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Daylighting

Welch Allyn Corporate Headquarters Daylighting Design project

Daylighting reduces the need for electric lighting by introducing daylight into a building. Effective daylighting is achieved through the strategic placement of skylights and windows, as well as lighting controls that monitor available daylight and respond as needed to decrease or increase electric lighting.

The Capturing the Daylight Dividend Program at the LRC provides information, case studies, tools and other resources to building professionals about the use of daylight in buildings.

Publications

Light Scoops This guide provides information on the design of a light scoop — an innovative type of skylight that increases daylight in the winter relative to summer. The guide includes a performance comparison of light scoops vs. other conventional skylights. The guide demonstrates how to design the light scoops to meet target light levels. This publication includes a case study evaluating the performance of fourteen light scoops installed at a corporate headquarters in central New York State.

Patterns to Daylight Schools for People and Sustainability The latest pattern book by LRC authors, sponsored by the US Green Building Council, presents model designs for implementing daylighting into school classrooms, corridors, and gymnasiums.

Daylight and Productivity: A Possible Link to Circadian Regulation. This study investigates the claim that daylight positively affects worker productivity. The study examines office workers with and without access to daylight during winter months.

The Benefits of Daylight Through Windows - The most wide-ranging research review conducted into the effects of daylight.

The Potential of Simplified Concepts for Daylight Harvesting - Predictions of energy savings for two proposed daylighting technologies, a daylight-sensing switch and an automatic blinds system, which employ simple, inexpensive components and designs.

Field Test DELTA: Integrated Skylight Luminaire - Documents the field performance of a prototype skylight for warehouses that incorporates fluorescent lighting and an automatic control system.

Photosensor Tutorial - A guide to photosensor technology, system components, and commissioning.

Circadian Light - This study discusses the way in which light -- including daylight -- impacts not just the visual system, but the biological or circadian system in humans. Because the visual and circadian systems process light differently, a new method of identifying light needs to be established.

Reviews of Technical Reports on Daylight and Productivity - Reviews three individual reports prepared by the Heschong-Mahone Group in 2003 under the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program. The review takes a critical look at the claims and conclusions presented in the reports.

View more Daylighting reports and publications.

Related Programs

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NLPIP - Product testing

Education Programs

Daylight Institute - An intensive one or two day seminar for architects, engineers, and other building professionals interested in learning more about daylighting design and daylight harvesting control systems.

Projects

Welch Allyn Corporate Headquarters Renovation - Welch Allyn sought to expand their facility, and looked to the DesignWorks program to aid in daylighting the atrim and interior offices.

Case Study: Harmony Library - Library in Colorado uses daylighting to illuminate its book stacks and provide a comfortable, inviting atmosphere for its patrons.

Case Study: Smith Middle School - School in North Carolina shows that good daylighting design incorporated at a building's inception yields positive results in energy savings, comfort and a reasonable return on the added investment.

Case Study: TomoTherapy, Inc. - Medical equipment company in Wisconsin is an example of a tenant willing to pay higher building lease costs for office and manufacturing space designed with daylighting.

Quantifying the Impact of Light on K-12 Students' Performance and Well-being - The LRC received a grant from the U.S. Green Building Council to quantify the impact of daylight and electric lighting on student alertness, performance, and well-being in K-12 schools. The final outcome will be a set of guidelines to enable the development of school building designs to maximize health and performance.

Exposure to Early Evening Sunlight in Spring Delays Sleep Times - In the spring, later sunset and extended daylight exposure delay bedtimes in teenagers, according to researchers at the LRC. Biologically, this increased exposure to early evening light in the spring delays the onset of nocturnal melatonin, a hormone that indicates to the body when it’s nighttime. This extended exposure adds to the difficulties teens have falling asleep at a reasonable hour.

DaySwitch Demonstration Project - Demonstration and evaluation of the DaySwitch, a new lighting control technology that turns light fixtures off when sufficient daylight is available in a space.

Shade Control Demonstration Project - Demonstration and evaluation of a mechanical shade control device used in conjunction with the DaySwitch.