
IES Light For Life® Virtual Symposium 2025: Security
Recorded On: 05/21/2025
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Symposium Description: This one-day virtual symposium recording focused on the latest research and trends in lighting for security and reassurance.
Presentations curated to cover:
- Nuances in vocabulary for light at night: safety, security, and reassurance
- Lighting for visibility: designing for contrast and mitigating glare
- Considerations for public safety, property, and liability
- Improved methods for exterior illuminance measurements
Terminology
Reassurance, security and safety. How do these ideas relate to each other, and when is security not an issue?
Moderated Discussion
Why is lighting for ‘reassurance’ so complicated? How is ongoing research informing the design practice?
IES Committee Progress
Updates and next steps for the IES Security Lighting Committee.
Lighting for pedestrian reassurance
Steve discusses research that aims to show if road lighting supports pedestrian reassurance after dark, and the determination of suitable light levels. The discussion will include CIE plans to revise the guidance in CIE 115:2010 and the issues being addressed to promote that recommendations are based on credible data.
Lighting Design and Public Safety
The use of lighting as a strategy to address crime is becoming standard for many cities throughout the world. The approach of one size fits all is a concern. When poorly applied, lighting becomes a public safety issue. From taking care of our environment to lighting space so people feel safe, how do we ensure we use lighting in a way that meets the needs of our communities.
Trauma-Informed Design: Considerations toward light and spatial contexts
Our experience of interior and exterior environments is influenced by a myriad of relationships, including, volume, scale, material, and light. The combination of these relationships affects the quality of our work, learning, and social exchanges with friends, family and colleagues. Certain spatial associations may trigger adverse psychological responses in individuals who have experienced past traumatic events that leave lasting negative impressions. Thus, it’s important to understand how such triggers may occur and how to avoid or minimize the likelihood of producing the conditions that may result. The speaker introduces the premise of Trauma Informed Design (TID), presents research conducted on the topic and shares example works in architecture, interior design and lighting design that attempt to align with spatial concerns surrounding TID.
Street Lights & Crime: A citywide perspective
How does street lighting impact crime? This presentation explores large scale digital twin models that map urban illumination and its relationship to nighttime index crimes, revealing how lighting quality, placement, and the built environment influence safety.
Finding Ideal Light for Visibility and Safety
Ideal Light is an approach to optimizing lighting designs thorough a balance of various aspects of the light roadway. This includes improving visibility, safety, comfort while minimizing the negative aspects of lighting such as trespass, impact on human health and the environment.
Glare and Adaptation Control for Military Gates
This case study with the Department of Defense identified the importance of minimizing glare and increasing visual adaptation for security lighting at entry gates for Naval facilities.
The importance of Lighting Standards during and after the design
This session defines what an expert witness is and why using the proper standard is important for the situation. This discussion goes beyond numbers and discusses real world examples where the use of the proper document is important not only in design but in litigation. The information also discusses the importance of creating accurate standards and the importance of historic retention of past standards.
Exterior Lighting Measurements
Measuring lighting can be challenging, especially when people’s personal attitudes are included, as is the case for security. This discussion covers the intent and options for evaluating exterior lighting to supports a sense of security.
Moderated Panel Discussion
Watch any or all of the videos from the symposium. You must watch each video in its entirety to unlock the corresponding CEU certificate. Watch all videos to receive a total of 5 CEUs.

Nancy Clanton
CEO / Lighting Designer
Visibility Innovations
Nancy Clanton is CEO of Visibility Innovations, a lighting design firm specializing in sustainable and regenerative design. Nancy is a registered Professional Engineer. Nancy is a member of the National Academy of Science committee on the assessment of solid state lighting. Nancy is International Standards Organization (ISO) 205 WG 7, USA delegate. Nancy received the 2018 Edison Report Lifetime Achievement Award, 2014 ACEC Colorado Outstanding Woman Engineer Award, the International CleanDesign Award, the 2021 CU Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2023 Dark Sky Lifetime Crawford/Hunter Achievement Award.

Steve Fotios
Professor of Lighting and Visual Perception
University of Sheffield, UK
Steve Fotios is Professor of Lighting and Visual Perception at the University of Sheffield, UK, where he leads research on lighting for pedestrians and cyclists. He is an associate director of CIE Division 4 and editor of Lighting Research and Technology.

Brienne Musselman
Director of Education and Standards
Illuminating Engineering Society
Brienne Musselman joined the IES staff in 2019, and is now the IES Director of Education and Standards. With the help of important advisors in the IES membership and a dedicated staff, she leads the strategy for content development in technical standards and in education. Her past experience as an architectural lighting designer contributes to her ability to manage programs, seek input from stakeholders, and curate content for the benefit of IES members and non-member partners. She was one of Lighting Magazine’s International 40 under 40 in 2017, and past president of the Detroit IES section (2013-2015). She served as IES Annual Conference Committee Chair in 2016 and 2017.

Ron Gibbons
Director of the Center for Infrastructure Based Safety Systems
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
Dr. Gibbons is also an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Design at Virginia Tech and the Director of the Infrastructure Based Safety Systems Program at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). He is the Institute’s lead lighting research scientist. He is currently the PI on projects investigating the lighting needs of pedestrians in crosswalks, both mid-block and at intersections, impact of outdoor lighting on human health, the Spectral Effects of new light sources on roadways, and is the subject matter lead for the FHWA office Safety IDIQ contract. Gibbons is the author of over 80 published papers on lighting, photometry, and target visibility. Dr. Gibbons is also the primary author of the Federal Highway Administrations Roadway Lighting handbook and the AASHTO guidelines for LED Lighting, He is a past Director of Division 4 of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) and a past president of the Illuminating Engineering Society.

Matt Hartley
Principal
Matt Hartley Lighting LLC
Matt [DO1] received a BS in Architectural Engineering, Illumination Engineering Option from the University of Colorado. He has been involved in the industry since 1995, holding various positions. At Lithonia he was an Application Engineer and was promoted to Manager of Application Engineering. He has also worked at the Representative Agency Level as a Designer and Application Engineer. When he was at Lighting Analysts (AGI32), he was the Manager of Customer Care. At Peerless he was a Specification Project Manager in charge of the Custom Fixtures Division. He is currently the Principal of the lighting consulting firm, Matt Hartley Lighting LLC. Matt has been involved in the IES since 1994 and became a full member in 2001.
Matt has chaired several committees including Automotive Retail Sales, and several committees within the IES Street and Area Lighting Conference. These included the Street and Area Lighting committee, SALC Executive sub-committee, the 2009 Street and Area Lighting Conference Planning sub-committee, and Education sub-committee. After stepping down as the Education Sub-Committee Chair for the SALC in early 2010, he took on the role of Lead Instructor and Educational Coordinator for the SALC. In 2019 he was honored with the IES-SALC Lifetime Service Award. Matt was voted in as a co-chair of the ELO (Education, Library, and Office) lighting committee in the summer of 2020.
Matt was also appointed to the Educational Materials Review Council for the IES in 2010 which changed to the Education Material Review Committee Until 2019. Matt also serves on the IES ONE (Outdoor Nighttime Environment) and Merchandise Lighting Committees.
Matt enjoys teaching and has taught several industry related courses with original content. He has presented at the IES Annual Conference, Street and Area Lighting Conference, Lightfair, and the IES Outdoor Lighting Symposium. Matt received an IIDA award of Merit in the fall of 2004 for his design of the Atlanta Area Council Boy Scouts of America Volunteer Service Center. He also holds a patent for a fixture design in 2008, and another more recently in 2024.
With his diverse experience and positions in the lighting industry, he has a knowledge of addressing many of the challenges that people in the lighting industry face in their roles. He is always willing to share knowledge and is a lifelong learner.
[DO1]Placeholder from 2024. Awaiting bio submission.

Art Hushen
Adjunct Professor
University of South Florida
Art Hushen is an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida where he teaches a graduate level Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) course under the Department of Criminology. He is a thirty-year law enforcement officer having retired from the Tampa Police Departments Special Operations Section. He was instrumental in the creation of the Department’s CPTED Unit and Tampa’s first CPTED Ordinance for the Westshore Business District.

David Keith
WSP USA
David Keith has been working in lighting for 40 years as a designer, educator, researcher and innovator. (He is currently working at WSP USA in the Transportation Lighting office.) His publications as author and co-author have topics ranging from calculation techniques to sky glow, and includes the current FHWA Lighting Handbook. He has been contributing to the IES Roadway Lighting Committee for over 30 years and currently serves as lead for the Measurements and Calculations group. David has been honored as a Fellow of the IES.

Derek Porter
Professor of Lighting Design
Parsons School of Design
Derek Porter is a multi-disciplinary designer and artist who studies the relationship of light, space and human perception. His work ranges in scale from the design of a single artifact to urban applications. Parallel to his art and design practice, Derek is instrumental in the evolution of lighting design education and is currently Professor of Lighting Design with Tenure at Parsons School of Design in New York.

Nick Mesler
Director
Evari Consulting
Nick Mesler is a Director at Evari Consulting, where he takes a data-driven approach to achieving positive street lighting design, livable communities, and nighttime active transportation outcomes. Nick considers himself a “plangineer” and prides himself in understanding both the big picture forethought and honest realities of implementation necessary to bring successful projects to life. Nick specializes in transportation safety, with a background in mobility planning and operations. Nick has worked on large street lighting projects across the United States.
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