Circadian Lighting Has a New Name - Integrative Lighting

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But What Does (Circadian) Integrative Lighting Actually Mean?

For years, the lighting industry has talked about circadian lighting and, more recently, human-centric lighting.

But the terminology used by the lighting profession is evolving.

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) uses the term integrative lighting, and in August 2026 the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) published its updated position statement adopting that terminology.

Circadian Lighting - Integrative Lighting - Principles

So what has actually changed?

From circadian lighting to integrative lighting

The change is about more than giving an existing concept a new name.

Circadian lighting tends to suggest lighting designed specifically around our 24-hour biological clock.

Integrative lighting takes a broader view.

It considers both the visual effects of light, allowing us to see, work comfortably and experience a space, and the effects light can have on human physiology and psychology.

Light reaching our eyes does more than create vision.

It also provides information to biological systems involved in areas such as our sleep-wake cycle and alertness.

That means good lighting isn’t simply about achieving an illuminance level on a working plane or selecting a particular colour temperature.

We also need to think about how much light people receive, its spectrum, when they receive it, how long they are exposed to it and the distribution of that light within the space.

It isn’t simply “cool light in the morning and warm light at night”

This is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding circadian lighting.

Installing tunable-white luminaires and changing the colour temperature throughout the day does not automatically create an effective integrative lighting scheme.

The timing and quantity of light reaching the eye matter, as does the spectrum of that light.

And daylight remains extremely important.

Rather than trying to replace daylight with increasingly sophisticated artificial lighting, good design should consider how daylight and electric lighting can work together.

What does this mean for lighting designers?

It reinforces something good lighting designers have understood for a long time:

Lighting design isn’t just about the luminaire.

We need to understand the people using the space, what they are doing, when they are using it and the environment around them.

Visual comfort, glare, energy consumption, architecture, daylight and the wider environmental impact of lighting still need to be considered alongside potential non-visual effects.

And there is another important point.

Research in this field continues to develop.

The latest SLL document is deliberately described as a position statement rather than a design standard. It encourages designers to distinguish between established knowledge, emerging evidence and areas where further research is still required.

That is particularly important when products or systems are marketed with claims about health, sleep or wellbeing.

The right light at the right time

Perhaps the simplest way of understanding integrative lighting is the phrase used by the CIE:

Proper light at the proper time.

For us, that reflects a much wider change happening within lighting design.

We’re moving beyond simply asking:

“Have we got enough light?”

We should also be asking:

Is it the right light?

Is it needed here?

Is it needed now?

What effect is it having on the people using the space?

And increasingly, we should also consider what effect that light is having on the environment beyond it.

At Circalume, we believe good lighting design comes from understanding the purpose and impact of light, not simply illuminating a space.

Designing light with purpose.