The Maintenance Factor as a Necessary Parameter for Sustainable Artificial Lighting in Engineering Production—A Software Approach

Abstract

The presented article addresses the issue of the maintenance factor, which forms a part of the design variables in artificial lighting within engineering practices from a sustainability perspective. The maintenance factor was monitored using two simulation tools—Dialux, version 5.12.0.5527 and Relux, version 2024.2.8.0. In a production hall, inadequate lighting was identified with a value below 300 lx, prompting a redesign of the lighting system. The overall methodology of the Ergonomic Rationalization Sequence was expanded in the “Design of Lighting System” phase to include the determination of the maintenance factor as a necessary parameter for sustainability, which was subsequently verified in a virtual environment using two options in a practical study. According to the in situ measurements, the virtual environments of the production hall were created for both software, in which four alternatives for the lighting system were developed. The illuminance values met the normative requirements in each alternative; however, the first two (illuminance values 1000 lx–1200 lx) were predicted to have long-term high-energy consumption. In alternatives 3 and 4, the number of luminaires was therefore reduced from 6 pieces to 4, with a total illuminance in the range of 680 lx–780 lx. The determination of the variations in the methods for establishing the maintenance factor identified a deviation of 5%, which, indicating the changes in illuminance values, can be considered as the occurrence of a gross error in lighting design.