{"id":38582,"date":"2026-08-27T11:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jelproducts.nl\/nl\/?page_id=38582"},"modified":"2026-08-27T11:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:44:18","slug":"lucas-de-graaf","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jelproducts.nl\/en\/overons\/lucas-de-graaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas de Graaf"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHome \/ About us<\/a> \/ Lucas de Graaf\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Author and technical director<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lucas de Graaf, BSc<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Technical Director and co-founder of JEL Products. Vice Chair of the Outdoor Knowledge Area at the NSVV.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I make lighting for places where lighting has a tough time: container terminals and ports, tower cranes, offshore, factories where temperatures reach up to 120 degrees Celsius, and sites and maritime work locations that simply have to keep going at night. On this site, I write about what that involves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the field since 2019<\/div>
Co-founder of JEL Products, Nijkerk<\/div>
Vice-chair of the Outdoor knowledge area, NSVV<\/div>
Signatory of the Lighting Calculations Code of Conduct<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRequest lighting advice<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Background<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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How I ended up in this field<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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I wasn\u2019t trained in this field; I just fell into it. I started out as a technical draftsman at my parents\u2019 company, studied entrepreneurship at Windesheim in Zwolle, and founded JEL Products with my father in 2019. My interest in lighting came through my father, who introduced me that year to someone who had been in the lighting industry for years. From that moment on, I was drawn into the field. What began as technical curiosity turned into a passion for lighting.<\/p>

What draws me to this work isn\u2019t the lighting itself, but the question that precedes it: what exactly needs to be seen here, by whom, and at what moment? In practice, that often proves to be more decisive than the number of lumens. At JEL Products, in addition to technical matters, I\u2019m also responsible for health and safety. These may seem like two different roles, but they amount to the same thing: lighting is there to enable people to do their work safely.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Less obvious, more thoughtful.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Practice<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Where my knowledge comes from<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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My daily world is the industrial outdoor space: terminals, crane tracks, construction sites, industrial estates, and factories. That is outdoor lighting, but it falls just outside of public lighting, which most guidelines and knowledge are about. That is precisely why I write about it: a lot has been documented about a residential street and a sports field, and considerably less about a container terminal or crane track, even though work continues there at night with the strictest safety requirements and often the greatest light emission of all.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Crane frames that trap the light<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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At the end of 2020, with the arrival of updated lighting control technology, I worked together with specialists from various crane rental companies on light-shielding crane frames. Goal: to make crane lighting do what it is supposed to do without burdening the surrounding area. The NSVV Guideline on Light Nuisance at the time served as the framework.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The BUSS terminal in Eemshaven<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Fifty-meter-tall light poles in the immediate vicinity of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We handled every aspect of that project, from lighting calculations and drawings to on-site coordination. It\u2019s precisely this kind of challenge that shows what really matters: providing enough light to work safely on a site that operates 24 hours a day, while ensuring that the night remains undisturbed just a few hundred meters away.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Working without blinding oncoming traffic<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Work lights with full-cutoff optics that allow an asphalt crew to work on the highway at night without blinding oncoming traffic.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Amber-colored light at sea<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For offshore wind farms, an amber-colored light of 1,800 K with less than half a percent blue, so that the facility can operate as intended with minimal impact on the surrounding environment.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Discussion of a special lighting project at the office in Nijkerk.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Field of expertise<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What I do outside JEL Products<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I don't spend all my time on projects; some of it is devoted to the field itself. That's where the frameworks I refer to in my articles come from.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2026<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Vice-chair of the Outdoor knowledge area, NSVV<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Co-founder of JEL Products<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Reference pages on lighting and standards<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Within the NSVV, the Dutch Foundation for Lighting Science, I have served as vice chair of the Outdoor Knowledge Area since June 2026. Together with Chair Ren\u00e9 Staps, I set the direction for the knowledge area: the agenda and meeting schedule, liaison with the board and other knowledge areas, and recruiting new members.<\/p>

In terms of content, I\u2019m focusing on three things this year. The OVL Symposium 2026, for which I, together with the other members, submitted the thematic framework,ranging from social safety and smart lighting to the balance between people, wildlife, and the night. The revision of the Light Pollution Directive, which we as a field of expertise want to be involved in from the early stages. And staying abreast of developments in standards: EN 13201-2, the calculation grids in DIALux, and Blue Hazard.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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On behalf of JEL Products, I have signed the Code of Conduct for Lighting Calculations, because a lighting calculation should be verifiable by the recipient, even if the result is not to the supplier\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What it has taught me most of all is that I\u2019m much more willing to say that less light, a shorter burn time, or simply not using lighting at all is the better solution. For a supplier, that\u2019s an uncomfortable thing to say,and yet it\u2019s the statement that inspires the most trust.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Knowledge articles<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What I Write About<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The reference material on this site is rarely about products and almost always about the question that precedes them: which figure belongs in a specification, what a lifespan code really says, and what the light does to the environment. These are the four lines, with the pages that remain for each line.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How much light, and of what quality<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The values that determine whether the lighting on the site does what you want it to do, and the number that should be included in the specifications.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t