Re

edirecting Light
Red
directing
g light is the use of build
ding elem
ments to bounce
e sunlight into more
dessirable lo
ocations in the building.
b
Light sh
helves an
nd baffless are two
o strateg
gies
tha
at can disstribute light mo
ore evenlyy.
Ligh
ht Shelves
To evenly
e
disttribute ligh
ht, it is ofte
en desirable to bouncce sunlightt off of surrfaces. Dire
ect sunlight on
worrk surfacess often cau
uses glare.. Light she
elves are devices
d
tha
at both shade view windows
w
from
f
glarre and bou
unce light upward
u
to improve light penetrration and distributio
on.
A light shelf is generally a horizo
ontal eleme
ent positio
oned above eye leve
el that divides a wind
dow
into
o a view arrea on the bottom and
a
a daylighting are
ea on the top.
t
It can be extern
nal, internal, or
com
mbined and
d can eithe
er be integral to the building,
b
or mounted
d upon the building.

A light sh
helf avoidin
ng glare an
nd pulling daylight deeeper into the room
Ligh
ht shelves are most effective
e
on
n walls facing the sun
n's path; on pole-facing walls they simplyy act
as shades.
s
Lig
ght shelves on east an
nd west orrientations may not bounce
b
ligh
ht that much further into
the spaces, bu
ut are an efffective me
eans of red
ducing dire
ect heat ga
ain and glare.
Exte
erior light shelves re
educe dayylight nearr the wind
dow but im
mproves th
he light uniformity. The
reco
ommended
d depth off an externa
al light she
elf is rough
hly equal to
o its heightt above the
e work plane.
To reduce cooling load
ds and sola
ar gain, an
n exterior light shelf is the besst compromise betw
ween
requirements for shadin
ng and disttribution of
o daylight.. Because they are only
o
shade
es, they do not
change the ra
atio of inco
oming ligh
ht to heat, but betterr distributio
on of lightt can reducce the amo
ount
nee
eded in a sp
pace, which helps witth cooling..
Ligh
ht shelves may be constructed
c
d of many materials,, such as wood,
w
mettal panels, glass, pla
astic,
fabric, or aco
oustic ceiliing materials. Consiiderations that affecct the cho
oice of ma
aterial incllude
stru
uctural stre
ength, ease
e of mainte
enance, cosst, and aesthetics.
Ligh
ht shelves and vertical fins do not need to
t be opaq
que; when they are transparentt but diffussive,
theyy can help evenly disstribute ligh
ht without reducing the
t total amount of light significantly.

Diff
ffusing glasss fins on a west-facin
ng wall help
p distributee light even
nly withoutt reducing incident lig
ght.
Sizing Light Shelves
The
e orientatio
on, heightt, position (internal, external, or both), and depth
h of the light
l
shelf are
critiical. A rule
e of thumb
b is that th
he depth of
o the internal light shelf be approxima
a
ately equa
al to
the
e height off the clerestory wind
dow head above the
e shelf. Th
he optimal width and
d placemen
nt of
ligh
ht shelves d
depends on the site'ss location and
a climate
e.
Bafffles
When light sh
helves are oriented vvertically, th
hey are known as ba
affles. Theyy are used with skylig
ghts
or roof
r
monittors to bettter distribute daylight and avo
oid glare. Designing the optim
mal height and
placcement of baffles is done
d
the sa
ame way as
a designin
ng light she
elves.

Bafflees in a rooff monitor avoid

a
directt glare whille bringing
g in the sun
n's full brigh
htness