Physical Security
Security Lighting
Light as a protection factor: standard-compliant emergency lighting for safe evacuation and security-effective exterior lighting as part of the protection concept.
Overview
In a security context, lighting is two things: it secures the ability to evacuate a building safely in an emergency – and outdoors it acts as a visible protection factor that creates deterrence and makes detection possible in the first place. We plan both aspects in an integrated way.
Structural safety lighting – safety and exit sign lighting as well as anti-panic lighting – ensures that people can identify escape routes during a power failure or hazard and leave the building safely. It is governed by standards and tied to clear requirements for illuminance, switch-on time and operating duration.
Security-effective exterior and perimeter lighting pursues a different goal: it makes approach visible, supports video surveillance with usable images and denies potential intruders the cover of darkness. Here the interplay of illumination, camera fields of view and the avoidance of glare and shadow zones is decisive.
We therefore plan security lighting not as mere electrical installation but as part of the security concept. Interior and exterior, emergency and security lighting, energy efficiency and maintainability are considered together – vendor-neutrally and along the applicable standards.
The result is a lighting concept that protects lives in an emergency and contributes to the deterrent effect of the entire security architecture in everyday operation.
Standards & norms
- DIN EN 1838
- DIN VDE 0108-100
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does security lighting cover?
Indoors, the emergency lighting – safety, exit sign and anti-panic lighting for safe evacuation. Outdoors, the security-effective perimeter and site lighting that makes approach visible and supports video surveillance.
Which standards apply to emergency lighting?
Key references include DIN EN 1838 (lighting requirements) and DIN VDE 0108-100 (safety lighting systems), supplemented by workplace requirements. They govern illuminance, switch-on time and operating duration.
Why is exterior lighting part of the security concept?
Well-planned light denies intruders cover, increases deterrence and gives video surveillance the illumination it needs for usable images. Poor lighting, by contrast, creates shadow and glare zones that are security gaps.