ABSTRACT
It is possible to design lighting without making any calculations, especially if the type of project you are working on is one in which you have substantial experience. You can also look at existing rooms, noting the sizes of windows and the types of lamps and luminaires, scaling the numbers to fit your own project. In some areas of lighting practice – stage lighting, for instance – the traditional approach to design has been purely visual and non-numerical. But if a design is innovative or there is a need to focus on a particular function such as energy use; or if there are numerical standards to satisfy, or if a photometrically accurate rendered image is required, then calculations are part of the design process.
