before the park was ever opened. Along with Walt Disney World, Epcot was created in 1982. Epcot is known today as the community of tomorrow. Like Disneyland, Walt Disney World also contains a resort and other parks within. Walt Disney World has not only become the most popular Disney Park, but the most popular entertainment attraction in the United States. On average, 40 million people visit each year. (Walt Disney World). Disney does not only vision to give children an experience of a lifetime through movies and theme parks, but through more heartfelt ways such as giving to charities. In 2008, Disney donated 209 million dollars to charities around the world, hoping to make wishes come true among families. They also have a program for volunteers called VoluntEARS. The company has been serving the community for over 26 years. In those years, the members have helped in 42 countries and contributed 5,000,000 hours of volunteer work. Most recently, in honor of Disney’s 55th anniversary, they are running a deal to promote community service. Disney is offering a free ticket to their park if anyone donates a day to a participating Disney organization (The Walt Disney Company – Corporate). Disney has a long history and it is still striving to create magic every day. Children still enjoy watching the same Disney classics that children watched over 50 years ago. Although Disney’s first few movies are still popular today, new animations are still being made, and are still becoming great hits. Disneyland and Walt Disney World are still magical places that will surely bring a smile to a child’s face. But most importantly, Disney is continuing to fulfill dreams through their community service; these dream come trues are truly magical.

Development of Sustainable LED Lighting for Offices

Development of Sustainable LED Lighting for Offices CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1: Study Background Climate change is rapidly increasing in our environment due to an increase in gases such as carbon dioxide and methane produced by humans and animals in the Earths atmosphere. As humans we have a moral responsibility to control and save the environment. The built environment is one of the major impacts towards greenhouse gas emissions. Designers are now pressured to design sustainable buildings that have less impact on emissions that damage the environment. The term sustainability means to save natural resources for future generations. Many buildings indirectly use resources such as fossil fuels which are converted into energy. Lighting systems in buildings consume some of this energy. Lighting accounts for around 15% of the energy bill in most homes, and around 25% in commercial buildings. It is supplied by electrical power plants using fossil fuels, and is responsible for a significant percentage of carbon dioxide emissions (Marshall 2009) To help combat how we as consumers use electric lighting an alternative can be achieved via sustainable lighting. Sustainable lighting can be defined as, Lighting that meets the qualitative needs of the visual environment with the least impact on the physical environment. (Service Lamp Corp. 2001) Light is an electromagnetic radiation, which means it is partially electric, magnetic and radiates.   Light starts off from atoms (electrons that orbit the nucleus). When energy is absorbed by an atom the electrons shift up to a bigger orbit. When the atom loses the energy the electrons shift back down to the original orbit, while the electrons shift back down they emit light in the form of electromagnetic radiation. (Sarlina 2009) This document will review material on lighting systems in the office environment. The document will start with a brief history of the light bulb and then go on to how humans interpret light. The document will discuss how LED technology would be utilised more in offices and discuss the importance of migrating to LED lighting systems in offices for a more sustainable environment. The thesis will include three known case studies on LED lighting installed in offices to gather and compare data in order to evaluate how LED lighting would suffice in real life environments. 1.2: Brief History The history of modern lighting starts off with the invention of the arc light in 1810 by Humphrey Davy. This worked by connecting a battery to a strip of charcoal using two wires. The strip of charcoal was charge with electricity and glowed. (Jacks 2003) In 1820 Warren De La Rue used a piece of platinum placed inside a tube.   A current was passed through the tube and the platinum lit well but the bulb did not go into production because platinum was very expensive. (Jacks 2003) A chemist and physicist Joseph Wilson Swan produced a workable electric light in 1860 which he patented as an incandescent light bulb with a filament made from carbonised paper within a partial vacuum. J. W. Swan improved on the invention in 1875 he changed the filament to a compressed and carbonised fibrous cotton thread filament. (Jacks 2003) An inventor called Thomas Alva Edison bought Josephs Swans patent from a company who owned the patent.   Thomas Edison worked on the light bulb to increase the life span. In 1880 Thomas Edison invented his Bamboo fibre filament lamp which lasted for 1200-1500 hours. (Jacks 2003) In 1903 Willis Whitnew invented the tungsten filament lamp (commonly used today). The tungsten lamp had a carbon filament with a metal-coating. This stopped the problem with the bulb turning dark as Thomas Edisons bulb did. (Jacks 2003) Technology today has advanced to new methods of lighting. Light emitting diode (LED) technology is now at the centre point of attention as LED lighting has many advantages with being very energy efficient, long lasting and produces less heat compared to standard incandescent or halogen bulbs. 1.3: Dissertation Structure The dissertation is divided into a sequel of five chapters. The first chapter focuses on climate change and the need to for a more sustainable built environment, a brief history into the light bulb, aims and objectives of this dissertation and the logic behind the dissertation. Chapter two is a detailed literature review which focuses on the effects of lighting on building occupants followed by government legislation, then comparing different types of lighting and leading onto research on LED technology. The information gathered is sourced from websites, government documents, books and scientific journals. Chapter three follows on from the literature review. This chapter focuses on the structure for the dissertation; firstly explaining the reason for using a literature review and then drawing on three major case studies have been chosen and all cases deal with LED lighting systems within office spaces. From the case studies the author has analysed and interpreted information.   The primary data gathered will be in the form of a qualitative questionnaire sent to lighting experts (via email) who have been involved with the case studies. The Answers have been analysed and compared to get a wide knowledge from accredited professional opinions. The fourth chapter researches into the three chosen case studies, all case studies are analysed and compared to give an overview of how effective having an LED lighting system is in an office environment. The fifth chapter discusses the results gathered from the findings. This would give an overview to the dissertation and show the key findings into answering the key questions. The final chapter will draw up conclusions as to the impact of LED lighting in office environments. The chapter addresses the original research question in the context of the findings and provides final conclusions on LED lighting and making use appropriate references where necessary. 1.4: Aim and Objectives The author has chosen sustainable LED lighting as the subject area in this dissertation. The question the author would like to propose will be: Why arent there enough office buildings using LED lighting systems? Also what effects do LED lighting have on users working in an office environment; would LEDs be beneficial for health and comfort on a psychological basis? To address the question the author will explore this main aim: The aim of this study is to research into the sustainability of LED lighting systems and how lighting can affect building users within an office environment. The author will aim analyse case studies on LED lighting systems in offices. What are the advantages and disadvantages? How would an LED lighting system be best suited for the office environment in terms of efficiency, comfort, reliability and short long term costs? The author will interview people from case studies drawn to gather primary qualitative information to reach a final conclusion. The actions the author will take to help answer the research question are listed below: Literature review, take into account of the building regulations, effects of artificial lighting on building occupants, types of artificial lighting and researching into books, case studies, reports, journals and websites related to LED lighting and other sustainable lighting systems. Research case studies on LED lighting systems that have been installed in offices. This would give the author an insight on how LED lighting systems have been successful in a real life environment. Interview researchers from case studies. Ask questions about how LEDs are designed to fit in a working office environment. Any issues that have occurred within the buildings. 1.5: Hypothesis In the United Kingdom there are very few offices if any that use an LED lighting systems to light up an office space. This could be due to lack of awareness, economic climate, social environment and lack of technology available to solve prob lematic conditions. 1.6: Key questions 1. How does light effect building users in terms of health? 2. How would LED lighting benefit offices and the environment? 3. Why isnt there many offices using LED lighting systems? 4. What is the current market like for LED lighting? Would there be a future for more LED lighting in offices? CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1: Introduction This chapter researches into the effects of lighting on buildings occupants, legislation, different types of lighting and LED technology in detail. The aim for this literature review is to obtain information on how light is transcribed in the circadian system and the effects of light on human health. Legislation is a key issue for lighting. it regulate on the amount of light required for the appropriate tasks usually attained in different buildings, by learning legislation it would give the author an understanding into what requirements an office would need for good lighting. All information collated are from secondary and tertiary sources; for this literature review the information is found in books, journals, web pages, and government documents. 2.2: Effects of lighting on building occupants Lighting affects all building occupants on the way they perform tasks. There are different levels of lighting in different environment; the colour of light used in offices would tend to have a blue-white colour to promote concentration and light used in public areas would be a warmer yellow colour so building occupants would feel more relaxed in this type of environment. Too much light can cause health problems such as increased stress levels, headaches and higher blood pressure to the building occupant. (H.E.S.E, 2009) (Boyce, 2003 pp. 160) stated that Most apparently visual tasks have three components; visual, cognitive, and motor. Every task is unique in its balance between these components and hence in the effect lighting conditions have on task performance. (Boyce, 2003 pp. 160) also stated that Lighting conditions can affect task performance throught three systems, the visual system, the circadian system, and the perceptual system. the impact   of lighting conditions on the visual system and hence on visual performance is determined by the size, luminance contrast, and colour difference of the task and the amount, spectrum, distrbution of the lighting. The point that   (Boyce, 2003) makes is that light sent to the visual system affects the performance of the information relayed in the brain.   (Cuttle, 2008 pp. 5-6) stated The optical system of the human eye focuses an inverted image onto the retina, shown in Figure 1. This image is constantly changing with movements of the head and the scanning movements of the eyes. It is often said that the eye is like a camera, but the only similarity is that it forms a focused image in which, for every pixel, there is a corresponding element in the luminous environment. The distribution of luminance and colour that comprises the retinal image is modified by light losses that occur in the optical media of the eye, and these losses are not constant as they increase significantly with age. (Cuttle, 2008) Both books express points about how light is interpreted in the human brain differently but they both correlate how light can affect a building occupant. They both state how light is interpreted in the visual system. A research journal on Light Much More Than Vision written by Mark. S. Rea (Ph.D.) Discuses how lighting can affect the circadian system in building occupants. The journal questions if offices, school and homes are providing good lighting practises. The journal begins with an abstract on the impact of light on the circadian system The amount of light, its spectral composition, spatial distribution, timing and duration needed for vision is so different from that needed for circadian functioning, that generalizations about good lighting will have to be assessed by two very different sets of criteria in the future. (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) The journal continues on how light is interpreted in the human circadian system Light is presently and formally defined as optical radiation entering the eye that provides visual sensation. An international system of photometry has been developed and institutionalized to quantify, measure and communicate the properties of light as it affects the human vision. (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) This statement explains how light is communicated in human vision.   Practical sources of light allow humans to read material, move around spaces, drive cars, create social interaction between other users and allow user to do other activities. Under spatial distribution the journal states Through optical refraction by the cornea and lens in the eye and by neural-optical enhancements by in the retina, the spatial distribution of objects and textures in the environment can be processed by the visual system. Arguably accurate rendering of the spatial distribution of light in our environment by our retina is essential to our survival because   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   patterns of light and dark provide information needed by the visual system (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) The journal concludes with So, Are we providing healthy light in our offices, schools and homes? Probably the answer is No, we are not. Certainly we are not providing or specifiying the ideal lighting technologies and applications for the circadian regluation (Mark. S. Rea, 2007). This would bring on the question as to wether LED lighting would provide the answer to good lighting. LED has been evolving for years, they have been specifically modified to provide comfortable lighting levels for which a user could carry out certain visual functions. 2.3: Legislation The Kyoto agreement is a protocol made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change. This main aim of the protocol is to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions. There are four greenhouse gases that the protocol focuses on (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, sulphur hexafluoride). The United Kingdom Government is legally tied to the Kyoto agreement and has set out targets to meet emission rates. A document on The Kyoto Protocol by British-Energy states The UKs commitment under the protocol is for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 12.5% from 1990 levels by 2008-2012. This implies an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions over this time period. The UK government also has an aspirational target for itself of a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2010, demonstrating the importance of this issue for the current government.(British Energy, 2009) Offices contribute towards the CO2 emissions given off around the planet. A lot of the energy used in offices is mainly caused by office lighting. The new advancements in LED lighting could reduce the amount of energy used because LED lighting is the most sustainable type of artificial lighting. This could help aid the efforts of the Kyoto Protocol and help meets emission targets. Approved Documents Part L of the building regulations is split up into four documents. Part L1A and L1B focuses on conservation of fuel and power in domestic buildings, part L2A and L2B focuses on conservation of fuel and power in non domestic buildings. As of 6th April 2006 the revised Building Regulations Part L Conservation of Fuel and Power came into effect. The updated regulations would improve energy standards by 40 percent from that of the 2002 Building Regulations (ODPM, 2006). There are four approved documents published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM, 2006): Approved Document L1A: Conservation of fuel and power (New dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L1B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power (New buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L2B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition) L1 Domestic buildings Conservation of fuel and power in dwellings. Limiting heat loss through fabric of dwelling from hot water pipes used for space heating. Limiting heat loss through hot water vessels and service pipes. Use control systems on space heating and hot water systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Use control systems on lighting systems so that energy can be used efficiently. L2 Buildings other than dwellings Conservation of fuel and power in non domestic buildings. Limiting heat loss through fabric of dwelling from hot water pipes used for space heating. Limiting heat loss through hot water vessels and service pipes. Use control systems on space heating and hot water systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Providing lighting systems with sufficient controls so that energy can be used efficiently. Limiting exposure to solar heat gains. Use control systems on air conditioning and mechanical ventilation systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Commissioning the building engineering services so that they make efficient use of energy and recording their performance. Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power highlights what is required for lighting efficiency in offices, industrial and storage areas in all building types. The document states For the purposes of this Approved Document, office areas include those spaces that involve predominantly desk-based tasks, including classrooms, seminar rooms and conference rooms, including those in schools. Reasonable provision would be to provide lighting with an average initial efficiency of not less than 45 luminaire-lumens/circuit-Watt as averaged over the whole area of these types of space in the building. (ODPM, 2006 pp. 19) LED lighting has the potential to excel past the average guide for initial efficiency of 45 lumens per watt. A breakthrough from the lighting company CREE states LED efficacy test results that set a new benchmark for the LED industry. Cree reported results of 131 lumens per watt white LED efficacy, confirmed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Tests were performed using prototype white LEDs with Cree EZBrightâ„ ¢ LED chips. (CREE Inc, 2009) The CIBSE Lighting Guide 7: Office Lighting gives a guidance of how to layout lighting systems within an office to give the maximum efficiency of lighting and how much light is required for different types of office spaces. The guide states There are many ways to light an office space: with direct light down from above, from indirect light bounced from the ceiling, or from a combination of both. Many factors will dictate or influence the choice of which technique to use.   (Ruffles, 2005 pp. 7) There are many different building types and each office would need a lighting system that is individually specified. There are different types of lighting systems that give off different light intensities. The lighting guide states that a typical office space would need 500 lux (illuminance) for building users to take on paper-based or mixed tasks comfortably and 300 lux for any screen-based work. (Ruffles, 2005) Figure 2 shows the required amounts of light need for building user to work within different types of offices spaces, taken from the office lighting guide. The figures suggest that each typical office space would need 300 lux for screen based tasks, normal meetings and reception administrative tasks and 500 lux for more intense tasks such as paper-based, reading documents and writing. In a more deep-plan area the office space is required to have 500-750 lux throughout to perform multiple tasks comfortably. This is due to the fact that deep-plan areas are more towards the middle of office spaces or more than six meters away from windows; they would require a more constant flow of artificial light. This is where LED lighting may be at best because of the amount of electricity LED lighting systems take are very minimal and could deliver the required amount of light depending and the type of fixture. In normal deep-plan areas artificial lighting systems are on for longer periods because natural lighting coming in from windows would not penetrate throughout the office spaces. The corporation Philips suggests that a higher powered LED light would deliver up to 220 lumens. This type of LED would typically consume four watts. A typical deep-plan office space would require three high powered LED lights to deliver a comfortable amount of light for a user to perform various tasks, which would still consume less electricity compared to other office lighting systems. 2.4: Types of lighting There are many types of lamps that are currently used in different environments. These lamps include the incandescent lamp, compact fluorescent lamp, fluorescent lamp, halogen lamp, metal halide lamp and light emitting diodes. Incandescent lamps An incandescent lamp is a glass (See figure 3) bulb containing a thin filament. A current is passed through the filament, which heats up the filament until light is produced. (Philips, 2000 pp.49-50) stated The earliest filament lamps as developed by Swan in the United Kingdom and Edison in the United States had a short life of only 150 hours and a low efficiency of 2.5 lumens per watt, but they were thought of as a magic light source to replace gaslight. Filament lamps were clean, had greater flexibility, better colour and, with the development of available sources of power, better long-term economics. Now, a century later, the light bulb is still the preferred lamp for domestic use due to its cheap cost. Phillips (2000) continues to state that The life of a filament lamp depends upon its light output, with a greater output giving a shorter life. A life of 1000 hours with a light output of 12/14 lumens per watt was established as being a reasonable compromise and one which has stood the test of time. (Bean, 2007 pp. 139) explains that a compact fluorescent lamp is the introduction of smaller diameter tubes using high efficiency triphosphors bought with it the posibility of folding the tubes to produce compact single ended lamps. A 12W compact fluorescent lamp gives the same output as a 60W tungsten GLS lamp. Fluorescent Lamps (Fielder, 2005 pp. 28) states that Fluorescent lamps are built using a tubular glass envelope coated on the inside with a mix of phosphors. Inert Gas and a small amount of mercury is introduced into the tube to provide the atoms for photoluminescence. the tube is slightly pressurized, and the ends of the tube are capped with electrodes, which contain a cathode to generate and arc. Fluorescent lamps are 8 times more efficient than incandescent lamps and have a long life span, but fluorescent lamps contain mercury shown in figure 5. Mercury in lamps is harmful for the environment if not disposed of appropriately. Halogen Lamps The Interior Lighting for Designers book articulates that The tungsten-halogen   (or halogen)   lamp is an incandescent lamp with a selected gas of the halogen family sealed into it. As the lamp burns, the halogen gas combines with tungsten molecules that sputter off the filament and deposits the tungsten back on the filament   (Gordon, 2003 pp. 73). Figure 6 below shows an example of what a typical halogen lamp looks like. Metal Halide Lamps Metal halide lamps produce white light of a good colour quality and are available in many sizes, from compact lamps that can be used in track lighting and table lamps to huge lamps for lighting stadiums. Standard metal halide lamps tend to have a colour temperature of 3700 to 4100K and appear cool and slightly greenish. Their CRI is 65 to 70. Standard metal halide lamps typically are used where colour is not critical, such as sports arenas, parking lots, landscape lighting, and building floodlighting. (Benya, 2004 pp. 9-10) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) An LED is a semiconductor device that emits light when a voltage is surged through the semiconductor.   LED solid-state lighting is becoming more in use because of the energy saving benefits and long term costs. The main types of light bulbs used in offices are fluorescent lamps, incandescent tungsten filament (halogen lamps) and metal halide lamps. Fluorescent lamps are the main types of light sources used in offing lighting; the table states that the fluorescent tubes has a lamp efficiency of 32-86 Lm/W (Lumens per watt) this has a higher efficiency compared to incandescent tungsten filament lamp which have an efficiency of 7-14 Lm/W. Also fluorescent lamps can last more than ten times longer than incandescent tungsten filament lamps, but the tungsten filament lamps has a colour rendering index of 99 which means that the light intensity is much higher and would provide light that is closer to natural daylight compared to fluorescent lamps. Tungsten lamps are mainly used for executive offices to give an office a more professional looking environment. Metal halide lamps are used for desk lamp for more detailed important task where more light may be required for analytical reading and writing /complex drawing tasks. 2.5: LED technology LED technology is a fast growing lamp replacement solution in the lighting industry. LEDs contain semiconductors which are atoms of arsenic, phosphorus, germanium or other elements found in the periodic table. When electricity passes through the semiconductor visible light is emitted. Placing a number of LEDS side by side increases the increases the strength of the brightness. LED lights are also dimmable so the user could control the light intensity in a given area. The advantages of using LEDS are that they have a 50,000 to 100,000 hour life span, they consume very little electricity, they instantly light up, LED lights do not emit UV rays, they are durable to   vibrations they do not contain any mercury and LED emits light from any part of the light spectrum. The disadvantages of using LED lighting are that light is distributed directly instead of evenly compared to incandescent and fluorescent bulbs; it is very expensive to buy LED lights, they could cause light pollution in an environment because LEDs produce a lot of white light and LEDs are sensitive to heat. LED lighting is still currently being researched today to find out better methods to utilise the light from LEDs. An article from The Independent newspaper states The Indian government hopes to remedy this situation, which affects 112,000 rural villages across the country, over the next decade. The solution is a combination of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar power. The former are more efficient than light bulbs the power required to light one conventional 100W bulb can now light an entire village and the latter allows electricity to be stored in batteries and provides lighting where there is no grid supply. Both LEDs and solar panels can also take the rough and tumble of village life: having few moving parts, they are very durable. (Independent, 2006) It is evident to see from this statement that the progress of utilising light from LEDs is positive; however this is not something that can be generalised to a greater population at this current time due to economics. A journal published from the Philips Research Centre shows an experiment on LED light sources and modelling for practical control systems for LEDs. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) states The recent improvements in high-power light emitting diodes (LED) technology with 100+ lumens per LED chip and efficacy exceeding that of incandescent lamps brings the solid-state lighting close to a reality. An LED light source made of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) LEDs can provide a compact light source with unique features such as instant colour variability. In this paper, we highlight the issues that introduce the variability in the colour point and present feedback control schemes to overcome these problems. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) The journal concluded with: RGB-LEDs have enormous potential in lighting applications. The major issue to be resolved is control and maintenance of the white point. This issue arises from the variation in LED wavelength and lumen output with temperature, drive current and time. Further complications arise due to the wide spread in the performance parameters of nominally identical LEDs. In this paper we have presented solutions to these issues using electronic feedback control of the light output of the LEDs. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) A journal on Fundamental Analysis for Visible-Light Communication System Using LED Lights states LED is more advantageous than the existing incandescent in terms of life expectancy, high tolerance to humidity, low power consumption, and minimal heat generation lighting Our group has proposed and optical wireless communication system that employs white LEDs for indoors wireless networks (8)-(11). (Nakagawa, 2004) The journal concludes In visible-light communication system, the LED lights are distributed within a room and the irradiance of light is wide for function of lighting equipment. Therefore, the intersymbol interference depended on the data rate and the FOW of receiver.   (Nakagawa, 2004) A technical report on Energy Savings Estimates of Light Emitting Diodes in Niche Lighting Applications from the U.S. Department of energy focuses on the energy performance of LED lighting systems within different sectors such as, residential lighting, traffic lighting, retail lighting and office under shelf lighting. the document states that A type of task lighting, LED office undershelf lighting systems have been introduced on the market as replacements for T12 and T8 fluorescent products used in the commercial offices. LED office undershelf lights have the potential to save 1.37 TWh/yr if the entire market shifted to 2007 LED technology, equal to 14.8 TBtu/yr of primary energy consumption. This amounts to about 20% of the annual consumption of one large (1000 MW) electric power plant or the annual electricity consumption of one hundred thousand U.S. households.(U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 50) The report also states that fluorescent lamps, T8s, and T12s are the types of lamps that are commonly used in an office environment. These fluorescent lighting systems have a fixture efficiency of less than 40%.   This follows on to the average number of hours artificial lights operate for. Office undershelf lighting systems operate for an average of 2000 hours per year, amounting to about 5.5 hours per day or 8 hours per work day. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 51) This would bring on maintenance costs for the building owner due to bulb replacements. The life span of LED lighting systems is far greater than fluorescent lamps, which in turn would reduce regular maintenance. The annual energy comsuption for 53 million office undershelf lighting systems consume 3.43 TWh/yr of electricity in the U.S. At the moment LED lighting systems are still new to the market and have not penetrated the market enough to calculate the actual energy savings; however LED lighting systems have the potential to save 1.37 TWh/yr of electricity if LED lights completely replaced fluorescent lighting systems. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 52) (DiLouie, 2006) Points that LEDs are solid state devices that produce light by passing a current through semiconductor chips which are housed in a reflector, which is Development of Sustainable LED Lighting for Offices Development of Sustainable LED Lighting for Offices CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1: Study Background Climate change is rapidly increasing in our environment due to an increase in gases such as carbon dioxide and methane produced by humans and animals in the Earths atmosphere. As humans we have a moral responsibility to control and save the environment. The built environment is one of the major impacts towards greenhouse gas emissions. Designers are now pressured to design sustainable buildings that have less impact on emissions that damage the environment. The term sustainability means to save natural resources for future generations. Many buildings indirectly use resources such as fossil fuels which are converted into energy. Lighting systems in buildings consume some of this energy. Lighting accounts for around 15% of the energy bill in most homes, and around 25% in commercial buildings. It is supplied by electrical power plants using fossil fuels, and is responsible for a significant percentage of carbon dioxide emissions (Marshall 2009) To help combat how we as consumers use electric lighting an alternative can be achieved via sustainable lighting. Sustainable lighting can be defined as, Lighting that meets the qualitative needs of the visual environment with the least impact on the physical environment. (Service Lamp Corp. 2001) Light is an electromagnetic radiation, which means it is partially electric, magnetic and radiates.   Light starts off from atoms (electrons that orbit the nucleus). When energy is absorbed by an atom the electrons shift up to a bigger orbit. When the atom loses the energy the electrons shift back down to the original orbit, while the electrons shift back down they emit light in the form of electromagnetic radiation. (Sarlina 2009) This document will review material on lighting systems in the office environment. The document will start with a brief history of the light bulb and then go on to how humans interpret light. The document will discuss how LED technology would be utilised more in offices and discuss the importance of migrating to LED lighting systems in offices for a more sustainable environment. The thesis will include three known case studies on LED lighting installed in offices to gather and compare data in order to evaluate how LED lighting would suffice in real life environments. 1.2: Brief History The history of modern lighting starts off with the invention of the arc light in 1810 by Humphrey Davy. This worked by connecting a battery to a strip of charcoal using two wires. The strip of charcoal was charge with electricity and glowed. (Jacks 2003) In 1820 Warren De La Rue used a piece of platinum placed inside a tube.   A current was passed through the tube and the platinum lit well but the bulb did not go into production because platinum was very expensive. (Jacks 2003) A chemist and physicist Joseph Wilson Swan produced a workable electric light in 1860 which he patented as an incandescent light bulb with a filament made from carbonised paper within a partial vacuum. J. W. Swan improved on the invention in 1875 he changed the filament to a compressed and carbonised fibrous cotton thread filament. (Jacks 2003) An inventor called Thomas Alva Edison bought Josephs Swans patent from a company who owned the patent.   Thomas Edison worked on the light bulb to increase the life span. In 1880 Thomas Edison invented his Bamboo fibre filament lamp which lasted for 1200-1500 hours. (Jacks 2003) In 1903 Willis Whitnew invented the tungsten filament lamp (commonly used today). The tungsten lamp had a carbon filament with a metal-coating. This stopped the problem with the bulb turning dark as Thomas Edisons bulb did. (Jacks 2003) Technology today has advanced to new methods of lighting. Light emitting diode (LED) technology is now at the centre point of attention as LED lighting has many advantages with being very energy efficient, long lasting and produces less heat compared to standard incandescent or halogen bulbs. 1.3: Dissertation Structure The dissertation is divided into a sequel of five chapters. The first chapter focuses on climate change and the need to for a more sustainable built environment, a brief history into the light bulb, aims and objectives of this dissertation and the logic behind the dissertation. Chapter two is a detailed literature review which focuses on the effects of lighting on building occupants followed by government legislation, then comparing different types of lighting and leading onto research on LED technology. The information gathered is sourced from websites, government documents, books and scientific journals. Chapter three follows on from the literature review. This chapter focuses on the structure for the dissertation; firstly explaining the reason for using a literature review and then drawing on three major case studies have been chosen and all cases deal with LED lighting systems within office spaces. From the case studies the author has analysed and interpreted information.   The primary data gathered will be in the form of a qualitative questionnaire sent to lighting experts (via email) who have been involved with the case studies. The Answers have been analysed and compared to get a wide knowledge from accredited professional opinions. The fourth chapter researches into the three chosen case studies, all case studies are analysed and compared to give an overview of how effective having an LED lighting system is in an office environment. The fifth chapter discusses the results gathered from the findings. This would give an overview to the dissertation and show the key findings into answering the key questions. The final chapter will draw up conclusions as to the impact of LED lighting in office environments. The chapter addresses the original research question in the context of the findings and provides final conclusions on LED lighting and making use appropriate references where necessary. 1.4: Aim and Objectives The author has chosen sustainable LED lighting as the subject area in this dissertation. The question the author would like to propose will be: Why arent there enough office buildings using LED lighting systems? Also what effects do LED lighting have on users working in an office environment; would LEDs be beneficial for health and comfort on a psychological basis? To address the question the author will explore this main aim: The aim of this study is to research into the sustainability of LED lighting systems and how lighting can affect building users within an office environment. The author will aim analyse case studies on LED lighting systems in offices. What are the advantages and disadvantages? How would an LED lighting system be best suited for the office environment in terms of efficiency, comfort, reliability and short long term costs? The author will interview people from case studies drawn to gather primary qualitative information to reach a final conclusion. The actions the author will take to help answer the research question are listed below: Literature review, take into account of the building regulations, effects of artificial lighting on building occupants, types of artificial lighting and researching into books, case studies, reports, journals and websites related to LED lighting and other sustainable lighting systems. Research case studies on LED lighting systems that have been installed in offices. This would give the author an insight on how LED lighting systems have been successful in a real life environment. Interview researchers from case studies. Ask questions about how LEDs are designed to fit in a working office environment. Any issues that have occurred within the buildings. 1.5: Hypothesis In the United Kingdom there are very few offices if any that use an LED lighting systems to light up an office space. This could be due to lack of awareness, economic climate, social environment and lack of technology available to solve prob lematic conditions. 1.6: Key questions 1. How does light effect building users in terms of health? 2. How would LED lighting benefit offices and the environment? 3. Why isnt there many offices using LED lighting systems? 4. What is the current market like for LED lighting? Would there be a future for more LED lighting in offices? CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1: Introduction This chapter researches into the effects of lighting on buildings occupants, legislation, different types of lighting and LED technology in detail. The aim for this literature review is to obtain information on how light is transcribed in the circadian system and the effects of light on human health. Legislation is a key issue for lighting. it regulate on the amount of light required for the appropriate tasks usually attained in different buildings, by learning legislation it would give the author an understanding into what requirements an office would need for good lighting. All information collated are from secondary and tertiary sources; for this literature review the information is found in books, journals, web pages, and government documents. 2.2: Effects of lighting on building occupants Lighting affects all building occupants on the way they perform tasks. There are different levels of lighting in different environment; the colour of light used in offices would tend to have a blue-white colour to promote concentration and light used in public areas would be a warmer yellow colour so building occupants would feel more relaxed in this type of environment. Too much light can cause health problems such as increased stress levels, headaches and higher blood pressure to the building occupant. (H.E.S.E, 2009) (Boyce, 2003 pp. 160) stated that Most apparently visual tasks have three components; visual, cognitive, and motor. Every task is unique in its balance between these components and hence in the effect lighting conditions have on task performance. (Boyce, 2003 pp. 160) also stated that Lighting conditions can affect task performance throught three systems, the visual system, the circadian system, and the perceptual system. the impact   of lighting conditions on the visual system and hence on visual performance is determined by the size, luminance contrast, and colour difference of the task and the amount, spectrum, distrbution of the lighting. The point that   (Boyce, 2003) makes is that light sent to the visual system affects the performance of the information relayed in the brain.   (Cuttle, 2008 pp. 5-6) stated The optical system of the human eye focuses an inverted image onto the retina, shown in Figure 1. This image is constantly changing with movements of the head and the scanning movements of the eyes. It is often said that the eye is like a camera, but the only similarity is that it forms a focused image in which, for every pixel, there is a corresponding element in the luminous environment. The distribution of luminance and colour that comprises the retinal image is modified by light losses that occur in the optical media of the eye, and these losses are not constant as they increase significantly with age. (Cuttle, 2008) Both books express points about how light is interpreted in the human brain differently but they both correlate how light can affect a building occupant. They both state how light is interpreted in the visual system. A research journal on Light Much More Than Vision written by Mark. S. Rea (Ph.D.) Discuses how lighting can affect the circadian system in building occupants. The journal questions if offices, school and homes are providing good lighting practises. The journal begins with an abstract on the impact of light on the circadian system The amount of light, its spectral composition, spatial distribution, timing and duration needed for vision is so different from that needed for circadian functioning, that generalizations about good lighting will have to be assessed by two very different sets of criteria in the future. (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) The journal continues on how light is interpreted in the human circadian system Light is presently and formally defined as optical radiation entering the eye that provides visual sensation. An international system of photometry has been developed and institutionalized to quantify, measure and communicate the properties of light as it affects the human vision. (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) This statement explains how light is communicated in human vision.   Practical sources of light allow humans to read material, move around spaces, drive cars, create social interaction between other users and allow user to do other activities. Under spatial distribution the journal states Through optical refraction by the cornea and lens in the eye and by neural-optical enhancements by in the retina, the spatial distribution of objects and textures in the environment can be processed by the visual system. Arguably accurate rendering of the spatial distribution of light in our environment by our retina is essential to our survival because   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   patterns of light and dark provide information needed by the visual system (Mark. S. Rea, 2007) The journal concludes with So, Are we providing healthy light in our offices, schools and homes? Probably the answer is No, we are not. Certainly we are not providing or specifiying the ideal lighting technologies and applications for the circadian regluation (Mark. S. Rea, 2007). This would bring on the question as to wether LED lighting would provide the answer to good lighting. LED has been evolving for years, they have been specifically modified to provide comfortable lighting levels for which a user could carry out certain visual functions. 2.3: Legislation The Kyoto agreement is a protocol made by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change. This main aim of the protocol is to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions. There are four greenhouse gases that the protocol focuses on (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, sulphur hexafluoride). The United Kingdom Government is legally tied to the Kyoto agreement and has set out targets to meet emission rates. A document on The Kyoto Protocol by British-Energy states The UKs commitment under the protocol is for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 12.5% from 1990 levels by 2008-2012. This implies an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions over this time period. The UK government also has an aspirational target for itself of a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2010, demonstrating the importance of this issue for the current government.(British Energy, 2009) Offices contribute towards the CO2 emissions given off around the planet. A lot of the energy used in offices is mainly caused by office lighting. The new advancements in LED lighting could reduce the amount of energy used because LED lighting is the most sustainable type of artificial lighting. This could help aid the efforts of the Kyoto Protocol and help meets emission targets. Approved Documents Part L of the building regulations is split up into four documents. Part L1A and L1B focuses on conservation of fuel and power in domestic buildings, part L2A and L2B focuses on conservation of fuel and power in non domestic buildings. As of 6th April 2006 the revised Building Regulations Part L Conservation of Fuel and Power came into effect. The updated regulations would improve energy standards by 40 percent from that of the 2002 Building Regulations (ODPM, 2006). There are four approved documents published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM, 2006): Approved Document L1A: Conservation of fuel and power (New dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L1B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power (New buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition) Approved Document L2B: Conservation of fuel and power (Existing buildings other than dwellings) (2006 edition) L1 Domestic buildings Conservation of fuel and power in dwellings. Limiting heat loss through fabric of dwelling from hot water pipes used for space heating. Limiting heat loss through hot water vessels and service pipes. Use control systems on space heating and hot water systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Use control systems on lighting systems so that energy can be used efficiently. L2 Buildings other than dwellings Conservation of fuel and power in non domestic buildings. Limiting heat loss through fabric of dwelling from hot water pipes used for space heating. Limiting heat loss through hot water vessels and service pipes. Use control systems on space heating and hot water systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Providing lighting systems with sufficient controls so that energy can be used efficiently. Limiting exposure to solar heat gains. Use control systems on air conditioning and mechanical ventilation systems so that energy can be used efficiently. Commissioning the building engineering services so that they make efficient use of energy and recording their performance. Approved Document L2A: Conservation of fuel and power highlights what is required for lighting efficiency in offices, industrial and storage areas in all building types. The document states For the purposes of this Approved Document, office areas include those spaces that involve predominantly desk-based tasks, including classrooms, seminar rooms and conference rooms, including those in schools. Reasonable provision would be to provide lighting with an average initial efficiency of not less than 45 luminaire-lumens/circuit-Watt as averaged over the whole area of these types of space in the building. (ODPM, 2006 pp. 19) LED lighting has the potential to excel past the average guide for initial efficiency of 45 lumens per watt. A breakthrough from the lighting company CREE states LED efficacy test results that set a new benchmark for the LED industry. Cree reported results of 131 lumens per watt white LED efficacy, confirmed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Tests were performed using prototype white LEDs with Cree EZBrightâ„ ¢ LED chips. (CREE Inc, 2009) The CIBSE Lighting Guide 7: Office Lighting gives a guidance of how to layout lighting systems within an office to give the maximum efficiency of lighting and how much light is required for different types of office spaces. The guide states There are many ways to light an office space: with direct light down from above, from indirect light bounced from the ceiling, or from a combination of both. Many factors will dictate or influence the choice of which technique to use.   (Ruffles, 2005 pp. 7) There are many different building types and each office would need a lighting system that is individually specified. There are different types of lighting systems that give off different light intensities. The lighting guide states that a typical office space would need 500 lux (illuminance) for building users to take on paper-based or mixed tasks comfortably and 300 lux for any screen-based work. (Ruffles, 2005) Figure 2 shows the required amounts of light need for building user to work within different types of offices spaces, taken from the office lighting guide. The figures suggest that each typical office space would need 300 lux for screen based tasks, normal meetings and reception administrative tasks and 500 lux for more intense tasks such as paper-based, reading documents and writing. In a more deep-plan area the office space is required to have 500-750 lux throughout to perform multiple tasks comfortably. This is due to the fact that deep-plan areas are more towards the middle of office spaces or more than six meters away from windows; they would require a more constant flow of artificial light. This is where LED lighting may be at best because of the amount of electricity LED lighting systems take are very minimal and could deliver the required amount of light depending and the type of fixture. In normal deep-plan areas artificial lighting systems are on for longer periods because natural lighting coming in from windows would not penetrate throughout the office spaces. The corporation Philips suggests that a higher powered LED light would deliver up to 220 lumens. This type of LED would typically consume four watts. A typical deep-plan office space would require three high powered LED lights to deliver a comfortable amount of light for a user to perform various tasks, which would still consume less electricity compared to other office lighting systems. 2.4: Types of lighting There are many types of lamps that are currently used in different environments. These lamps include the incandescent lamp, compact fluorescent lamp, fluorescent lamp, halogen lamp, metal halide lamp and light emitting diodes. Incandescent lamps An incandescent lamp is a glass (See figure 3) bulb containing a thin filament. A current is passed through the filament, which heats up the filament until light is produced. (Philips, 2000 pp.49-50) stated The earliest filament lamps as developed by Swan in the United Kingdom and Edison in the United States had a short life of only 150 hours and a low efficiency of 2.5 lumens per watt, but they were thought of as a magic light source to replace gaslight. Filament lamps were clean, had greater flexibility, better colour and, with the development of available sources of power, better long-term economics. Now, a century later, the light bulb is still the preferred lamp for domestic use due to its cheap cost. Phillips (2000) continues to state that The life of a filament lamp depends upon its light output, with a greater output giving a shorter life. A life of 1000 hours with a light output of 12/14 lumens per watt was established as being a reasonable compromise and one which has stood the test of time. (Bean, 2007 pp. 139) explains that a compact fluorescent lamp is the introduction of smaller diameter tubes using high efficiency triphosphors bought with it the posibility of folding the tubes to produce compact single ended lamps. A 12W compact fluorescent lamp gives the same output as a 60W tungsten GLS lamp. Fluorescent Lamps (Fielder, 2005 pp. 28) states that Fluorescent lamps are built using a tubular glass envelope coated on the inside with a mix of phosphors. Inert Gas and a small amount of mercury is introduced into the tube to provide the atoms for photoluminescence. the tube is slightly pressurized, and the ends of the tube are capped with electrodes, which contain a cathode to generate and arc. Fluorescent lamps are 8 times more efficient than incandescent lamps and have a long life span, but fluorescent lamps contain mercury shown in figure 5. Mercury in lamps is harmful for the environment if not disposed of appropriately. Halogen Lamps The Interior Lighting for Designers book articulates that The tungsten-halogen   (or halogen)   lamp is an incandescent lamp with a selected gas of the halogen family sealed into it. As the lamp burns, the halogen gas combines with tungsten molecules that sputter off the filament and deposits the tungsten back on the filament   (Gordon, 2003 pp. 73). Figure 6 below shows an example of what a typical halogen lamp looks like. Metal Halide Lamps Metal halide lamps produce white light of a good colour quality and are available in many sizes, from compact lamps that can be used in track lighting and table lamps to huge lamps for lighting stadiums. Standard metal halide lamps tend to have a colour temperature of 3700 to 4100K and appear cool and slightly greenish. Their CRI is 65 to 70. Standard metal halide lamps typically are used where colour is not critical, such as sports arenas, parking lots, landscape lighting, and building floodlighting. (Benya, 2004 pp. 9-10) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) An LED is a semiconductor device that emits light when a voltage is surged through the semiconductor.   LED solid-state lighting is becoming more in use because of the energy saving benefits and long term costs. The main types of light bulbs used in offices are fluorescent lamps, incandescent tungsten filament (halogen lamps) and metal halide lamps. Fluorescent lamps are the main types of light sources used in offing lighting; the table states that the fluorescent tubes has a lamp efficiency of 32-86 Lm/W (Lumens per watt) this has a higher efficiency compared to incandescent tungsten filament lamp which have an efficiency of 7-14 Lm/W. Also fluorescent lamps can last more than ten times longer than incandescent tungsten filament lamps, but the tungsten filament lamps has a colour rendering index of 99 which means that the light intensity is much higher and would provide light that is closer to natural daylight compared to fluorescent lamps. Tungsten lamps are mainly used for executive offices to give an office a more professional looking environment. Metal halide lamps are used for desk lamp for more detailed important task where more light may be required for analytical reading and writing /complex drawing tasks. 2.5: LED technology LED technology is a fast growing lamp replacement solution in the lighting industry. LEDs contain semiconductors which are atoms of arsenic, phosphorus, germanium or other elements found in the periodic table. When electricity passes through the semiconductor visible light is emitted. Placing a number of LEDS side by side increases the increases the strength of the brightness. LED lights are also dimmable so the user could control the light intensity in a given area. The advantages of using LEDS are that they have a 50,000 to 100,000 hour life span, they consume very little electricity, they instantly light up, LED lights do not emit UV rays, they are durable to   vibrations they do not contain any mercury and LED emits light from any part of the light spectrum. The disadvantages of using LED lighting are that light is distributed directly instead of evenly compared to incandescent and fluorescent bulbs; it is very expensive to buy LED lights, they could cause light pollution in an environment because LEDs produce a lot of white light and LEDs are sensitive to heat. LED lighting is still currently being researched today to find out better methods to utilise the light from LEDs. An article from The Independent newspaper states The Indian government hopes to remedy this situation, which affects 112,000 rural villages across the country, over the next decade. The solution is a combination of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar power. The former are more efficient than light bulbs the power required to light one conventional 100W bulb can now light an entire village and the latter allows electricity to be stored in batteries and provides lighting where there is no grid supply. Both LEDs and solar panels can also take the rough and tumble of village life: having few moving parts, they are very durable. (Independent, 2006) It is evident to see from this statement that the progress of utilising light from LEDs is positive; however this is not something that can be generalised to a greater population at this current time due to economics. A journal published from the Philips Research Centre shows an experiment on LED light sources and modelling for practical control systems for LEDs. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) states The recent improvements in high-power light emitting diodes (LED) technology with 100+ lumens per LED chip and efficacy exceeding that of incandescent lamps brings the solid-state lighting close to a reality. An LED light source made of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) LEDs can provide a compact light source with unique features such as instant colour variability. In this paper, we highlight the issues that introduce the variability in the colour point and present feedback control schemes to overcome these problems. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) The journal concluded with: RGB-LEDs have enormous potential in lighting applications. The major issue to be resolved is control and maintenance of the white point. This issue arises from the variation in LED wavelength and lumen output with temperature, drive current and time. Further complications arise due to the wide spread in the performance parameters of nominally identical LEDs. In this paper we have presented solutions to these issues using electronic feedback control of the light output of the LEDs. (Subramanian Muthu, 2002) A journal on Fundamental Analysis for Visible-Light Communication System Using LED Lights states LED is more advantageous than the existing incandescent in terms of life expectancy, high tolerance to humidity, low power consumption, and minimal heat generation lighting Our group has proposed and optical wireless communication system that employs white LEDs for indoors wireless networks (8)-(11). (Nakagawa, 2004) The journal concludes In visible-light communication system, the LED lights are distributed within a room and the irradiance of light is wide for function of lighting equipment. Therefore, the intersymbol interference depended on the data rate and the FOW of receiver.   (Nakagawa, 2004) A technical report on Energy Savings Estimates of Light Emitting Diodes in Niche Lighting Applications from the U.S. Department of energy focuses on the energy performance of LED lighting systems within different sectors such as, residential lighting, traffic lighting, retail lighting and office under shelf lighting. the document states that A type of task lighting, LED office undershelf lighting systems have been introduced on the market as replacements for T12 and T8 fluorescent products used in the commercial offices. LED office undershelf lights have the potential to save 1.37 TWh/yr if the entire market shifted to 2007 LED technology, equal to 14.8 TBtu/yr of primary energy consumption. This amounts to about 20% of the annual consumption of one large (1000 MW) electric power plant or the annual electricity consumption of one hundred thousand U.S. households.(U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 50) The report also states that fluorescent lamps, T8s, and T12s are the types of lamps that are commonly used in an office environment. These fluorescent lighting systems have a fixture efficiency of less than 40%.   This follows on to the average number of hours artificial lights operate for. Office undershelf lighting systems operate for an average of 2000 hours per year, amounting to about 5.5 hours per day or 8 hours per work day. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 51) This would bring on maintenance costs for the building owner due to bulb replacements. The life span of LED lighting systems is far greater than fluorescent lamps, which in turn would reduce regular maintenance. The annual energy comsuption for 53 million office undershelf lighting systems consume 3.43 TWh/yr of electricity in the U.S. At the moment LED lighting systems are still new to the market and have not penetrated the market enough to calculate the actual energy savings; however LED lighting systems have the potential to save 1.37 TWh/yr of electricity if LED lights completely replaced fluorescent lighting systems. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 pp. 52) (DiLouie, 2006) Points that LEDs are solid state devices that produce light by passing a current through semiconductor chips which are housed in a reflector, which is