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INTRODUCTION
Daylighting is the controlled admission of natural light into a space through windows to
reduce or eliminate electric lighting. By providing a direct link to the dynamic and perpetually
evolving patterns of outdoor illumination, daylighting helps create a visually stimulating and
productive environment for building occupants, while reducing as much as one-third of total
building energy costs.
DESCRIPTION
In large measure, the art and science of proper daylighting design is not so much how to
provide enough daylight to an occupied space, but how to do so without any undesirable side
effects. It involves more than just adding windows or skylights to a space. It is the careful
balancing of heat gain and loss, glare control, and variations in daylight availability. For
example, successful daylighting designs will invariably pay close attention to the use of
shading devices to reduce glare and excess contrast in the workspace. Additionally, window
size and spacing, glass selection, the reflectance of interior finishes and the location of any
interior partitions must all be evaluated.
A. Benefits of Daylighting
Daylighting has the potential to significantly improve life-cycle cost, increase user
productivity, reduce emissions, and reduce operating costs:
As with all energy-efficient design strategies, there are some costs associated with the use of
daylighting. Designers must be sure to avoid glare and overheating when placing windows.
More windows do not automatically result in more daylighting. That is, natural light has to be
controlled and distributed properly throughout the workspace. Also, for cost savings to be
realized, controls have to be in proper functioning order. Poor installation, commissioning, or
Operations and Maintenance (O&M) practices can all lead to sub-optimum performance.
B. Daylighting Concepts
It is important to appreciate that the daylighting design process involves the integration of
many disciplines including architectural, mechanical, electrical, and lighting. These design
team members need to be brought into the process early to ensure that daylighting concepts
and ideas are carried throughout the project.
1. An awareness of basic visual acuity and performance issues is essential to an
effective daylighting design.
Veiling Reflections: Veiling reflections of high brightness light sources off
specular (shiny) surfaces obscure details by reducing contract. They should
be avoided, particularly where critical visual tasks occur.
Distribution: Introduce as much controlled daylight as deep as possible
into a building interior. The human eye can adjust to high levels of
luminance as long as it is evenly distributed. In general, light which reaches
a task indirectly (such as having bounced from a white wall) will provide
better lighting quality than light which arrives directly from a natural or
artificial source.
Glare: The aim of an efficient daylighting design is not only to provide
illuminance levels sufficient for good visual performance, but also to
maintain a comfortable and pleasing atmosphere. Glare, or excessive
brightness contrast within the field of view, is an aspect of lighting that can
cause discomfort to occupants. The human eye can function quite well over
a wide range of luminous environments, but does not function well if
extreme levels of brightness are present in the same field of view.
Variety: Some contrast in brightness levels may be desirable in a space for
visual effectiveness. Dull uniformity in lighting can lead to tiredness and lack
of attentionneither of which is compatible with a productive environment.
Often times a good daylighting solution will integrate a "blast" of beam
daylight in a circulation area for visual interest and to help lead occupants
through a building. The human eye is naturally attracted to this bright area
and can be useful in guiding people down an otherwise banal corridor.
Coefficient.]
Visible Transmittance (Tvis) is a measure of how much visible light is
transmitted through a given glazing material.
Glazings can be easily and inexpensively altered to increase both thermal and optical
performance. Glazing manufacturers have a wide variety of tints, metallic and lowemissivity coatings, and fritting available. Multi-paned lites of glass are also readily
available with inert-gas fills, such as argon or krypton, which improve U-values.
For daylighting large buildings in most climates, consider the use of glass with a
moderate-to-low SC and relatively high Visible Transmittance.
Any of these control strategies can, and should, be integrated with a building
management system to take advantage of the system's built-in control capacity. To
take full advantage of available daylight and avoid dark zones, it is critical that the
lighting designer plan lighting circuits and switching schemes in relation to fenestration.
The following figure shows several control schemes.
Fig.
1
Photographs of the model interior can be taken to record and study various design
alternatives;
Calculation Tools
Over the past 50 years many daylighting calculation tools have been developed. These
include hand methods, nomographs, and computer models to simulate both daylighting
design and its impact on the overall thermal performance of buildings. The following listing
briefly describes some of the available tools.
Daylighting Nomographs (1984)
Description: A hand-method that assists designers determine potential daylighting benefits
and costs; also offers a checking strategy for energy conservation and load management.
Availability: Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory
University of Washington Graphic Daylighting Design Method (1980)
Description: Determines daylight patterns for a room based on the proportions of the
window openings, providing illumination level, distribution, and gradient. For more
information see: Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings (MEEB), Ninth Edition
by B. Stein and J. Reynolds. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1999. or Inside Out,
Second Edition by G. Z. Brown et al. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992.
Availability: University of Washington, Department of Architecture
Contact: Professor Marietta Millet
AAMA Skylight HandbookDesign Guidelines (1988)
Description: Skylight design analysis with emphasis on optimizing for energy efficiency,
incorporating both a worksheet and Lotus spreadsheet (IBM PC or compatible).
Availability: American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA)
Computer Software
Lumen-Micro
Description: Analyzes complex interior lighting systems including daylight, direct/ indirect
lighting, mixed- and even-aimed luminaires. DXF file editor, user-friendly input, animated
walk-through. Limited to rectangular spaces.
Availability: Lighting Technologies
Superlite 2.0 (1993)
Description: Updated version of SUPERLITE 1.01. Now analyzes daylight and electric
lighting for various room geometries. Max 5 windows. Tabulated output, no graphics. IBM
PC or compatible with 8087 or better math-coprocessor chip. FORTRAN, MS-FORTRAN 3.2
compiler.
Availability: Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory
DOE 2.1
Description: Comprehensive hour-by-hour simulation; Daylighting and glare calculations
integrate with hourly energy simulation. IBM or compatible Pentium is advisable.
Availability: Simulation Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Radiance (3.4)
Description: A ray-tracing program that accurately predicts light levels and produces photo
realistic images of architectural space in all sky conditions. Sun Microsystems, DEC,
MacIntosh with (AUX), CRAY, or other UNIX machine.
Availability: Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory
Designing Low Energy Buildings with Energy-10
Description: An hour-by-hour simulation program designed to inform the earliest phases of
the design process. Runs on IBM-compatible platforms. Best operated with Pentium or
higher processor and 32 Megs of RAM.
Availability: Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)
APPLICATION
Among the primary types of buildings that can benefit from the application of daylighting are
administrative buildings (e.g. offices), educational buildings (e.g. child development
centers), storage facilities (e.g. warehouses), and maintenance facilities.
Case Studies
Lockheed Building 157, Sunnyvale, CA
Daylighting in Schools
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
WBDG
Sustainable; Productive; Aesthetics; Section 07900: Joint Sealers
Publications
"A Daylighting Checklist" in Solar Age, p. 84. by McCluney, Ross. April 1985. This one-page
outline contains 15 factors to consider when employing daylighting. It contains good
references to other articles that delve into some of the factors in more detail, such as roof
monitor design and calculator programs for skylight.
Architect's Handbook of Energy Practice: Daylighting by The American Institute of Architects.
Washington, DC: The American Institute of Architects, 1992. Part of a series of
monographs by the AIA on energy-conscious design. The text is supported with case
studies of famous buildings that utilize daylighting.
Building Technologies Program, Tips for Daylighting with WindowsThe Integrated Approach
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1997.
Concepts and Practice of Architectural Daylighting by Moore, Fuller. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold, 1986. This good text on the fundamentals of daylighting is well supported with
graphics. Simpler and more direct to use than other texts on the subject, it covers all of
the major issues pertaining to daylighting.
Daylight in Architecture by Evans, Benjamin H. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971. This designoriented book is intended as a primer. It is strong on basic concepts and model testings
and is a good place to start for those entering the field.
Daylighting by Hopkinson, R. G., Petherbridge, P., and Longmore, J. London, England:
University College, 1966. This text is an excellent technical resource for daylighting
research and design methods, including sections on sky luminance, daylight photometry,
models, and artificial skies.
Daylighting: Design and Analysis by Robbins, Claude L. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, 1986. This is a technical two-part handbook that explores the fundamentals of
daylighting. The first part presents the principal sources, control devices, and analysis
methods used in daylighting. The second part contains reference material needed to
supplement the design methodologies given.
Daylighting for Commercial and Industrial BuildingsEREC Reference Briefs. U.S.
Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN),
Consumer Energy Information
Daylighting Performance and Design by Ander, G. D. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., May
2003. This is an excellent source for daylighting design issues, tutorials on calculation
technologies, and has many case studies documented.
Recommended Practice of Daylighting by Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.
New York: IES, 1979. This publication is a very good source for daylighting information.
The appendix goes through typical examples of the IES method.
Solar Control and Shading Devices by Olgyay, Aladar, and Olgyay, Victor. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1976. This classic text on designing shading devices begins
with a historical overview of indigenous responses to shading and ends by outlining a
detailed analysis and design process. Photographs of many different shading devices are
used to support the authors' claims.
"Strategies of Daylight Design" in AIA Journal, pp. 68-77, 104, 108, 110, 112 by Villecco, M.,
Selkowitz, S., and Griffith, J. W. September 1979. This is a comprehensive article on
daylighting design. The article is a good introduction to principles and concepts due to its
scope and accuracy. Emphasis is on the qualitative aspects of design instead of the
quantitative.
Organizations and Associations
International Commission on Illumination
United States National Committee CIE/(USA) is a not-for-profit organization formed in
1913 to assist the International Commission on Illumination in achieving its objectives in
the fields of light and lighting.
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA)
Organization whose mission is to advance knowledge and disseminate information for the
improvement of the lighted environment for the benefit of society.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Research laboratory operated by the University of California as part of the U.S.
Department of Energy's national laboratory system.
Lightsearch.com
Internet source for lighting specifiers
Lighting Research Center, School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The world's largest university-based research and educational institution dedicated to
lighting. The LRC takes a unique and energetic approach to problem solving with a
commitment to bringing together unparalleled resources for lighting research.
Southwall Technologies
Southwall designs and produces thin film coatings that selectively absorb, reflect, or
transmit certain types of electromagnetic radiation.
U.S. EPA Green Lights Program, Energy Star
Green Lights is an innovative, voluntary pollution prevention program.
Updated: 04-06-2005